About Thomas Guy and Sir Robert Clayton

Who was Thomas Guy?

Thomas Guy (1644-1724) served as a governor of St Thomas’ Hospital from 1704 and donated money to rebuilding the hospital. He founded Guy’s Hospital during his lifetime. When he died, he gave Guy’s Hospital a further £200,000 in his will, which supported it to continue running.

A large amount of Guy’s wealth came from investments in the South Sea Company. This was an organisation that transported enslaved people across the Atlantic. Guy contributed to the origins of Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation’s endowment. His initial investment of £200,000 in 1720 would be worth approximately £424.7 million in 2020 values. This helped build Guy’s Hospital and set up the Foundation.

Sculptor Peter Scheemakers made the statue of Guy that stands in the courtyard of Guy’s Hospital.

Who was Sir Robert Clayton?

Sir Robert Clayton (1629-1707) was a president of St Thomas’ Hospital and donated money to rebuilding the hospital. Clayton had direct connections to and profited from the transatlantic trade of enslaved people, the plantation business and English colonialism. He was a member of the Royal African Company from 1672 to 1681, which profited from the trade of enslaved people. Clayton made a significant financial contribution to our endowment. He left £2,000 in 1707, worth approximately £4.4 million in 2020 values, to the hospital.

Sculptor Grinling Gibbons made the statue of Clayton that stands by the hospital next to the river.

Who created the statues?

Peter Scheemakers

Peter Scheemakers (1691-1781) was born in Antwerp. He became one of the most successful sculptors in 18th-century Europe. He moved to London in about 1720.

Dr Richard Mead, physician at St Thomas’ Hospital and executor of Guy’s will, was a patron of Scheemakers. It was a stipulation of an Act of Parliament that legislated Guy’s will, to put up a statue of him at Guy’s Hospital. Mead was part of the committee who commissioned Scheemakers to create Guy’s statue.

Grinling Gibbons

Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721) was a Dutch sculptor. In about 1667 he came to England and settled in York. In 1671, he moved to southeast London. He spent the end of the 17th century working with Sir Christopher Wren (a governor of St Thomas’ Hospital) at St Paul’s Cathedral.

From 1700, Gibbons worked mainly in stone. He was the only sculptor named in commissioning the statue of Clayton. His workshop was at the time very likely on the south bank of the river, in the area between Lambeth and Southwark. The hospital planned the statue in Clayton’s lifetime and installed it in 1701. The plinth was inscribed with Clayton’s biography in English and Latin after his death.

Archive and further reading

• Our work to contextualise the statues of Thomas Guy and Sir Robert Clayton (November 2023)
• Dr Michael Bennett and Dr Esther Brot from King’s College London conducted historical research (September 2021)
• David Bryan CBE of Xtend (UK) Ltd and Dr Samina Zahir led the independent consultation (September 2021)
• Update on dehoarding of the Statues of Thomas Guy and Robert Clayton (November 2022)
• Telling the full histories of Robert Clayton and Thomas Guy (November 2022)
• Update on the statues of Sir Robert Clayton and Thomas Guy (September 2021)
• Lessons from the Debate on Statues (September 2021)
• New projects to understand our history (August 2020)
• Joint statement on the statues of Thomas Guy and Robert Clayton (June 2020)