User:FGLawson/sandbox blue plaques

English Heritage scheme

The original blue plaque scheme is the one run by English Heritage in London. It is believed to be the oldest such scheme in the world. There are currently about 850 plaques in London. There were once more, but about 100 have been removed or destroyed due to demolition. English Heritage puts up an average of 12 new plaques each year in London.

The scheme was founded in 1866 by William Ewart MP, Henry Cole and the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) [Hansard vol 172 17 July 1863 quoted in ] which erected plaques in a variety of shapes and colours.

The first plaque was unveiled in 1867 to commemorate Lord Byron at his birthplace, 24 Holles Street, Cavendish Square. This house was demolished in 1889. The earliest blue plaque to survive, also put up in 1867, commemorates Napoleon III in King Street, St James's. Byron’s plaque was blue, but the colour was changed by the manufacturer Minton, Hollins & Co to chocolate brown to save money.

In 1879, the Society of Arts agreed that the Corporation of the City of London would be responsible for erecting plaques in The Square Mile to recognise the jurisdictional independence of the City. This demarcation has remained ever since. In total the Society of Arts put up 35 plaques, less than half of which survive today.

In 1901, the scheme was taken over by the London County Council (LCC), which gave much thought to the future design of the plaques, and eventually it was decided to keep the basic round shape and design of the RSA plaques, with the exception that they would from then on be blue, introduce a laurel wreath and include the LCC’s title. Though this design was used consistently from 1903 to 1938, some experimentation occurred in the 1920s, and plaques were made in bronze, stone and lead. Shape and colour also varied.

In 1921, the most common (blue) plaque design was revised, as it was discovered that glazed ceramic Doulton ware was cheaper than the encaustic formerly used. In 1938, a new plaque design was prepared by an unnamed student at the LCC's Central School of Arts and Crafts and was approved by the committee. It omitted the decorative elements of earlier plaque designs, and allowed for lettering to be better spaced and enlarged. A white border was added to the design shortly after, and this has remained the standard ever since.

The LCC formalised the selection criteria for the scheme in 1954. On the abolition of the LCC in 1965, the scheme was taken over by the Greater London Council (GLC). The scheme changed little, but the GLC was keen to broaden the range of people commemorated. The GLC erected 252 plaques, the subjects including Sylvia Pankhurst,[2] Samuel Coleridge-Taylor,[3] and Mary Seacole.[4] In 1986, the GLC was disbanded and the Blue Plaques Scheme passed to English Heritage. English Heritage has erected over 300 plaques in London so far, with many more shortlisted.

Criteria

In order to be eligible for an English Heritage blue plaque in London a person:

• must have been dead for twenty years or have passed the centenary of their birth. Fictional characters are not elegible.
• must be considered eminent by a majority of members of their own profession; have made an important contribution to human welfare or happiness; be recognisable to the well-informed passer-by, or deserve national recognition. In cases of foreigners and overseas visitors, candidates should be of international reputation or significant standing in their own country.
• have lived in that building in London (excluding the City of London and Whitehall) for a significant period, in time or importance, within their life and work.

With regards to the location of a plaque:

• Plaques can only be erected on the actual building inhabited by a figure, not the site where the building once stood (but in exceptional circumstances they may be put onto reconstructed buildings which have exactly the same façade on the identical site)
• Plaques are not placed onto boundary walls, gate piers, educational or, ecclesiastic buildings or Inns of Court;
• Buildings marked with plaques should be visible from the public highway;
• A single person may not be commemorated with more than two plaques.

Note that other schemes will have different criteria.

How to propose a person for a blue plague

To nominate someone for the English Blue plaque scheme in London, email or phone the English Heritage team first and then submit a formal written proposal. English Heritage historians then do further research. The English Heritage’s Blue Plaques Panel, which meets three times a year, then makes a decision.

Who decides?

English Heritage’s Blue Plaques Panel considers all the suggestions which meet the basic criteria. It is composed of 13 people from various disciplines from across the country. The panel is chaired by Sir David Cannadine, and includes Sir Andrew Motion, Stephen Fry and Gavin Stamp.

Roughly a third of proposals are approved in principle, and are placed on a shortlist. Because the scheme is so popular, and because a lot of detailed research has to be carried out, it takes about three years for each case to reach the top of the shortlist. Proposals which are not taken forward can only be re-proposed once ten years have elapsed