Essex Women's Commemoration Project Explained

The Essex Women's Commemoration Project (EWCP) is an English scheme to erect memorial plaques to honour notable women residents of places in the county of Essex. By the end of 2023, the project had erected 29 plaques.

History

The project was set up by the Lord-Lieutenant of Essex, Jennifer Tolhurst, in 2021, following an approach from Essex theatre director Graham Watts who wanted to mark the quatercentenary of the birth of playwright and philosopher Margaret Cavendish, born in Colchester in 1623. Graham Watts joined Julia Abel Smith, James Bettley, Roy Clare and Juliet Townsend to form the EWCP team with the aim of identifying distinguished Essex women who had not received the public recognition it was felt they deserved.^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

The team used inclusion in the online Oxford Dictionary of National Biography as the principal criterion for the erection of a blue plaque on a building or nearby location associated with the subject. A shortlist of 72 women was drawn up and interested organisations, such as local councils and societies, were approached and asked whether they would like to take up the idea of erecting a plaque in their community. Organisations who worked with EWCP include Basildon Heritage, Chelmsford City Council,^[5] Colchester Civic Society,^[6] Essex Gardens Trust, the Federation of Essex Women's Institutes,^[7] the Maldon Society,^[8] the Newport Local History Group,^[9] and the Essex and South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership.

The first plaque, to Margaret Cavendish, was unveiled by Mrs Tolhurst on 22 September 2021.^[10]

Plaques

As of 31 December 2023, 29 plaques had been installed with the support of the EWCP:

• Rose Allin, one of the Colchester Martyrs (Great Bentley)
• Ada Andrews, nurse (Canvey Island)^[11]
• Amy Bull, suffragette (Little Baddow)^[12]
• Margaret Cavendish, playwright, poet, novelist, scientist, philosopher (Colchester)^{[13] [14]}
• Beth Chatto, gardener (Beth Chatto Gardens, Elmstead Market)^[15]
• Joanna Constantinidis, sculptor (Chelmsford)^{[16] [17]}
• Katherine 'Mina' Courtauld, suffragist, co-founder Women's Land Army (Colne Engaine)^{[18] [19] [20] [21] [22]}
• Agnes Dawson, politician and trade unionist (Newport)^{[23] [24]}
• Princess Dinubolu, beauty queen (Southend-on-Sea)^{[25] [26] [27] [28]}
• Joyce Frankland, philanthropist (Newport)^[29]
• Gwynneth Holt and Thomas Huxley-Jones, sculptors (Chelmsford)^{[30] [31] [32]}
• Mary Honywood, supporter of Marian martyrs (Marks Hall)^{[33] [34]}
• Clara James, trade unionist (Canvey Island)^{[35] [36] [37]}
• Hannah Lake, founding mother of America (Wickford)^{[38] [39]}
• Catherine Marsh, author and philanthropist (Colchester)^[40]
• Adele Meyer, social reformer and philanthropist (Newport)^[41]
• Jane Packer, florist (Chadwell St Mary)^[42]
• Edith Pechey, doctor (Langham)^{[43] [44]}
• Vera Pemberton, founder and leader of Ingatestone Boys' Own Club (Ingatestone)^[45]
• Isabel Rawsthorne, artist, and Alan Rawsthorne, composer (Little Sampford)^[46]
• Helen Robinson, gardener (Hyde Hall, Rettendon)^[47]
• Myra Sadd Brown, suffragette and pioneeer of women's rights (Maldon)^{[48] [49] [50] [51]}
• Nancy Tennant, choral conductor and adjudicator (Ugley)^{[52] [53] [54]}
• Pamela Underwood, gardener (Beth Chatto Gardens, Elmstead Market)^[55]
• Philippa Walton, industrialist and entrepreneur (Royal Gunpowder Mills, Waltham Abbey)^{[56] [57]}
• Marion Wilberforce, aviator (Wickford)^[58]
• Ellen Willmott, gardener (Great Warley)^{[59] [60] [61]}
• Hester Woodley, enslaved woman (Little Parndon)^{[62] [63] [64] [65]}
• Hannah Woolley, author (Newport)^[66]

Plans are also advanced for plaques in Ingatestone to suffragettes Dorothea and Madeleine Rock^[67] and Dorothy Wadham, founder of Wadham College, Oxford;^[68] and in Dedham to Alice Lee, statistician and mathematician.^[69]

The project has also inspired other local initiatives, including a blue plaque to the artist Rosemary Rutherford that was unveiled at St Mary's Church, Broomfield, in November 2023,^{[70] [71]} and one to circus artist Joan Rosaire unveiled in Billericay in September 2024.^[72]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Essex Women’s Commemoration Project . Essex Lieutenancy . 8 January 2024 . 30 December 2023.
2. Web site: Willis . Anna . The women behind the blue plaques popping up all over Essex . Essex Live . 7 January 2024 . en . 28 May 2022.
3. Web site: Ground-breaking Essex writer is celebrated for commemoration project – Essex Community Foundation . www.essexcommunityfoundation.org.uk . 7 January 2024.
4. Web site: Watts . Graham . 'Objects better recognised than women' . East Anglia Bylines . 27 December 2023 . 14 September 2023.
5. Web site: Blue plaques in Chelmsford . www.chelmsford.gov.uk . 8 January 2024 . en-gb.
6. Web site: Commemorative Plaques . Colchester Civic Society . 8 January 2024.
7. Web site: BLUE PLAQUE UNVEILING - NANCY TENNANT . Essex WI . 8 January 2024.
8. Web site: Blue Plaque Walk . Maldon Society . 8 January 2024.
9. Evans . David . Agnes Dawson: the woman who put 'Mrs' in the classroom . Essex Life . March 2023 . 152–153.
10. Web site: Open Plaques . Blue plaque № 57212 . East Anglia Bylines . 27 December 2023.
11. Web site: Nurse Ada Andrews. CanveyIsland.org . en.
12. Bettley . James . Blue plaques for women . Essex Life . September 2023 . 154–155.
13. Web site: Rees . Daniel . Literary trailblazer to finally to be recognised at last . Gazette . 7 January 2024 . en . 8 September 2021.
14. Caines . Michael . NB . Times Literary Supplement . 30 June 2023 . 27.
15. Web site: Essex Women’s Commemoration Project- Blue Plaques . www.bethchatto.co.uk . 7 January 2024.
16. Web site: Maltby . Charlotte . Blue plaques honour Chelmsford’s remarkable women artists . Chelmsford City Life . 7 January 2024 . 8 March 2022.
17. Web site: Blue plaques in Chelmsford . www.chelmsford.gov.uk . 28 December 2023 . en-gb.
18. Web site: Ware . George . Council unveil new plaque to pay tribute to inspirational suffragist . Braintree and Witham Times . 7 January 2024 . en . 17 March 2022.
19. Web site: Wiffen . Lauren . Braintree District Council’s Chairman joins community to celebrate renowned British farmer and influential suffragist Katherine Courtauld . Braintree District Council . 7 January 2024 . en.
20. Web site: Plaque unveiled in honour of Katherine Mina Courtauld . Writtle University College . 7 January 2024 . en.
21. Townsend . Juliet . Blue plaques for women: suffragist, farmer and advocate for women in agriculture: Katherine Mina Courtauld . Essex Life . April 2023 . 144–145.
22. Web site: Open Plaques . Katherine Mina Courtauld blue plaque . openplaques.org . 7 January 2024.
23. Web site: Dunderdale . Louise . 4 inspirational women are celebrated in Newport . Saffron Walden Reporter . 7 January 2024 . en . 18 May 2022.
24. Evans . David . Agnes Dawson: the woman who put 'Mrs' in the classroom . Essex Life . March 2023 . 152–153.
25. Watts . Graham . Princess Dinubolu of Senegal - the Edwardian trailblazer . Essex Life . February 2023 . 144–145.
26. Web site: Howeson . Louise . Unveiling of Blue plaque for beauty queen Princess Dinubolu on Sunday in Southend . Echo . 7 January 2024 . en . 25 March 2023.
27. Web site: Blue plaque for Princess Dinubolu unveiled in Southend . BBC News . 7 January 2024 . 27 March 2023.
28. Web site: Open Plaques . Blue plaque № 58490 . openplaques.org . 7 January 2024.
29. Web site: Dunderdale . Louise . 4 inspirational women are celebrated in Newport . Saffron Walden Reporter . 7 January 2024 . en . 18 May 2022.
30. Web site: Maltby . Charlotte . Blue plaques honour Chelmsford’s remarkable women artists . Chelmsford City Life . 7 January 2024 . 8 March 2022.
31. Bettley . James . Sculptors Gwynneth Holt and Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones . Essex Life . December 2023 . 154–155.
32. Web site: Blue plaques in Chelmsford . www.chelmsford.gov.uk . 28 December 2023 . en-gb.
33. Web site: Moffat . Macaully . Blue plaque of 16th-century historical figure unveiled at Essex arboretum . Braintree and Witham Times . 7 January 2024 . en . 30 September 2022.
34. Web site: There’s something about Mary; Essex Women’s Commemoration Project honours former inhabitant of Marks Hall near Coggeshall Markshall Estate . www.markshall.org.uk . 7 January 2024.
35. Web site: Blue Plaque for Clara James unveiled . CanveyIsland.org . 7 January 2024 . en.
36. Web site: Howeson . Louise . Small but mighty: Canvey activist Clara James's Blue Plaque is unveiled . Echo . 7 January 2024 . en . 11 September 2022.
37. Web site: Blue Heritage Plaques Canvey Island . www.canveyisland-tc.gov.uk . 7 January 2024 . en.
38. Web site: Hannah Lake - a child of Wickford who became a Founding Mother of America. . Wickford Community Archive . 28 December 2023 . en.
39. Web site: Open Plaques . Blue plaque № 58520 . openplaques.org . 7 January 2024.
40. Web site: Adams . Lewis . Revealed: The Colchester woman who could get a blue plaque in city centre . Gazette . 7 January 2024 . en . 10 November 2022.
41. Web site: Dunderdale . Louise . 4 inspirational women are celebrated in Newport . Saffron Walden Reporter . 7 January 2024 . en . 18 May 2022.
42. Web site: Speight . Neil . Plaque and celebration to unveil it honours the life of Thurrock's Jane Packer . Thurrock Nub News . 7 January 2024 . en . 25 September 2022.
43. Web site: Mary Edith Pechey - Community Website . Langham . 7 January 2024.
44. Watts . Graham . Blue plaques for women . Essex Life . December 2022 . 166–167.
45. Web site: History of the Villages . Ingatestone & Fryerning Parish Council . 28 December 2023.
46. Abel Smith . Julia . Isabel Rawsthorne, Essex's forgotten artist . Essex Life . May 2023 . 146–147.
47. Web site: Helen Robinson . The Telegraph . en . 9 October 2004.
48. Web site: Emmett . Millie . Memorial plaque for suffragette unveiled at family home in Maldon . Maldon and Burnham Standard . 7 January 2024 . en . 15 November 2022.
49. Web site: Shahrabi . Ben . HISTORIC MALDON: The story of the town's very own suffragette, Myra Sadd-Brown . Maldon Nub News . 7 January 2024 . en . 21 February 2023.
50. Bettley . James . Blue plaques for women . Essex Life . September 2023 . 154–155.
51. Web site: Maldon Society . Blue Plaque Walk . 28 December 2023.
52. Web site: 'Champion of women's voices' Nancy Tennant to be commemorated in Ugley . Saffron Walden Reporter . 7 January 2024 . en . 17 April 2023.
53. Making history . Essex Life . July 2023 . 141.
54. Web site: Open Plaques . Blue plaque № 58683 . openplaques.org . 7 January 2024.
55. Web site: Essex Women’s Commemoration Project- Blue Plaques . www.bethchatto.co.uk . 7 January 2024.
56. Web site: Matthews . Anthony . Inspirational businesswoman recognised by new plaque at historic attraction . This Is Local London . 7 January 2024 . en . 5 September 2022.
57. Hooper . Geoffrey . The explosive life of Philippa Walton . Essex Life . January 2023 . 169.
58. Watts . Graham . Blue plaques for women: the 'Attagirl' air ace . Essex Life . August 2023 . 138–139.
59. Web site: Warley Place to unveil second plaque for Ellen Willmott . InYourArea.co.uk . 7 January 2024 . 23 July 2022.
60. Web site: In focus: Miss Willmott's published photographs . Gardenhistorygirl . 7 January 2024 . en . 15 October 2022.
61. Alexander . Lawrence . Horticulturalist Ellen Willmott . Essex Life . June 2023 . 154–155.
62. Web site: Staff Reporter . Blue plaque unveiled at St Mary's church in memory of West Indian slave Hester Woodley . Your Harlow . 7 January 2024 . 20 March 2023.
63. Web site: YourHarlowFilms . Unveiling of plaque in Harlow honouring West Indian slave Hester Woodley . YouTube . 7 January 2024 . en.
64. Clare . Roy . Hester Woodley, an involuntary woman of Essex . Essex Life . July 2023 . 146–147.
65. Web site: Open Plaques . Blue plaque № 58491 . openplaques.org . 7 January 2024.
66. Web site: Dunderdale . Louise . 4 inspirational women are celebrated in Newport . Saffron Walden Reporter . 7 January 2024 . en . 18 May 2022.
67. Bettley . James . Blue plaques for women . Essex Life . September 2023 . 154–155.
68. Clare . Roy . Blue plaques for women . Essex Life . November 2023 . 148–149.
69. Watts . Graham . Alice Lee, the Essex statistician who proved size doesn't matter . Essex Life . October 2023 . 146–147.
70. Bettley . James . Rosemary Rutherford: a talented artist whose work can be seen in Essex and Suffolk . Essex Life . January 2024 . 156–157.
71. Web site: Blue plaques in Chelmsford . www.chelmsford.gov.uk . 28 December 2023 . en-gb.
72. Web site: Basildon Heritage . Blue Plaque for Joan Rosaire with Basildon Heritage . YouTube . 12 August 2024 . en.