PURPLE PLAQUES
Celebrating remarkable Women in Wales
The Purple Plaques campaign has been created to recognise remarkable women in Wales by awarding them with a plaque to commemorate their achievements and cement their legacy in Welsh history.
Thora Silverthorne – Nurse and Trade Unionist
Born in Abertillery
A Purple Plaque, positioned outside Abertillery Museum, has been unveiled for a “pioneering and courageous” nurse, Thora Silverthorne. Thora was a champion of her profession who went on to become one of the first British nurses to volunteer to help the wounded in the Spanish Civil War. The daughter of a miner, Thora spent the first 17 years of her life in Abertillery, until her father, an NUM official, was sacked after the General Strike of 1926. This forced the family to leave Wales as he sought new work.The plaque has been kindly funded by Thora’s family.
