Sculpture: Andrew Brown
Date: 2018
Location: Govan Road at Govan Cross Shopping Centre
Description:
This sculpture of political activist, Mary Barbour, was unveiled in Govan on 18 March 2018 to coincide with International Women’s Day.
Mary Barbour was a leading campaigner during rent strikes in 1915 that led to a change in government legislation, prohibiting unscrupulous landlords from raising rents and evicting residents who couldn’t afford to pay.
The activists led months of protests which culminated in a large demonstration outside Glasgow Sheriff Court and the city chambers.
Within a month munitions minister Lloyd George changed the law to reduce rents to pre-war levels across the UK.
The mobilisation of ‘Barbour’s Army’ saw thousands of women march alongside shipyard and engineering workers to protest at the prosecution in Glasgow’s small debt court of 18 tenants for non-payment of a rent increase.
The campaign attracted ministerial intervention, the cases were dismissed and the Rent Restriction Act was enacted, heralding a change in Glasgow’s housing system.
Barbour went on to maintain her vision and determination to deliver better policies for women and children across the city.
At the 1920 local elections she and four other women were the first women elected to Glasgow Corporation.