The Statue of Lady Rhondda

Statue of Pioneering Suffragette Lady Rhondda, Margaret Haig Thomas.

The statue to honour suffragette Lady Rhondda (Margaret Haig Thomas),was unveiled in Newport city centre on the 26th September 2024, following a campaign by the Monumental Welsh Women group in partnership with the Statue for Lady Rhondda group and Studio Response. 

Lady Rhondda (Margaret Haig Thomas)

Lady Rhondda was a woman of privilege but she used that privilege in the best way possible - to fight for the rights of all women.  She did things few other women of her background would have dared.  Born Margaret Haig Thomas, she was a suffragette who made the fight for the vote front page news. She brought Emmeline Pankhurst to Wales and spearheaded the suffrage campaign among the women of Newport.  

She confronted the anti-suffrage Prime Minister Asquith by jumping on his car. 

She set fire to a post box and was sent to prison, where she went on hunger strike.  In the First World War she ensured women played a vital role, recruiting them into the women’s services. She became Commissioner for Wales in the Women’s National Service Department, then Chief Controller of women’s recruitment at the Ministry of National Service in London.  

Crossing the Atlantic, she survived the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 when it was torpedoed during the war, claiming more than 1,100 lives. Struggling to survive for hours in freezing water, the trauma proved a pivotal moment for Lady Rhondda:

“What it did do was to alter my opinion of myself. I had lacked self-confidence…and here I had got through this test without disgracing myself. I had found that when the moment came, I could control my fear.”

After the war as well as campaigning for the rights of women workers who did not want to be pushed back into the home, she also continued the fight for the final phase of women’s suffrage which saw all women get the vote in 1928.  

She was the greatest global business woman of her era. She sat on the board of 33 companies, chairing seven of them, and oversaw an industrial empire of mines, shipping and newspapers. She also became the first and to date only female to be President of the Institute of Directors. 

As a journalist she created and edited a ground-breaking and hugely influential weekly paper called Time and Tide which featured some of the literary giants of the 20th century – from George Orwell and Virginia Woolf to JRR Tolkien. It had a ground-breaking all-female board but appealed to both men and women. Exploring Welsh, British and international politics as well as the arts, Time and Tide was one of the key journals of the interwar period. Lady Rhondda also used the paper to push her progressive programme called The Six Point Group. It made gender equality paramount. 

And Lady Rhondda is the reason women of today can sit in the House of Lords. She campaigned for female peers for 40 years – though sadly she died before the law she fought for was changed, too late to take her own seat.   Rhondda, born Margaret Haig Thomas, was a Suffragette, a global business woman, a journalist and editor and lifelong campaigner for women’s equality. Her 40 year campaign for female peers resulted in women being able to sit in the House of Lords. Sadly, she died before the law she fought for was changed, too late to take her own seat.  

The 8ft bronze and weathered steel statue of Lady Rhondda is sited on the eastern side of the Millennium Footbridge in Newport city centre. It has been designed and created by sculptor Jane Robbins, known for her figurative works specialising in the human form. Previous works include a statue of Linda McCartney in Campbelltown Museum, Scotland and a bust of Suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst for the Pankhurst Centre in Manchester.

 Sculptor Jane Robbins

Jane studied Figurative Sculpture at Stafford College, Staffordshire. Starting out in professional theatre and television as a prop maker, she now works solely to commission, creating figurative sculpture from her studio near Bollington, Cheshire.

Jane established her private sculpture studio in 1998. As a figurative sculptor, she is passionate about not only the human figure and its celebration in 3D form, but the production of lasting, inspirational sculptures embracing traditional craftsmanship and sculptural skills and technique.

https://janerobbinssculpture.co.uk

The Circle of Hands

An important feature of the Lady Rhondda statue is the circle of clasped hands, cast from the hands of around 40 present-day women, among them Lady Rhondda’s biographer, Angela V. John, groundbreaking history Professor Olivette Otele who lives in Newport, Wales footballer and record goal scorer Helen Ward and community champion Tracey Jones, who was nominated by readers of the South Wales Argus for her volunteering work with Pride in Pill. The circle of clasped hands represents women of today and recognises the efforts of women in the past who fought for equality, inspiring  us to continue to do so for future generations.

The hands – from left anti-clockwise:

Jo Breckon, Anne Marie Bowen, Clare Kenney, Emma Gibbins, Bethan Cole, Ceri Meloy, Helen Molyneux, Lorraine Morgan, Baroness Anita Gale, Angela Graham, Melinda Drowley, Caitlin Fitzpatrick, Tracey Kershaw, Councillor Jane Mudd, Kate Thomas, Baroness Debbie Wilcox, Sylvia Mason, Jean Church, Kate Atkinson, Jayne Bryant MS, Jessica Morden MP, Olivette Otele, Julie Nicholas, Tracey Jones, Kath Roberts, Helen Ward, Andrea Byrne, Cerith Mathias, Emma Price, Angela John, Bishop Cherry Vann, Dame Rosemary Butler, Holly Bond, Councillor Farzina Hussein, Margaret Renshaw, Zara Harvey, Annie Cottingham.

The Unveiling

The unveiling ceremony took place on Thursday, 26 September in Newport city centre. The statue was unveiled by members of the Haig Thomas family. The event featured Lady Rhondda’s Suffragette Choir, performances from local school children from St Woolos primary school and Maindee primary school and the reading of a specially commissioned poem by Gillian Clarke. 

Helen Molyneux, Chair of Monumental Welsh Women said, 

‘We are delighted to be unveiling our 4th statue of a ‘real’ Welsh woman, as part of our campaign to address the imbalance in the commemoration and celebration of women’s achievements through public art in Wales.  Before the statue of Betty Campbell was unveiled in Cardiff, there was not one single statue of a named Welsh woman in Wales.  Now we have four.  Lady Rhondda was an inspirational woman who fought for the rights of women throughout her life.  We hope this statue will act as an inspiration to the women and girls of Newport to do likewise.’

Sculptor Jane Robbins said,

‘Proudly coming from a Welsh background, I was delighted and honoured to be asked to create a statue of Lady Rhondda. Also being a female sculptor working in a largely male dominated profession  I thought, “WHAT a woman!”

She was ahead of her time and didn’t take no for an answer, as she courageously set about changing the lives of women in the UK for the better. Her actions are as relevant today as they were a century ago.’ 

Julie Nicholas from the Statue for Lady Rhondda Campaign said,

‘This amazing women-led campaign has put Newport’s most famous daughter on a pedestal in the heart of our city.  We are so pleased that Lady Rhondda’s story and her strong connections to Newport are weaved throughout the design of the Monument; from her suffragette activism, to her business & cultural leadership, and the sense of sisterhood that inspired her to work so hard to improve the lives and rights of women and children.’

Prof. Angela V. John, Lady Rhondda’s biographer and member of Monumental Welsh Women said,

‘Jane Robbins’ imposing statue of Lady Rhondda in Newport is a powerful reminder of her importance in British society in the first half of the twentieth century. Whether as a leading suffragette in Wales, organising war work or championing women peers in Westminster, she was a lifelong advocate of women’s rights. An international businesswoman and the founder and editor of the influential weekly Time & Tide, she remains a potent symbol of what has been and can be achieved by women working together.’

Monumental Welsh Women would like to thank:

All who generously donated to the Lady Rhondda statue campaign, (a list of names can be found below) sculptor Jane Robbins, fabricators Castle Fine Art Foundry, plinth Stone Sign, Newport city council, Welsh Government, ISG, Arup, Taylor Wimpey and the women who have generously given of their time to cast their hand with sculptor Jane Robbins and Chris Butler, founder of Castle Fine Art Foundry.

The campaign was led locally by The Statue 4 Lady Rhondda Group,  a group of local Newport women who formed the Newport MWW steering group to raise funds for a statue of Newport’s famous daughter, following their successful campaign to crowdfund a blue plaque for Lady Rhondda in 2015.  We are all volunteers.

The group were determined to provide Newport with its first statue of a named woman. The fundraising appeal was badly hit by the pandemic but perseverance led to us finally hitting our target, raising over £90,000.

How was the artist chosen?

Three Artists were selected and invited to submit a design for the statue based on a project-brief for a representational monument to Lady Rhondda.  The artist briefing day took place on the 23rd June and on September 12th the three artists presented their designs to a panel made up of members from the steering group, invited guests, including two representatives of Lady Rhondda's family and historian Professor Angela V John.  Jane Robbins (www.janerobbinssculptor.co.uk) was selected to create the statue.

On 6th March 2023,  the design maquette was unveiled in St Woolos Cathedral, by the artist.  Prof John, Lady Rhondda's biographer, gave a talk about Lady Rhondda and Rajvi Glasbrook interviewed Jane Robbins about her design for the statue.  Thanks to the Rt Reverend Cherry Vann – Bishop of Monmouth  and her team at the Cathedral for kindly hosting the evening which was attended by over 100 people and raised over £2000.

In March 2024, the sculptor, Jane Robbins, held a 'casting' day at the Riverside Studio in Newport.  Over 30 women, including Dame Rosemary Butler and Jess Morden MP, had thier hands cast.  The hands form part of the statue, creating a ring of support around Lady Rhondda.

• Visit the blue plaque, next to the postbox at Risca Road