New blue plaques for those who 'shaped London'

Nine new blue plaques are to be installed across London to honour those who "helped shape" the capital.

Those to be recognised include the late actor Sir Laurence Olivier, filmmaker Jill Craigie, World War Two military strategist Brigadier Dudley Clarke and journalist Duse Mohamed Ali.

Anti-racism activist Kamal Chunchie, astronomer Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, social reformer Gertrude Tuckwell, writer Stefan Zweig and Victorian-era photographer Julia Margaret Cameron will also be commemorated.

English Heritage curatorial director, Matt Thompson, said they represented "an astonishing range of achievement - from scientific discovery and artistic innovation to activism and political campaigning".

"Each, in their own way, helped shape London as a place of ideas, creativity and reform, and their stories continue to resonate today," he said.

Shakespearean actor Sir Laurence, who died in 1989, also carved out a notable film career, which included a number of Hollywood films.

He was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, winning three, including an honorary award in 1980 for his film career and an earlier honorary award in 1948 for bringing Henry V to the stage.

Craigie is recognised for her influential films, such as Out Of Chaos and Blue Scar, while Chunchie is honoured for his work supporting black and Asian communities in London, particularly in campaigning against racism in housing, and Ali is recognised for work championing racial equality.

Payne-Gaposchkin is recognised for her work which changed our understanding of the universe and for blazing a trail for women in science; Tuckwell is honoured for her work to improve conditions for working women; and Zweig is recognised for his writings on European culture and the impact of war.

English Heritage says the plaques are subject to approval from the properties where they will be installed, which are usually places where their subjects lived or worked.

The blue plaque scheme runs on suggestions from the public on the conditions that their subjects are deceased for at least 20 years, and that at least one building in Greater London in which they lived or worked should survive with a substantially unaltered exterior.

The London blue plaques scheme began in 1866 and is thought to be the oldest of its kind in the world.

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