After his election as Associate of the Royal Academy in 1899, Goscombe John began to receive commissions for public monuments and portraits of major figures in public life and in 1905 he made a bronze statue of the philanthropist John Cory which was erected in front of City Hall. Cory was the son of Richard Cory who traded between Cardiff, Bristol and Ireland. In 1859, John and his brother Richard established their own coal exporters Cory Brothers and Co. They established depots, offices and agencies on a world-wide basis. In addition they owned collieries and were reputedly the largest private wagon owners in the UK. Both brothers backed the Temperance Movement and were active Methodists. John's charitable donations amounted to nearly £50,000 annually, in the years before his death. It is likely that this bust was a gift to him to mark the unveiling of the City Hall statue.