Historical London Celebrity Guide
Famous People, Historic Buildings and Blue Plaques of the UK capital
Aug 25, 2009
For the researcher seeking the location where famous personalities lived, worked and died in the UK capital, the blue plaque scheme of London is a ready reference. The names of celebrities from Napoleon to Gandhi, from Mozart to Handel, from Isaac Newton to Charles Darwin, from Oscar Wilde to Virginia Woolf adorn the facades of London buildings where these and many other famous people lived.
The blue plaque scheme was started in 1867 by the Society of Arts and taken over first by the London County Council in 1901, then by the Greater London Council in 1965 and finally by the English Heritage which has been running it since 1986. Over 800 plaques have been erected on the facades of historical buildings in various areas of the UK capital and serve as a guide to historical celebrity London.
Design of Blue Plaques
The design of the “memorial tablets” as blue plaques were first called has changed over the years: colours varied between blue, sage and terracotta and materials ranged from bronze to lead and ceramic. Plaques were mostly circular but there were also some that were square or rectangular. Today plaques are blue, circular, made of ceramic and measure 19 ½ inches or 495mm. The oldest surviving plaque erected in 1875 commemorates Napoleon III.
London Famous People and Historic Buildings
Blue plaques are embedded in the structure of buildings - sometimes grand, often ordinary - where famous people lived and worked. Sigmund Freud lived and worked in fashionable Hampstead; Charles Darwin in central London’s university campus; Isaac Newton in Soho; Charles Dickens in private street of Camden; British music hall stars, Dan Leno and Marie Lloyd in London's East End; Mozart composed his first symphony in the elegant neighbourhood of Chelsea.
The English Heritage website has got a section dedicated to blue plaques with an alphabetical search function. The researcher can visit the building where the blue plaque is erected to get a taste of the environment where the famous personalities of the past lived their dailies lives. The blue plaque scheme becomes an alternative London guide in that it does not offer simply a conventional landmark sightseeing tour of the UK capital.
In effect a historical London celebrity guide, the blue plaques place the famous people whose name appears on them within the context of the city they worked in. As peering into author’s rooms holds a peculiar fascination for it allows the observer a glimpse into the creative process, so famous politicians', artists' and scientists’ houses give a physical dimension to the aura that surrounds the celebrities of the past.
Who is Commemorated in Blue Plaques
The criteria for selection are related in the English Heritage website:
- A London building associated with the celebrity must survive. The result of this criterion is that for example William Shakespeare is not commemorated as no address associated with him survives in London.
- Twenty years must have passed from the person death or a centenary from their birth.
Only one plaque is allowed per person. On average 1 in 3 proposals for blue plaques are accepted by the English Heritage.
Source
 |
 |
 |
 |
