Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2
“Took no rest from doing good”
I hovered around Margaret’s statue a while as there was a couple on the seat enjoying lunch (and possibly each other). Their exit may have been quickened by my loitering, but it’s great to see folk interacting with history, art and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Margaret (1870-1911) was a social reformer. She was involved in the suffragist movement and took part in voluntary social work supporting and highlighting the need for reform in women’s welfare. This led to her playing a key role in establishing the first trade schools for girls in 1904. A noticeboard in the park says she was devoted to her 6 children. It seems she packed a lot in to her relatively short life. Do I feel a little envious of this? Sure I do.
At the front of the statue are the words, ‘This seat is placed here in memory of Margaret MacDonald who spent her life in helping others’. The inscription at the rear reads, ‘She brought joy to those with whom and for whom she lived and worked. Her heart went out in fellowship to her fellow women & in love to the children of the people whom she served as a citizen and helped as a sister. She quickened faith and zeal in others by her life and took no rest from doing good.’
Margaret and her family lived on Lincoln’s Inn Fields, so it was fitting for her husband Ramsay Macdonald to design the statue and have it erected in the park after her death in 1914. Margaret supported socialism and financed Ramsay’s early career in politics. He went on to become Labour’s first Prime Minister. Sculptor: Richard R Goulden https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Reginald_Goulden
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