Was Olive Gibbs a fiery socialist? Yes. She was one of Oxford’s best-loved politicians. We are standing in front of the Olive Gibbs Blue Plaque. This plaque honors her remarkable life and contributions.
Olive Gibbs was born here on February 17 1918. This was in the parish of St Thomas. It was between Westgate and the city’s railway station. She grew up in this very building. The Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Scheme unveiled this plaque to celebrate her achievements.
Gibbs entered Oxfordshire politics in 1953. She became the second woman Lord Mayor of Oxford. Florence Kathleen Lower was the first. She served as Lord Mayor twice. Her terms were in 1974 to 1975 and 1981 to 1982. The second time, she stepped in to replace a colleague. He had died halfway through his term. Olive Gibbs was also the first woman to chair the Oxfordshire County Council. Her husband Edmund was also a councillor. He was an accountant and founder of an Oxfordshire firm.
After winning a scholarship to Milham Ford School in Headington, she earned a school certificate. She also got a record 37 successive detentions. Gibbs wanted to follow her brother to the Oxford Mail. The chief reporter turned her down because she was a woman.
She met Edmund Gibbs. He was the son of a city councillor and future councillor himself. That is when she became involved in politics and campaigning. They married in 1940.
Olive Gibbs chaired the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament from 1964 to 1967. She was a passionate opponent of nuclear weapons. Gibbs recalled being at an RAF dance in Boars Hill. News broke of the Hiroshima bombings in August 1945. Everyone rose to their feet. They threw caps in the air and wildly cheered. Gibbs remained slumped in her seat. She was pale and trembling. She knew the worst crime in history had just been committed.
In 1951, she decided one “had to be organised if you wanted to achieve anything”. So she joined the Labour Party. Her first political battle was against a Conservative council. They planned to close five nursery classes in South and West Oxford. A group of mothers sought her help. Gibbs had two sons of her own. She approached four Conservative councillors about the issue. It was the first time they felt the full impact of her fiery personality.
Other celebrated fights included her struggle to preserve the community at Jericho. She also fought to prevent a road being built through Christ Church Meadow. Gibbs was made an Honorary Freeman of both the City of Oxford and the City of London. Oxford Brookes University awarded her its first-ever honorary degree in 1986. She was a Deputy Lieutenant of Oxfordshire. Gibbs Crescent is named after her. It is a new street of social housing. The Humanities building at Oxford Brookes was also named after her. It was then Oxford Polytechnic.
Olive Gibbs died in 1995 at the age of 77. She was a true daughter of Oxford. She was always proud of her origins in St Thomas. Her legacy lives on in the city she loved and served so passionately.