Present:Professor Sir David Cannadine (Chair)

Blue Plaques Panel

Open Minutes

Minutes of the 47th meeting held at 11.00am on the 17th June 2009 at St Andrew Holborn, London

Present:Professor Sir David Cannadine (Chair)

Dr Celina Fox (Vice-Chair)

Ms Maria Adebowale

Professor David Edgerton

Miss Julia Elton

Professor Sir Christopher Frayling

Mr Stephen Fry

Sir Nicholas Kenyon

Professor Sir Andrew Motion

Dr Margaret Pelling

Dr Jane Ridley

Professor Gavin Stamp

Professor Lisa Tickner

Mr John Cattell – Blue Plaques Secretary

Ms Emily Cole – Head of Blue Plaques Team

Miss Esther Godfrey – Blue Plaques Historian

Mr Howard Spencer – Blue Plaques Historian

Ms Jane Biro – Blue Plaques Coordinator

Ms Libby Wardle – Blue Plaques Administrator

Item 1 – Apologies, Announcements & Declarations of Interest

1.1There were no apologies for absence, as all members of the Panel were in attendance.

1.2Sir David congratulated Professor Motion on his recent knighthood.

1.3Professor Edgerton declared an interest in the suggestion that a plaque be erected to Patrick Blackett, which had been made by one of his students.

Item 2 – Minutes of the March 2009 meeting

2.1 The Open minutes of the March 2009 meeting were agreed, subject to the repositioning of Dr Pelling’s arrival time and the addition of Maria Dickin to the list of suggestions which the Panel had shortlisted. They would be signed following these additions as a correct record.

2.2 The Exempt minutes of the March 2009 meeting were agreed. They would be signed with the Open minutes.

Item 3 – Matters Arising and Secretary’s Report (Oral)

3.1Mr Cattell thanked the Panel for its helpful ideas on publicity for the blue plaques book, Lived in London, which had been launched on 27th May at Dr Johnson’s House, an event for which he thanked Jane Biro and Libby Wardle. He reported that publicity for the book had begun with a three-page article in the ‘Seven’ supplement of the Sunday Telegraph, and interviews with Emily Cole by Robert Elms for LBC Radio and Sanchia Berg for the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. Further coverage was expected, including articles in the Evening Standard and the TLS. The Panel’s suggestions on locations for stocking the book had proved particularly useful: displays had been mounted in the windows of Heywood Hill and the Primrose Hill bookshop. The Panel congratulated Emily Cole and the team on the book.

3.2Mr Cattell drew the Panel’s attention to the high-profile unveiling of the plaque to Sir Douglas Bader, which had been organised as such at the suggestion of Yale, to coincide with the launch of the book. Arranged in partnership with the Douglas Bader Foundation, the unveiling had been attended by Bader’s step-daughter Wendy McCleave, 7/7 survivor David Gardner and Sir Richard Branson, who had known Bader during his childhood. The event had attracted coverage on BBC’s Breakfast, BBC News and BBC London News, Radio 5 Live and Radio 4, and in the Daily Telegraph, The Times, the Daily Mail and the Mirror. The Ministry of Defence had produced an article for its website.

3.3Since the previous meeting five plaques had been installed, in addition to that to Bader. Mr Cattell listed these for the Panel: the plaque to Rachel and Margaret McMillan had been erected in Bromley; that to Dr Innes Pearse and Dr George Scott Williamson had been placed at the original home of the Pioneer Health Centre in Peckham – Dr Pelling had kindly officiated at its unveiling; a plaque to Sir Jack Cohen at his childhood home in Whitechapel had been unveiled in a ceremony attended by Sir Terry Leahy, CEO of Tesco, and Cohen’s family, including Dame Shirley Porter; Sir William Walton’s plaque had been installed at Lowndes Cottage, Belgravia, with the intention of holding an unveiling later in the year; and the plaque to Sir Henry Segrave had been erected in Marylebone, with publicity pending.

3.4Mr Cattell reported that Dr Susan Skedd would be returning from maternity leave at the end of the month, but expressed regret at the departure of Esther Godfrey. Miss Godfrey would continue to work on plaques, however, covering Dr Skedd’s planned absence in August, and thereafter on a consultancy basis. Mr Cattell thanked Esther for her excellent work over the year she had spent within the Blue Plaques Team.

3.5Following the March meeting, English Heritage had received no negative feedback on the Panel’s rejections.

3.6Mr Cattell notified the Panel that organisation of the conference on commemorative plaques had continued since the previous meeting, with a view to holding the conference later this year or in early 2010.

3.7On 31st March, Dr Skedd had led (for a second time) a walk around central London taking in sites of significance in the life of Olaudah Equiano, and Mr Cattell informed the Panel of this. The walk was intended not only to document Equiano’s life but to disseminate the detailed historical research that had been carried out by the team in a (sadly unfruitful) attempt to locate a suitable surviving address for a blue plaque to Equiano.

3.8Mr Cattell updated the Panel on forthcoming unveilings, which – though no precise dates had yet been settled – were expected to include the plaques to Roger Fry (to coincide with the Courtauld Institute’s exhibition on the Omega Workshops), Arthur Hugh Clough, Stanley Holloway, Fred Russell and Baron Carlo Marochetti. It was hoped that the unveiling of the plaque to Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe, which had been installed earlier in the year, would also take place.

3.9Mr Cattell reminded the Panel that the date of the next meeting would be Wednesday, 14th October 2009.

Item 4 – Information Reports

4.1 The reports giving information on plaques erected since the last meeting, and the progress of plaques approved for London, were noted by the Panel.

Item 5 – New Suggestions for Blue Plaques in London

5.1The following new suggestions were endorsed for a full historical report to be made to the Panel:

Martha Gellhorn (Journalism and Publishing; Literature)

Samuel Beckett (Literature)

Sir Muhammad Iqbal (Philosophy; Literature)

John Archer (Politics and Administration; Philanthropy and Reform)

Srinivasa Ramanujan (Science)

The Panel noted the brevity of Ramanujan’s connection with London, but felt that – as a mathematician of international standing – he was worthy of commemoration in the capital.

Patrick Blackett (Science; Armed Forces; Politics and Administration)

Fred Perry (Sport; Commerce and Business)

The Panel noted that, ideally, the plaque to Perry would be installed to coincide with the 2012 Olympics.

Peter Sellers (Theatre and Film; Music Hall and Radio Comedy)

5.2The Panel asked for further research to be carried out on the following suggestion:

Elsa Lanchester (Theatre and Film)

The Panel felt that full consideration of Lanchester should be deferred until further research had been carried out into her importance as a cabaret artiste, in addition to her role as a film star.

5.3The Panel felt that the following new suggestions did not meet the selection criteria for the scheme and recommended that they should not be shortlisted:

Leslie Green (Architecture and Building; Engineering and Transport)

Lionel ‘Buster’ Crabb (Armed Forces)

Marie-Louise von Motesiczky (Fine Arts)

Alfred Moritz Mond, First Baron Melchett (Industry and Invention; Politics and Administration)

Robert Howlett (Industry and Invention; Applied Arts)

Sir Stephen Spender (Literature)

The Panel felt that it was too soon to reliably assess – in context – Spender’s contribution to his field, and the longevity of that contribution, and suggested that a more informed assessment would be possible in 2015, twenty years from his death.

Elias Canetti (Literature)

The Panel was conscious that Canetti was being considered under the centenary provision, and felt that it would be easier to accurately assess his reputation after 2014, when twenty years will have passed since his death.

Dorothy Thomas GC (Medicine)

Edith Whetnall (Medicine)

Nicholas Legat (Music and Dance)

Abdullah Yusuf Ali (Religion; Literature; Politics and Administration)

The Panel felt that it was impossible to single out Ali from among the many other notable translators of the Qur’an.

Dame Kathleen Lonsdale (Science)

Sidnie Manton (Science)

Irene Manton (Science)

Harry Duncan (Sport)

Helena Modrzewska (Theatre and Film)

Item 6 – Supplementary Reports

Suggestions for which, on further investigation, there does not appear to be a building suitable for commemoration:

6.1William Godwin (1756-1836)

The Panel noted that there was no suitable building at which Godwin could be commemorated. His name should be removed from the shortlist and the proposer informed.

Item 7 – Final Reports

7.1Herbert Howells (1892-1983)

The Panel agreed the proposal that, subject to the necessary consents being obtained, a blue plaque be erected.

This report/minute is potentially exempt from public access under the Freedom of Information Act, Section 36: Prejudicial to the conduct of Public Affairs. Please note that other exemptions may also apply.

7.2Sir William Beveridge (1879-1963)

The Panel agreed the proposal that, subject to the necessary consents being obtained, a blue plaque be erected.

7.3Bill Brandt (1904-1983)

The Panel agreed the proposal that, subject to the necessary consents being obtained, a blue plaque be erected.

7.4Sir William Hooker (1785-1865) and Sir Joseph Hooker (1817-1911)

The Panel agreed the proposal that, subject to the necessary consents being obtained, a blue plaque be erected.

Item 8 – Any Other Business

8.1Next Meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for 11.00am on Wednesday, 14th October 2009, at St Andrew Holborn.

Libby Wardle

Blue Plaques Administrator

June 2009

Page 1

Minutes of Blue Plaques Panel meeting – 17th June 2009