Blue Plaques

What are Blue Plaques?

Blue Plaques are a permanent sign installed in public place to honour a link between the location and a famous person or event. All of the blue plaques in Richmond upon Thames are erected by the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission on buildings in Greater London associated with famous people.

Unofficial plaques exist to Gustav Holst (Barnes), Alfred Lord Tennyson (Montpelier Row) and John Templeton (Hampton Hill). There are also Comedy Plaques inserted in the wall of Teddington Studios.

For more information contact Mrs Ann Sutton, 36 Gothic Road, Twickenham TW2 5EH.

The Historic Building and Monuments Commission plaques are listed below chronologically in order of their unveiling.

Blue Plaques in Richmond Upon Thames:

David Garrick (1970) 

Garrick's Villa, Hampton Court Road, Hampton, TW12 2EJ.

"David Garrick, 1717-1779. Actor, lived here"

David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Samuel Johnson.

Leonard and Virginia Woolf (1976)

Hogarth House, Paradise Road, Richmond, TW9 1SE.

"Leonard and Virgina Woolf lived in this house 1915-1924 and founded the Hogarth Press in 1917"

Adeline Virginia Woolf Stephen (25 January 1882 – 28 March 1941) was an English writer. She is considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device.

Leonard Sidney Woolf was a British political theorist, author, publisher, and civil servant. He was married to author Virginia Woolf.

J.M.W. Turner (1977)

Turner's House, 40 Sandycoombe Road, Twickenham, TW1 2LR.

"J.M.W. Turner, R.A., 1775-1851. Painter, designed and lived in this house"

Joseph Mallord William Turner RA (23 April 1775 – 19 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbulent, often violent marine paintings.

Henry Fielding (1978)

Milbourne House, Barnes Green, SW13.

"Henry Fielding, 1707-1754. Novelist, lived here"

*Please note this plaque is inaccessible

Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English writer and magistrate known for the use of humour and satire in his works. 

Cardinal Newman (1981)

Grey Court Cottage, Ham Street, Ham, TW10 7HN.

"In this house John Henry Newman 1801-1890, later Cardinal Newman, spent some of his early years"

*Please note this plaque is inaccessible

John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican priest and later as a Catholic priest and cardinal, who was an important and controversial figure in the religious history of England in the 19th century.

Kurt Schwitters (1984)

39 Westmorland Road, Barnes, SW13 9RZ.

"Kurt Schwitters, 1887-1947, Artist lived here"

Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist who was born in Hanover, Germany.

John Beard and William Ewart (October 1992)

Hampton Branch Library, Rose Hill, Hampton, TW12 2AB.

"John Beard c1717-1791, singer and William Ewart 1798-1869, promoter of public libraries lived here"

Humanitarian reformer MP William Ewart spent his early years in this house (where John Beard passed his retirement). His achievements include a parliamentary act reducing the number of offences punishable by hanging and a bill leading to free public libraries. He also came up with the idea for blue plaques.

Sir Edwin Chadwick (October 1992)

5 Montague Road, Richmond, TW10 6QW.

"Sir Edwin Chadwick, 1801-1890, Public Health Reformer lived here"

Sir Edwin was knighted for his lifelong campaigning for public health measures. His admirable effort investigating poverty and deprivation, and work as a Poor Law reformer, presaged the passing of a series of public health acts in the late 1840s.

Arthur Hughes (November 1993)

Eastside House, 22 Kew Green, Richmond, TW9 3BH.

"Arthur Hughes, 1832-1915, Pre-Raphaelite Painter lived and died here"

A fan of Pre-Raphaelite artists Millais, Rosetti and Holman Hunt, this young artist spearheaded a resurgence of Pre-Raphaelite ideals, working with contemporaries William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones. Throughout his life, Hughes continued to work in the Pre-Raphaelite tradition, and the picture above shows one of the many enchanting scenes that he painted.

Bernardo O'Higgins (July 1994)

Clarence House, 2 The Vineyard, Richmond, TW10 6AQ.

"Bernardo O'Higgins, 1778-1842, General, Statesman and Liberator of Chile, lived and studied here"

The liberator of Chile, O'Higgins lived and studied here in his early life, then returned to his native Chile, where he joined the nationalist movement. In 1818, as dictator of the country, he ejected Spanish forces, and organised the government.

Walter De La Mare (May 1995)

South End House, Montpelier Row, Twickenham, TW1 2NQ.

"Walter De La Mare 1873-1956, poet, lived here"

Walter John de la Mare (25 April 1873 – 22 June 1956) was an English poet, short story writer and novelist. He is probably best remembered for his works for children, for his poem "The Listeners", and for his psychological horror short fiction, including "Seaton's Aunt" and "All Hallows".

Sir Noel Coward (December 1995)

131 Waldegrave Road, Teddington, TW11 8LL.

"Sir Noel Coward 1899-1973, actor, playwright and songwriter born here"

Noel Coward (born December 16, 1899 - died March 26, 1973), English playwright, actor, and composer best known for highly polished comedies of manners.

Sir Christopher Wren (June 1996)

The Old Court House, Hampton Court Green, KT8 9BS.

"Sir Christopher Wren, 1632-1723, architect, lived here"

The architect of St Paul's Cathedral and 50 other London churches was also a mathematician, scientist and astronomer, Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College, London, then at Oxford University. After the Great Fire of London, this brilliant designer spent 40 years rebuilding the ravaged areas.

Henry Du Pre Labouchere (1999)

Pope's Villa (Randor House School), Cross Deep, Twickenham, TW1 4QG.

"Liberal MP and journalist (1831-1912)"

Henry Du Pré Labouchère was an English politician, writer, publisher and theatre owner in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. He is now most remembered for the Labouchère Amendment, which for the first time criminalised all male homosexual activity in the United Kingdom.

James Henry Greathead (1999)

St Mary's Grove, Barnes, SW13 0HZ.

"Railway Engineer and Pioneer of Tunnelling (1844-1896)"

James Henry Greathead (6 August 1844 – 21 October 1896) was a mechanical and civil engineer renowned for his work on the London Underground railways, Winchester Cathedral, and Liverpool overhead railway, as well as being one of the earliest proponents of the English Channel, Irish Sea and Bristol Channel tunnels.

James Thomson (2005)

Richmond Royal Hospital, Kew Foot Road, Richmond, TW9 2TE.

"John Thomson (1700-1748), Poet, Author of Rule Britannia, lived and died here"

Described as the 'cult figure who occupies the gap between Milton and Wordsworth', this influential Scottish poet and playwright wrote the lyrics for Rule Brittania in 1740, a year after he moved to this house, which is now part of the former Royal Richmond hospital.

Alan Turing

78 High Street, Hampton, TW12 2SW

"Alan Turing, 1912-1954, code breaker, lived here from 1945-1947"

British mathematician and logician who made major contributions to mathematics, cryptanalysis, logic, philosophy, and mathematical biology and also to the new areas later named computer science, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and artificial life.

Dame Celia Johnson (2008)

46 Richmond Hill, Richmond, TW10 6QX.

"Dame Celia Johnson (1908-1982), Actress, was born here"

Dame Celia Elizabeth Johnson (18 December 1908 – 26 April 1982) was an English actress, whose career included stage, television and film. She is especially known for her roles in the films In Which We Serve (1942), This Happy Breed (1944), Brief Encounter (1945) and The Captain's Paradise (1953). For Brief Encounter, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Lancelot 'Capability' Brown (2011)

Wilderness House, Hampton Court Palace, KT8 9AR.

Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, an architect and designer responsible for the creation of nearly 300 of England's finest Georgian landscaped parks and gardens. Lived at the Wilderness House, Hampton Court Palace from 1764 until his death 1783.

*Please note admission to Hampton Court Palace is required to visit this plaque.