A gilded bronze statue of radical republican Thomas Paine stands in his Norfolk birthtown, Thetford, ironically on King Street. It was erected, amidst some controversy, in 1964. Arguably, Paine is Thetford’s most famous son. He was born there in 1737, dying in Greenwich Village, New York, in 1809. Paine inspired and participated in the American Revolution (including as a soldier), was involved in the French Revolution and convicted of seditious libel in Britain. In the US, he is celebrated as one of the founding fathers. His statue shows him holding a quill (symbolic of the pen being mightier than the sword) and a copy of one of his most famous works, The Rights of Man. On the plinth he stands on are the words:
WORLD CITIZEN, ENGLISHMAN BY BIRTH, FRENCH CITIZEN BY DECREE, AMERICAN BY ADOPTION
Other memorials to Tom Paine will be found in New York, New Jersey and Paris. This is often quoted of him: “Of more worth is one honest man to society and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived.”