Who lived where : Blue Plaques

Q. What are Blue Plaques

A. Commemorative plaques erected on buildings - or the sites of buildings - associated with famous or infamous people.

�

Q. When did it all start

A. The very first was erected in 1867 at Lord Byron's birthplace in Holles Street, just off Oxford Street in London. The Royal Society of Arts was the first body to act on a suggestion by William Ewart MP that commemorative plaques should be erected at the homes of famous people who had lived in London. Byron's building has since been demolished, so the earliest plaques surviving today are those to John Dryden in Gerrard Street - now in Chinatown - and to Napoleon III in King Street, St James's, both of which were erected in 1875.

�

Q. Who administers the scheme now

A. Since 1 April 1986 it's been run by English Heritage. When the Greater London Council was disbanded by the Local Government Act of 1985, some of the functions of the GLC were transferred to English Heritage, including the erection of commemorative plaques, the first time that the Blue Plaque scheme had been included in an Act of Parliament.

�

Q. What happened to the Royal Society of Arts, then

A. The London County Council took over the scheme from the Royal Society in 1901, by which time the Society had put up 36 plaques. The LCC's first plaque was that to Lord Macaulay at Holly Lodge, Campden Hill, Kensington.

In 1965, the scheme was transferred to the LCC's successor, the Greater London Council. By this time there were 298 plaques in existence, over a third of them put up in the last twelve years of the LCC's existence. The GLC extended the scheme into the areas of outer London which had not been covered by the LCC.

�

Q. What do they look like

A. The majority conform to the standard 19-inch diameter circular blue and white design, now made in glazed earthenware. However, in the City of London the blue rectangular City Corporation plaques mark many historical sites and Westminster City Council has its own scheme using green plaques. Other types, sizes and colours can be found in different parts of the Metropolitan area.

�

The Royal Society of Arts' first plaque was deep blue with white lettering, but most of those erected before 1900 were a chocolate brown in colour and made by Minton. Between 1903 and 1921 the LCC experimented with a number of designs made in stone and metal as well as glazed terracotta, but in 1921 glazed Doulton ware was adopted as standard. The plainer design used in more recent years was chosen in 1937, with the white border added in 1939.

�

Q. What criteria are applied when considering a building for a plaque

A. The purpose of the scheme has from the beginning been to draw attention to buildings of interest because of their associations with famous people rather than to the people themselves. Although some of the earlier plaques mark the sites of demolished buildings, in more recent years it has been the practice to erect a plaque only when the house is still standing.

Until 1954 suggestions for inclusion in the scheme were dealt with on an ad hoc basis. However, at that time criteria were established against which suggestions were evaluated, and these, with minor amendments, were taken on by English Heritage and still operate today.

�

Q. Such as

A. The person should be known to the 'well-informed passer-by' and their work be deserving of recognition and have made a positive contribution to human welfare or happiness. Candidates should also have be either one hundred years from birth or twenty years from death and the building associated with them be extant. An individual can only be commemorated once.

�

It is now possible for the site of a noteworthy event be commemorated, such as the place where the first German V-1 flying bomb dropped on London.

�

Q. How many are there in London

A. There are currently almost 800 plaques there, including 9 incorporated into the scheme which had been erected by organisations other than the 'official' bodies.

�

Q. So is it�only a London thing

A. In 1998 English Heritage decided to launch it nationally and a pilot scheme was set up in Liverpool in June that year. The first Merseyside plaques - to Frank Hornby and John Brodie - were unveiled on 6 July 2000. The scheme has now been extended to Birmingham, Portsmouth and Southampton where nominations are currently being considered. However, since the early 20th century numerous local authorities, private individuals and private institutions have erected their own plaques.

�

Q. Who, for instance

A. The Institute of Physics, for one, along with the cities of Wolverhampton, Oxford, Belfast, Leeds and Cairo.

�

Q. Cairo

A. Yes. Cairo, Egypt. Find out more about their scheme at http://www.egy.com/blueplaques/list.html

�

For more detail and a full list of plaques around the country go to

www.english-heritage.org.uk/discovery/plaques/index.asp

�

For more on Arts & Literature click here

�

By Simon Smith