UK Edition
Public urged to nominate more women for Blue Plaque recognition
More women should be commemorated as part of the blue-plaque scheme created to mark the achievements of notable individuals, says Princess Anne’s husband Sir Tim Laurence.
Sir Tim, the chairman of English Heritage – which runs the scheme - says the organisation is planning to pay greater recognition to the contribution of women to the country’s history.
Just 13 per cent of London’s 902 plaques are for notable female figures, and English Heritage is now appealing for the public to nominate more notable women for the plaques.
Speaking about the small number of women commemorated by the scheme Sir Tim, a former Vice Admiral in the Royal Navy, said: “We are taking steps to correct that. I do think it’s wrong.
“We can only assess people who are nominated, so we are asking people to nominate more women.”
Sir Tim said that Britain is beginning to recognise a wider range of people as worthy of recognition for their outstanding achievements and contribution to the country’s cultural, scientific and political life.
“There was a time when unless you became prime minister you weren’t important enough,” he told The Telegraph.
This year’s new batch of blue plaques includes the actress Ava Gardner and the pioneering cookery writer Elizabeth David, as well as Queen singer Freddie Mercury.
The blue plaque scheme was launched in 1866, with the first one erected in Holles Street, Marylebone, the following year, in tribute to the poet Lord Byron.
But it took a decade before the first woman was honoured, when the actress Sarah Siddons was recognised with a blue plaque in 1876.
Suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst, Jamaican nurse Mary Seacole and novelist Virginia Woolf are among the women who have since been honoured with a plaque.
English Heritage fears that the low number of notable women celebrated by the scheme could have an impact on the public’s view of women’s contribution.
According to a survey carried out by the heritage organisation 40% of people think women had less impact on history than men.
But Sir Tim said there were no plans to extend the blue plaque scheme beyond the capital, although English Heritage supports and advises on similar schemes across the country.
“It is a London scheme – it started in London and it has never intended to be anywhere beyond London. Any city in the United Kingdom is very much entitled to start a similar scheme,” he said.
Sir Tim, in his first interview with a national newspaper, defended English Heritage and other bodies, such as the National Trust, against charges of 'disneyfication' in their attempt to attract more visitors, with guides dressed in historical costume and children allowed to touch and play with some exhibits.
“There will always be criticism when an organisation tries something new,” he said. “In the early days, critics were asking whether the Tower of London had lost its marbles with the poppy installation, but it became clear what a fantastic piece of artwork that was.”
Sir Tim said he supports what he regards as “bold decision-making”, and believes that “organisations like English Heritage, the National Trust and Royal Historic Palaces have to be imaginative.”
As chairman he hopes to increase the membership of English Heritage from 880,000 to a million and make it financially fully independent from Government funds by 2023.
He said: “These wonderful properties should be funded by the people who want to come and see them, rather than by the taxpayer.”
English Heritage, which looks after the National Heritage Collection of more than 400 state-owned historic sites and monuments, became a charitable trust following its split from its partner Historic England in April 2015.
Its funding deal with the Treasury includes around £50 million to be spent on a backlog of conservation work.
“It's hugely important to restore the properties to a point where we can then sustain them at the right level,” said Sir Tim. “The intention is that by the time this runs out, we will be generating a surplus.”
However, he also called on Ministers to change VAT rules which make it punishingly expensive for private owners of historic homes to carry out restoration work. Since 2012 repairs and alterations to listed buildings have been subjected to the full VAT rate of 20 per cent.
Sir Tim said this had “made it really difficult for private owners.” He added: “It is a very controversial issue in the heritage world and I think there’s a strong argument for reversing that decision. The loss to the Treasury would be very small but the gain to the country would be enormous.”
He said sensible custodianship of historic houses is vital, adding: “It’s about doing the necessary repairs, whether they are open to the public or not, and the government could make a gesture towards that by changing the VAT rules.”
One of English Heritage’s next projects is the opening of a visitor centre at Rievaulx Abbey in June. It is also planning include a new interpretation of Tintagel Castle in Cornwall, and a £1.25 million conservation project on the Iron Bridge in Shropshire.
Sir Tim defended the visitor centre at Stonehenge, opened in 2013, in the face of some criticism, saying it had been “hugely well received.”
He said: “Whenever you do a big project like that, there’s a bit of teething trouble when it starts, but we’ve got over it now.”
As vice admiral, Sir Tim was chief executive of defence estates at the Ministry of Defence, which put him in charge of 700 listed buildings, 1200 scheduled monuments and 170 Sites of Special Scientific Interest, many of which were crumbling.
“I only did that job for three years, but it was a marvellous apprenticeship for English Heritage,” he said.
10 blue plaques to notable women
- Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia, lived at Vernon Court, Hendon Way, Cricklewood
- Gracie Fields, singer, lived at 72a Upper Street, Islington
- Rosalind Franklin, co-discoverer of DNA, lived at Donovan Court, Drayton Gardens, Chelsea
- Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst, suffragette leaders, lived at 50 Clarendon Road, Holland Park
- Mary Seacole, pioneering nurse, 14 Soho Square, Westminster
- Virginia Woolf¸ novelist, lived at Hogarth House, 34 Paradise Road, Richmond Upon Thames
- Dame Maud McCarthy, the Army Matron-in-Chief during World War One, lived at 47 Markham Sq, SW3
- Violette Szabo, who died fighting for the French Resistance, lived at 18 Burnley Rd, SW9
- Lilian Lindsay, the first qualified female dentist, lived at 3 Hungerford Rd, N7
- Hertha Ayrton, inventor of a fan that dispersed poison gas from trenches during WWI, lived at 41 Norfolk Square, W2