A STATUE commemorating Newport suffragette and activist Lady Rhondda has been commissioned to be erected in the city.

Lady Rhondda – Margaret Haig Thomas – was a suffragette, businesswoman, 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, however she died before the law was changed, meaning she was never able to take her own seat.  

The Argus has supported the Statue for Lady Rhondda campaign group, with editor Gavin Thompson describing her as “a wonderful role model”.

Monumental Welsh Women, in partnership with the Statue for Lady Rhondda group, have now announced that acclaimed sculptor Jane Robbins has been commissioned to create a sculpture of Lady Rhondda.

The announcement was made on BBC Radio Wales’ Lynn Bowles programme today (Sunday, December 4).

The statue will be the fourth of five monuments of Welsh women being erected by the Monumental Welsh Women group following a national campaign to honour Wales’ hidden heroines.

Helen Molyneux, from Monumental Welsh Women, said: “We are delighted to be able to announce the commissioning of our fourth statue of a real Welsh woman.

“Lady Rhondda’s achievements were vast and diverse - from her political campaigning, to her pioneering business accomplishments to her influential journalism.

“This will be the fourth statue commissioned by the Monumental Welsh Women project to celebrate the achievements of Wales’ hidden heroines – the women whose contributions to Welsh life and culture have been largely overlooked because of the era they were born in. 

“The first, award-winning statue of Wales’s first black head teacher, Betty Campbell was unveiled in Cardiff in September 2021.

“The second, of Elaine Morgan the evolutionary theorist and dramatist, was unveiled in Mountain Ash in March of this year, while the third, of Cranogwen the master mariner and poet will be unveiled in June next year.”

Julie Nicholas, from the Statue for Lady Rhondda campaign, said: “We are delighted to have chosen Jane Robbins as our artist for the Lady Rhonda statue.

“The panel agreed that Jane's idea for the statue not only represents the story of Lady Rhondda and her many achievements, but also cleverly reflects the story of Newport, where the statue will be situated.

“We are thrilled that Jane is going to create our monument, and can't wait to see the Statue of Lady Rhondda being revealed to the world.”

Ms Robbins is known for her figurative works, specialising in the human form, and her previous work includes a bust of suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst for the Pankhurst Centre in Manchester. 

“As a female sculptor I'm a rare breed – sculpture is a male dominated world,” she said.

“I like to think Lady Rhondda would approve of me being chosen to create her statue.

“I think in commemorative sculpture it’s important to capture the person as they were in life.

“I’d like to celebrate the woman Lady Rhondda was in both the physical likeness I achieve and in capturing the dignity she possessed throughout her life and work.”