Plaque

(lost) Sarah Siddons lost plaque

Erection date: 1876

Inscription

Sarah Siddons. Actress. Lived here. b.1755 d.1831.
Erected by the Society of Arts

We've not seen the plaque but the V&A's description confirms that it looks just like this Charles Dickens' one.

Site: Sarah Siddons lost plaque (1 memorial)

NW1, Upper Baker Street, 27

Siddons was the first woman honoured with an official plaque in 1876 but the house was demolished in 1905. The plaque survives in the V&A collection (ref. number: O136607). The address is given as 17 York Place but Upper Baker Street was a continuation of York Place (now all called Baker Street) so we think both addresses refer to the same house, the house in which Siddons died.

At GetWestLondon we found our two, 1903, photos of the house: the ground floor drawing room and a view of the outside taken "from the north-west". Look closely and you can see the plaque above the front door, between the window boxes. This photo suggests to us that the house was at the north end of the east side of Upper Baker Street, shown on this 1834 map. The large building there now, number 236, is dated 1913 which is about right. That building is built over the railway lines to Baker Street Station which probably explains the demolition.

We thank Steve Roffey for bringing this lost plaque to our attention; he found the reference to it in the V&A collection.

2018: The Guardian refers to this plaque as the first erected to a woman.

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Sarah Siddons lost plaque

Subjects commemorated i

Sarah Siddons

Actress. Born Brecon, Wales, eldest sister of Charles Kemble. 1773 married th...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Sarah Siddons lost plaque

Created by i

Royal Society of Arts

Founded by William Shipley as the "Society of Arts" in Rawthmell's Coffee Hou...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

George Myers

George Myers

SE1, St George's Road, 131

George Myers, 1803 - 1875, master builder, lived here, 1842 - 1853. English Heritage

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
twinning with Clichy

twinning with Clichy

E1, 145 Stepney Way, Stepney Meeting House United Reformed Church

The church plaque is below the large wooden cross. the twinning plaque, unusually large, is on the wall to the right, below the tree.

1 subject commemorated, 3 creators
Hackney parish watch house

Hackney parish watch house

N16, Lordship Road, 6 - 8

Other watch houses that we have found: Walthamstow, Hampstead, Cannon Lane, Hampstead, Holly Place, Giltspur Street, Rotherhithe, Abbey S...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Gas Light and Coke Company

Gas Light and Coke Company

SW1, Seacole Building, Great Peter Street

Unveiled by councillor Carolyn Keen, Lord Mayor of Westminster.

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Middlesex Hospital and Barnato and Joel

Middlesex Hospital and Barnato and Joel

W1, Nassau Street

We had not heard of the Barnato-Joel family before coming across this plaque. If the web can be believed they are a tragic family. Do ...

3 subjects commemorated, 10 creators