Sculptor. He was a pupil of the sculptor Matthew Noble. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1854. His works include the bronze reliefs on the Monument to Dr Evan Pierce (Denbigh, 1872) and the nude Vulcan on Sheffield Town Hall (1897). He first achieved prominence with his statue of Benjamin Disraeli (1883) for Parliament Square, London. Other public statues by Raggi include Howel Gwyn (Victoria Gardens, Neath, Port Talbot, 1889), Henry Hussey Vivian, 1st Baron Swansea (1886, removed to St David’s Centre), and William Ewart Gladstone (Albert Square, Manchester, 1901). His portrait busts include Admiral Rous (1878) Cardinal Newman (1881), both in terracotta. His last RA exhibit was a marble bust of the Duchess of Rutland, shown in 1895. Raggi also executed ideal works.
Sources: Graves, A., The Royal Academy of Arts. A Complete Dictionary of Contributors …, 4 vols, London, 1905; Wyke, T., Public Sculpture of Greater Manchester, Liverpool, 2004.
Philip Ward-Jackson 2011