Ada Salter statue is one of the figures in Dr. Salter’s Daydream group statue, together with her husband and daughter, standing on the south bank of the River Thames in Bermondsey.
Ada Salter (1866-1942) was a social reformer, environmentalist, pacifist, and politician.
Salzer was born, raised, and was active in the Methodist church in Northamptonshire. In her 30s, she moved to the Bermondsey Settlement in south-east London, where she met her future husband, the physician Alfred Salter. In 1900, the couple married, lived in Bermondsey, and dedicated themselves to improving the lives of poor people in the area. Their only daughter, Joyce, sadly died from Scarlet Fever when she was only eight.
The couple endlessly served the people in Bermondsey and were involved in local politics. Alfred treated anyone in need for little or no payment many times. He served on the Bermondsey Borough Council, the London County Council, and later as a Member of Parliament.
Ada co-founded and led the Women’s Labour League and the National Gardens Guild. She was elected to Bermondsey borough council, one of the first women councilors in London, promoted slum demolition, building model council houses, developing urban gardening, and improving the air quality. In 1922, she became Bermondsey’s Mayor, continued executing the beautification and housing programs, and planted 9000 trees by the 1930s, transforming the Borough of Bermondsey from an industrial slum into a green area.
In 1991, the London Docklands commissioned the statue of Dr. Alfred Salter, and artist Diane Gorvin designed and sculptured it. Then, Alfred was depicted sitting on a bench, watching his daughter playing with her cat.
In November 2011, the statue of Dr. Salter was presumably stolen by metal thieves, and the rest of the sculptures were kept safe in storage.
The Salter Statues Campaign group raised £60,000, and the Southwark Council matched, and on 30 November 2014, the statues were rededicated with the addition of Ada’s statue. Her statue was the first statue of a female politician in London. Ada is depicted holding a shovel in her hand, symbolizing the many plants she planted in Bermondsey.
The statue is a 1-km walking distance from the Ada Salter Garden in Southwark Park in the heart of Bermondsey.
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