Thousands of people pass the imposing statue of Sir John Cordy Burrows each day in Brighton.

Yet few know much about the man who was so dominant in the town that he was affectionately known as King Cordy.

Unlike many of Brighton’s founding fathers, he was not a native of the town. He was a surgeon who moved to the south coast from Ipswich where he was born in 1813 because he thought business would be better there.

So it proved but Burrows was known more for his municipal than his medical deeds for a period of 20 years.

He was one of the first aldermen to be elected to the new Brighton Council in 1854 and was the fourth man to become mayor.

So good was he at this that he served three terms, a record not broken for many years.

Burrows chose the Brighton moto In Deo Fidemus (In God We Trust) which is still in use today.

One of his greatest gifts was the handsome fountain in Old Steine commemorating QueenVictoria’s birthday.

He shared the cost of more than £1,000 with donations from members of the public and it was unveiled in 1846. He put in money for the surrounding gardens to be landscaped.

Unfortunately the Queen repaid this generous tribute by never coming to Brighton again but the fountain, designed by local architect Amon Henry Wilds, remains.

It was extensively restored and was reopened by Prince Charles in 1995 when he proved to be less churlish than his ancestor.

Queen Victoria offered to sell the Royal Pavilion to the town for £53,000 in 1850 and Burrows was on the committee that made the momentous decision.

Burrows used his medical knowledge to press for much needed improvements to sanitation in Brighton where many people died needlessly from diseases such as cholera.

He was also secretary and treasurer of the Brighton Mechanics Institution, then an important body in the town. He chaired the lifeboat committee.

Burrows was also a founder of the Royal Literary and Scientific Institution in 1841.

He had a well-known dislike of street musicians and hawkers. None of them was allowed in Brighton while he was in charge.

The town thought so much of him that it raised a large sum to buy him a carriage and two horses.

Knighted by the Queen in 1873 in response to a petition by the people. Burrows died only three years later aged 62 at his home in the Old Steine.

In an age of big Brighton funerals, his was perhaps the most remarkable. Shops and businesses closed as a mark of respect and 30,000 people lined the streets as the coffin was taken to the Extra Mural Cemetery which he had helped to create.

A statue in his memory was placed in the Royal Pavilion grounds at the southern end but when they were remodelled in 1984, it was moved to its current place in Old Steine close to the fountain he had created.