Monumental Welsh Women
Lady Rhondda

Studio Response has commissioned the statue of Lady Rhondda , born Margaret Haig Thomas, – Suffragette, global businesswoman, journalist, editor and lifelong campaigner for women’s equality - for Newport city centre.  It is the fourth of five statues of named Welsh women being erected by the Monumental Welsh Women group following a national campaign to honour Wales’ Hidden Heroines, broadcast by BBC Wales in January 2019.

The 8ft tall bronze sculpture has been designed and created by sculptor Jane Robbins, known for her figurative work specialising in the human form.  It was unveiled by members of Lady Rhondda’s family in a ceremony on 26th September 2024 which featured performances from The Suffragette Choir and local school children, and the reading of a specially commissioned sonnet by Gillian Clarke.

The sculpture provides a visual narrative of the life of a daughter of Newport who used her privilege to fight for the rights of women as well as becoming one of the twentieth century’s most successful businesswomen and the first female director of the Institute of Directors.  Lady Rhondda was a suffragette who made the fight for the vote front page news and was imprisoned for her efforts.  She set fire to a post box and went to prison, where she went on hunger strike.

Lady Rhondda’s political campaigning continued throughout her life – she is the reason women are able to sit in the House of Lords. As a pioneering journalist she founded and edited the influential political and literary review magazine Time & Tide. Lady Rhondda used this platform to push her progressive programme called The Six Point Group, which made gender equality paramount.

Circling the statue is a ring of clasped hands, cast from the hands of around forty present-day women.  This represents the recognition of the efforts of women in the past here in the present in the hope of inspiring the women of the future.

Professor Angela V. John, Lady Rhondda’s biographer 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 is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to recognising the contribution of women to the history and life of Wales. Its mission is to normalise female ambition and success by celebrating the achievements of great Welsh women and inspiring the next generation of great Welsh women.

The group has set itself the challenge of seeing all five of the women shortlisted for the Hidden Heroines campaign immortalised as statues at different locations around Wales in five years.  Remarkably, four of the statues have been completed: Betty Campbell (unveiled in Cardiff in 2021), Elaine Morgan (unveiled in Mountain Ash in 2022), Sarah Jane Rees, known as Cranogwen (unveiled in Llangrannog in 2023), and now Lady Rhondda (unveiled in Newport in 2024).

The importance of the Lady Rhondda Statue and the significance of the work of the Monumental Welsh Women group was acknowledged in the Senedd by First Minister Eluned Morgan:

Studio Response has commissioned all four of the completed statues on behalf of Monumental Welsh Women and is continuing to work with the group on the commissioning of the final statue of Elizabeth Andrews, which is due to be unveiled in 2025.

The statue of Lady Rhondda has been made possible thanks to the support of Monumental Welsh Women’s funders and partners and generous donations by members of the public.  

Jane Robbins worked with Castle Fine Art Foundry on the fabrication of the statue.

Images courtesy of Molyneux Associates.
Video courtesy of Senedd TV.