Schoolgirl excited to model for renowned sculptor Ray Lonsdale's latest creation about prison's youngest ever inmate

Ray, who is based in Hetton but grew up in Easington, has been commissioned by Hambleton District Council to create a sculpture of Sophia Constable, an 11-year-old girl jailed in 1872 for stealing a loaf of bread.

She became the youngest inhabitant at Northallerton Prison, being sentenced to “three weeks hard labour” followed by four years at a reform school.

Now closed, the council wants to create a sculpture by which to remember the prison which was unusually located in the town centre.

Ray said: “The council wanted to commemorate the prison and a bit of research revealed Sophia as the ideal choice. She was from Whitby and became the prison’s youngest inmate.

"She was from a bad family environment and going to reform school turned out to be a positive for her. She learnt to read and write and went on to have a successful professional career.”

The sculpture design shows Sophia holding the loaf of bread and standing alongside a prison guard. To create the piece, which will be one-and-a-half times real life size, Ray needed a girl of similar size and age to Sophia.

He said: “Lily’s dad Paul is a friend and works on the same industrial site as me. I knew he had a daughter who was around the right age and size. Lily came in and posed for the piece. She wore a dressing gown to reflect a type of dress Sophia would have worn at the time.”

In 2021, Lily’s sister Annie modelled for Ray’s Launch Day sculpture. Designed to capture Sunderland’s shipbuilding heritage, Annie played a young girl sat with her grandfather – a former shipyard worker - overlooking the River Wear.

Ray said: “Annie posed for the Launch Day piece and so it was nice for Lily to get the chance to model for this piece.”

As well as taking measurements of Lily standing holding the loaf of bread, Ray also took photographs of the pose from different angles.

Mum, Louise Sawicki, 40, from Peterlee, said: “I’m really proud that Ray asked Lily to pose for his new creation. This statue will potentially stand for hundreds of years and be seen generation after generation.

"It will be something Lily can hopefully take her own children and grandchildren to see in years to come.”

Lily added: “I’m really happy and excited about being in the statue and I’m looking forward to going and seeing it in Northallerton.”

SEE ALSO: The two new shipyard-inspired Ray Lonsdale artworks to be installed in Sunderland

The prison closed in 2013 and the Ballad of Sophia statue is set to be located on the new Treadmills development on the site of the former prison. It is due to be unveiled on July 24 (2023).

Ray said: “The prison warden is finished and I’ve just started working on Sophia.”

The £85,000 cost of the statue is being funded by Hambleton District Council and Historic England’s Cultural programme.

Ray said the Launch Day statue is now complete but has not yet been erected as Sunderland City Council are still in the process of selecting a suitable site location.