English Heritage on Hunt for Missing William Hogarth Plaque
The one in Chiswick remains in place with a spare just in case
The plaque outside Hogarth's House in Chiswick. Picture: William Hogarth Trust
September 15, 2024
English Heritage has launched an appeal to recover fifty plaques that have been ‘lost’ in London over the last few decades.
Among those that have apparently gone missing is one that was awarded to the artist William Hogarth by the former London County Council (LCC) in Leicester Square.
The conservation society believes that war damage, demolition and refurbishment accounts for the disappearance of many of the plaques.
The first commemorative blue plaque was put up 1867 at the birth place of Lord Byron, in Holles Street, near Cavendish Square. This went missing when the house was demolished in 1889 and a replacement didn’t last much longer than the first, and today, the site is occupied by the Oxford Street branch of John Lewis.
The William Hogarth plaque is thought to have originally been situated in a corner of Leicester Square.
A plaque to William Hogarth was reported by the Londonist in 2013 to be stored in the Vanguard storage warehouse off the A40 in Greenford in 2013. It is believed to have been removed during construction work in the eighties. Mac McCullagh, the founding director of Vanguard collected discarded objects over the 50 years of the company.
It reads, “William Hogarth. Artist. 1697 – 1764. Sergeant Painter to King George III lived on the east side of this square.”
It is not clear whether this is the same plaque as the one on English Heritage’s list.
One plaque to William Hogarth, of which there is there is no doubt about its location, is that placed on the outer wall of Hogarth’s House facing the Great West Road (A4) in Chiswick. The William Hogarth Trust says that, if this was to go missing, there is a copy in store to replace it.
This plaque was part of a Middlesex County Council scheme and is believed to have been put in place after bomb damage was repaired and the re-opening of the House in 1951.
Other plaques categorised as missing, include those commemorating the painter David Wilkie, the novelist Henry Handel Richardson, the poet John Milton, the naturalist Francis Trevelyan Buckland, the astronomer Francis Baily and the composer Arthur Sullivan.
English Heritage curatorial director, Matt Thompson, “These lost plaques are still part of the story that the London blue plaques scheme has been dedicated to telling for the past 158 years.
“The story, not just of London, but of the breadth of human endeavour.”
The charity said it would look to reinstall any recovered plaques at a different address.
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