Diversifying London's Blue Plaques

More recently, like many of us, I have been exploring the charms of 'local' history, which prompted me to go on a 'Blue Plaque trail'. For this I headed to nearby Hampstead Village, as there's pretty much a plaque on every corner. Whilst looking into London's Blue Plaque history I also discovered what English Heritage are doing to diversify who is recognised in these iconic sapphire circles. 

Rabindranath Tagore's Blue Plaque

The History of Blue Plaques

Founded in 1866, London's Blue Plaque scheme highlights links between notable figures of the past and the buildings in which they lived and worked. This scheme, run by English Heritage since 1986, has inspired similar programmes in the UK and around the world. 

Simply download the English Heritage Blue Plaques App onto your phone and use it to find plaques near to your location. My highlights included plaques for Bengali poet and artist Rabindranath Tagore, author D.H. Lawrence and New Zealand short story writer Katherine Mansfield. 

Diversifying the Sapphire Circles

It appears I did quite well to find the names of both a woman and an Indian man inscribed in plaques on my walk. According to the English Heritage website, in 2016 only 14% of the blue plaques in London are dedicated to women, and in statistics from the same year, they recorded that less than 4% of the 900 plus plaques across the capital are dedicated to people who are Black or Asian. 

Katherine Mansfield and her husband John Middleton Murry's plaque

English Heritage launched a campaign in 2016 encouraging the public to send more plaque nominations for women, which has seen a rise in the number of public suggestions for female figures. This year, for the first time, the English Heritage blue plaques panel is shortlisting more women than men.

In 2016 a working group was tasked with proposing Black and Asian nominees. Gus Casely-Hayford, previous head of the working group, stated that the 'The Blue Plaques Scheme faces certain specific challenges when it comes to recognising the achievements of individuals who have faced institutional barriers, who have often lived outside of the official records'. As the saying goes, 'those in power write the history, while those who suffer write the songs.' A variety of people have contributed to society but less is known about some groups than others. 

Alastair Sim's plaque (one for the 'rents)

Black Lives Matter has rightly brought the significance of public memorials to the fore, prompting English Heritage to release a statement recognising that while statues and plaques erected in the past may not reflect the values of people today, they do not plan to remove any blue plaques. Instead they will prioritise reviewing existing ones to determine where additional information is necessary to provide a full picture. They also emphasised increasing diversity, discussing new plaques that have been erected due to recent campaigns and revealing plans to unveil plaques for Noor Inayat Khan, a British Muslim woman who was a WWII secret agent, and 18th-century abolitionist, Ottobah Cugoano.

We stumbled across a few plaques not associated with English Heritage, including this one

Blue Plaque Nominations

Proposing a blue plaque is very competitive (English Heritage only put up around 12 plaques per year), but if a nomination is not shortlisted, there are other organisations to approach. For example the Nubian Jak Community Trust support plaques to honour members of the African and Caribbean community, helping to reflect the diversity of London in the plaques displayed. Local authorities also run similar schemes, such as the plaque in the image above.

Going on a blue plaque trail was a great way to learn a little history (whilst avoiding some busier areas) and it was eye-opening to see how marginal recognition is for women, Black and Asian people. These plaques offer more than 'so & so lived here'; it connects the past with the present by helping us to imagine what surrounded these individuals when they wrote their books, songs and more. It is so important that we reflect the breadth of society and history in these plaques, and I encourage anyone who is aware of a significant figure's connection to a building, particularly if they are from an historically underrepresented group, to get nominating here! 


John Constable's plaque



English Heritage statement on London's Blue Plaques, Statues and Black Lives Matter: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about-us/search-news/blue-plaques-statues-and-black-lives-matter/