More blue plaques for women demanded

The City of London Corporation is being called on to increase the diversity of blue plaques in the Square Mile, by dedicating more of them to women.

There are around 140 blue plaques in the City, commemorating notable people, buildings and structures, the oldest being writer Dr Samuel Johnson's.

The Barbican and Golden Lane Neighbourhood Forum believes only three of these are currently dedicated to female figures, and has suggested candidates for several new plaques to the corporation.

The City of London said it recently redesigned its blue plaque scheme and encouraged nominations that celebrated underrepresented groups.

The corporation recently installed a plaque commemorating Britain's first known black schoolteacher, Francis Barber - Johnson's former servant, friend, and heir.

Submissions for the 2027 cycle are not due to be accepted until January, though the forum has put together a proposal document highlighting its concerns with the existing collection.

The forum's proposal, seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, said: "Given the remarkable history of our area, the increasing interest in it, and the likelihood that the new London Museum will only stimulate this further still, the forum would like to see some new blue plaques to correct the imbalance and represent the variety and complexity of connections here."

As a "starting point" it puts forward three suggestions for the Barbican-Golden Lane area.

They are the City's first maternity hospital, founded at London House on Aldersgate Street, Eleanor Karr, founder of the Welcome Working Girls Institute and Restaurant, and Pakistan's first and only female prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, who lived in the Barbican when she was in exile.

A spokeswoman for the Barbican and Golden Lane Neighbourhood Forum said: "We hope that the City will do more to equal the balance – at least 70 plaques to women are needed to level the scales."

Brendan Barns, chair of the City of London Corporation's Culture, Heritage, and Libraries Committee, said: "The return of our blue plaques scheme reflects a renewed commitment to celebrating the people, places and organisations that have helped shape the Square Mile.

"Inclusivity is a key aim of the redesigned scheme... we encourage nominations that celebrate women and other underrepresented groups."

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