Heritage and Conservation - Blue Plaques I
This has been a remarkable year for our Blue Plaques Scheme. We achieved not only the landmark of our 100th plaque but also the highest profile ever for one of our unveilings.
The first plaque of the year was unveiled by Councillor Andrew Carter, Deputy Leader of Leeds City Council, on 6 September 2005 at ‘The Wardrobe’, St Peter’s Square, Quarry Hill. It celebrated the life of Richard Oastler, ‘The Factory King’, who heroically led the 19th century campaign to reduce the factory children’s working hours to ten a day. Oastler was born in St Peter’s Square in 1789. We thank Peter Connolly for kindly hosting the event and, above all, Professor Neville Rowell, a most generous benefactor, who not only sponsored this plaque but also over the years has paid for five others when finding the funding seemed almost impossible.
After some ten years of trying, we at last found both a suitable site and a sponsor for a plaque to commemorate the Leeds engineer John Smeaton. The plaque was unveiled on 6 October by Mr John McKenzie, President of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers which generously paid for it. Smeaton was born in Austhorpe in 1724 and is regarded as the founding father of British civil engineering. Though he is best remembered for his construction of the Eddystone Lighthouse 14 miles out from Plymouth in the English Channel, the scientific methods he devised to harness the water, wind and steam power essential to the Industrial Revolution were of greater importance. He was consulted nationally on the design of mills, harbours, bridges and waterways including the Aire and Calder Navigation, hence the siting of the plaque at Leeds Lock by the Royal Armouries.
On 7 December, Dr John Wales, retired consultant physician and past Chairman of the Faculty at Leeds General Infirmary, unveiled a plaque to commemorate Sir Clifford Allbutt, Physician at the Infirmary 1864-1884. He invented the short-stemmed clinical thermometer, which became used throughout the world, and from 1874-1889 had a practice from ‘Trent to Tees’. Appointed Regius Professor of Physic at Cambridge in 1892, he edited and wrote articles for The System of Medicine which was to become known as the ‘Doctor’s Bible’. The plaque is sited at Lyddon Hall, Sir Clifford’s former home, on Leeds University campus and was sponsored by the Faculty.
On 24 April Dr Julie Rugg, Head of the Cemetery Research Group, unveiled our plaque at the gatehouse of Leeds General Cemetery. This haven of tranquillity, now within Leeds University campus, was created by a private company in 1833 in response to the serious overcrowding in Leeds church graveyards. Many of the town’s Victorian elite are buried here. Notable grave memorials include those to Pablo Fanque, the famous black circus owner, and fireman James Potter Schofield who was killed in the Dark Arches fire in 1892. The plaque was generously sponsored by David and Valerie Kaye, both Trust members.
Amidst general public delight, the Trust achieved its 100th plaque on 23 May when our plaque celebrating Whitelocks First City Luncheon Bar was unveiled by Sarah Whitelock, the great, great granddaughter of John Lupton Whitelock, its landlord in 1867. We chose Whitelocks for this milestone because not only is it a remarkable historic building but it is also an institution known and loved by generations of Leeds people from all walks of life. It represents the inclusive nature of the Plaques Scheme whose portfolio covers famous individuals, notable buildings, medicine, religion, education, city industries, sport and leisure, the social scene and historic events. Breaking with precedent, the Trust funded this special plaque itself. Whitelocks provided an excellent buffet for the occasion.
More...
Valerie Ives
Plaques Scheme Administrator