Siân Gwenllian has reacted to the unveiling of a plaque to Bangor suffragist and councillor Charlotte Price White.

 

Last week a plaque was unveiled at 50 Garth Road in Bangor, the former home of Charlotte Price White, to honour the life of the leading activist in the North Wales Suffragist movement.

The small ceremony, held in line with Covid-19 regulations, was attended by Jane Hutt MS, Welsh Government Minister for Social Justice and Siân Gwenllian, the Member of the Senedd for Arfon.

Although born in Briggart, Scotland, in the 1890s she came to train as a teacher of science at Bangor University. She married the Welsh international footballer Price White and gave birth to two children, including Caernarvon Boroughs MP David Price-White.

Siân Gwenllian reacted to the event, and talked of being “personally indebted” to Charlotte Price White: “I was delighted to be part of a celebration at Bangor recently to note the achievements of Charlotte Price White, a prominent Suffragist who walked to London during the Suffrage Pilgrimage of 1913.

“I felt personally indebted to her and hundreds like her who fought so hard for women’s rights. I also felt a little sad. So much has been achieved but inequalities persist.

“Only around a quarter of county councillors are women; I served as the only woman on Gwynedd Council’s Cabinet; I am the first woman to represent the Arfon constituency. When women are absent from public life, women’s voices and priorities are absent too.

“Even at the Senedd, I am in a minority. Of the 60 members, there are 26 women and 34 men. Of the 13 Plaid Cymru Members of the Senedd, 8 are men, 5 are women.”

Siân Gwenllian, who represents the area in the Senedd has spoken of her “honour” in being part of Price White’s lineage, as she was the first woman to represent the Arfon constituency. Likewise, Charlotte Price White was one of the first women to be elected to Caernarvonshire County Council in 1926.

Siân Gwenllian MS has talked of the barriers that women still face in public life, and has called for “real, meaningful change.”

“To change the situation, I firmly believe we have to have a statutory electoral system in place that makes it obligatory for political parties to select equal numbers of men and women (whilst also reflecting the diversity of society in Wales.)

“I will be advocating this during this new Senedd when there is a unique opportunity to bring this about in Wales, for the first time.

“As I set about to argue the case for mandatory quotas in Welsh elections – for the Senedd and local government, I will be inspired by Charlotte Price White and countless other women’s rights campaigners.

“I look forward to further celebrations of her life which are planned for the autumn.”

The plaque is the seventh Purple Plaque for Remarkable Women in Wales. The initiative was started in 2018 inspired by the centenary celebrations of Women’s suffrage in 1918 – a campaign in which Charlotte was a leading part of as a member of the Bangor branch of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies.

White became a member of the Women’s Institute when it was founded in the UK in 1915 with a branch at Llanfairpwll. She was also an integral part of the North Wales Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and its ‘Peace Pilgrimage’, held in 1926.

As well as receiving a purple plaque to honour her memory, Price White was included on the Women’s Equality Network’s 100 Welsh Women list, compiled to celebrate the contributions of women, past and present to the life of Wales.