ONE of Usk’s most famous sons, Alfred Russel Wallace, could be recognised with a special monument in his hometown.

The Llanbadoc-born naturalist and explorer is best-known for developing the theory of evolution alongside Charles Darwin.

And while his peer’s celebrity eclipsed his own, the Usk Civic Society are keen to ensure that Wallace’s legacy remains a focus in the place where it all started.

The ARW Memorial Project seeks to erect a bronze bust of the scientist on a plinth in Twyn Square, having received £5,700 in donations.

“Wallace has been under-recognised in the past, and we thought that Usk could help boost his profile,” said president Tom Crawley.

“He was a very modest man that did not push himself onto people. When he was awarded the Order of Merit he refused to attend.

“When his family were told about plans to bury him in Westminster Abbey, they also refused as he had thought it inappropriate.”

The bust was originally sculpted by Mr Crawley’s wife Felicity, before it was finally cast at the Arch Bronze foundry in London.

Subject to planning permission, it will sit on a stone plinth flanked on either side by two plaques, one of the Malay Archipelago and the other showings birds of paradise.

The designs have been provided free of charge by Chris Woodall, architect at Hereford-based Hook Mason, who Mr Crawley described as a “great help”.

Wallace had made his early living as a collector of specimens in South America and later in the Malay Archipelago.

It was during an extended field trip there that that he independently developed a theory of evolution by natural selection, ideas that had been formulated but not yet published by Darwin.

The society’s treasurer, Barry Morse, said: “He sent Darwin an essay on the subject, and as a result they published a joint paper on evolution.

“Within a year, Darwin published The Origin of Species, and it is often unfairly claimed that this was a deliberate attempt to scoop Wallace.”

At the turn of the century Wallace had fallen out of the national picture but following the centenary of his death in 2013, Usk Civic Society decided it wanted him remembered in a special way.

An application has been lodged with Monmouthshire County Council, with the plans already receiving the backing of Usk Town Council.