Restored Minnie Lansbury Clock Unveiled!

October 16th, 2008

After over 2 years of hard work, the Minnie Lasnbury Memorial Clock has been restored and unveiled in front a relatives of Minnie and many local people on Thursday October 16th, 2008. In May 2006 Tower Hamlets Council, who own the clock approached the Heritage of London Trsut for a grant to restore the clock, which had been erected in 1922 in honour of local suffragette and Poplar Councillor Minnie Lansbury.

Minnie Lansbury (1889- 1922), née Glassman, was the daughter of Jewish coal merchant Isaac Glassman. She became a teacher and joined the East End suffragettes in 1915, becoming a friend of the Pankhursts. She went to become a member of the War Pensions Committee, fighting to ensure that widows and orphans of World War I were properly looked after. She married Edgar Lansbury, son of George Lansbury (Mayor of Poplar and later leader of the Labour party) in 1914, and was elected an alderman of Poplar’s first Labour council in 1919. In 1921 she was jailed, along with many of her council colleagues, for refusing to levy rates on the poor of Poplar. After 6 weeks in prison they were released, but Minnie’s health was shattered and she contracted pneumonia and died in January 1922 at the age of just 32. Thousands of local people attended her funeral and the memorial clock was erected by public subscription on Electric House, Bow Road in her memory.

The Trust offered a grant of £3,000 to restore the clock (including £1,000 from the Hazel Wood Charitable Trust), but Tower Hamlets discovered that their was a shortfall in their budget and they would not be able to go ahead with the restoration work. In the spring of 2007, the Heritage of London Trust, in association with the Jewish East End Celebration Society, launched an appeal to raise the funds needed to complete the restoration work - HOLT director Diana Beattie made a video about the clock for BBC Video Nation (see link on home page). Eventually enough money was raised, and the Heritage of London Trust handed over a cheque for just over £13,000 to Tower Hamlets Council, who oversaw the restoration work. The clock was taken down and restored by experts Smith of Derby. The newly restored clock, now painted green and gold was re-erected on Electric House in summer 2008.

A crowd of local people, heritage enthusiasts and Tower Hamlets staff assembled for the unveiling of the clock - Minnie Lansbury's nephew Harold Langdon and his daughter Selina Gellert, along with other relatives of Minnie, were in attendance. Former MP Oona King made a speech about how important women like Minnie were, ensuring that women could vote and eventually sit in parliament. The actress Angela Lansbury, the daughter of Edgar Lansbury by his second wife, made a doantion towards the restoration and sent a message of support, saying "my father Edgard Lansbury once wrote: "The world's best hopes depend upon the pure in heart." In her brief lifetime Minnie Lansbury embodied that spirit of which he spoke."

The Heritage of London Trust is pleased to have been involved in this project. The Minnie Lansbury Memorial Clock is a fine example of East End heritage and history, and we hope that Minnie's story will inspire young women everywhere.

Please click on the links below for recent press coverage:

photos: from top: The newly restored clock; Harold Langdon (centre) and Minnie's relatives celebrate the unveiling; the new plaque erected on Electric House, Bow Road; Oona King (right) and Dr Selina Gellert view the old and new plaques.

The Heritage of London Trust would like to thank all those who contributed to the restoration of the clock:

Hazel Wood Charitable Trust
Rothschild Foundation Europe
Pilgrim Trust
Garfield Weston Foundation
Jewish East End Celebration Society
Dr Selina Gellert, Glassman and Langdon families
Miss Angela Lansbury CBE
Mrs Bessie Becker
Mr David Ohayan
Mr Rolnick
Tara & Edward Draper-Stumm
Mrs Harris
S Hyams
GMB Union
TGWU Union
and many other anonymous donors!