A new statue has been unveiled in Wales, honouring an influential and inspiring Welsh woman. The 8-foot figure of suffragette Lady Rhondda was unveiled in Newport city centre today. The bronze and weathered steel statue of Lady Rhondda is the fourth of five statues of named Welsh heroines constructed by the Monumental Welsh Women group following a national campaign to honour Wales’ hidden heroic women, broadcast by BBC Wales in 2019.
The other woman honoured as sculptures within the collection include Betty Campbell, Elaine Morgan, Sarah Jane Rees (known as Cranogwen), as well as Elizabeth Andrews, whose statue will be unveiled in 2025. Margaret Haig Thomas, commonly known as Lady Rhondda, was a suffragette, global business woman, journalist and editor, and lifelong campaigner for women’s equality during the early 1900s.
Bringing the esteemed Emmeline Pankhurst to Wales and spearheading the suffrage campaign in Newport, Lady Rhondda was an impactful woman in Wales with her 40-year campaign resulting in women being able to sit in the House of Lords. The statue of Lady Rhondda, created by artist Jane Robbins, has been erected on Millennium Walk in Newport, at the Rodney Road end of the Millennium Bridge in the city centre.
Relatives of the heroine unveiled the statue accompanied by the Suffragette Choir, as well as a reading from poet Gillian Clarke and performances from local school children from St Woolos primary school and Maindee primary school. An important feature of the sculpture is the circle of clasped hands, cast from the hands of around 40 present-day women representing the women of today and honouring the efforts of women in the past who fought for equality.
Among them were Lady Rhondda’s biographer, Angela V. John, 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. Helen Molyneux, chair of Monumental Welsh Women, said, “We are delighted to be unveiling our fourth 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.”