Plaque

Mary Wollstonecraft - NW1

Inscription

In a house on this site lived Mary Wollstonecraft, author of "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman", 1759 - 1797.
Camden London Borough Council

2019: Ann Pearson wrote questioning the absence of any reference on the plaque to William Godwin and Mary Shelley. We'll redress that omission with a summary of the short, tragic, marriage that played out in the Polygon: In early 1797 Wollstonecraft discovered she was pregnant by William Godwin so, despite their opposition to marriage, they married in March and she moved into Godwin’s home here. They both maintained independent lives with Godwin renting a daytime study nearby. Here, in August, Mary Shelley was born and 11 days later her mother died.

Site: Mary Wollstonecraft - NW1 (1 memorial)

NW1, Werrington Street, Oakshott Court

The address at the time was 29 Polygon Square. The current building was designed by Hungarian-born Peter Tabori who had worked under Erno Goldfinger and Denys Lasdun.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Mary Wollstonecraft - NW1

Subjects commemorated i

Mary Wollstonecraft

Writer, philosopher and feminist before her time. Born Primrose Street, Spita...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Mary Wollstonecraft - NW1

Created by i

Camden Council

The Town Hall in Euston Road once housed these interesting murals by Cecil Os...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Joaquim Nabuco

Joaquim Nabuco

SW7, Cornwall Gardens, 52

Joaquim Nabuco, 1849-1910, eminent Brazilian statesman and diplomat, lived here, 1900-1905.

1 subject commemorated
PP - 3B - Peart & Dean

PP - 3B - Peart & Dean

EC1, Edward Street

The “fireman” on a steam train was the man who stoked the engine. You’ve seen him in cowboy films, furiously shovelling coal into the fir...

2 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
Southwark Bridge opened

Southwark Bridge opened

SE1, Southwark Bridge, West Pavement

{Beneath the 'bridge mark' of the Bridge House Estates and above the City of London coat of arms:} Southwark Bridge Re-built by the Bridg...

2 subjects commemorated, 5 creators
David Lloyd George - SW17

David Lloyd George - SW17

SW17, Trinity Road, 191, Lloyd George Mansions

The Right Honourable David Lloyd George, OM, Prime Minister, lived in this house, 1900 to 1904.

1 subject commemorated
Anti-Corn Law League

Anti-Corn Law League

EC4, Fleet Street, 69

The ACLL plaque is on the wall to the left, hidden by the wall-mounted No Entry sign. Note: despite their appearance, neither of these t...

3 subjects commemorated

Previously viewed

Sandemanian chapel

Sandemanian chapel

The Sandemanians were a Christian sect founded by John Glas in Scotland and spread into England and America by his son-in-law Robert Sandeman. Sandeman arrived in London in April 1761 and establish...

Building, Religion

2 memorials
Alfred Turner

Alfred Turner

Sculptor. Other works in London include: Fishergirl and Fisherman in the staircase niches at Fishmonger's Hall; three bas-reliefs in Portland stone in the main entrance of the Old Bailey; a memoria...

Person, Sculpture

3 memorials
John Harvard

John Harvard

SE1, Borough High Street, 211, John Harvard Library

The Harvard plaque does not explain why it is here, on this particular spot. Possibly his father's butcher's shop was here. The Anti-fas...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Sir George Cayley

Sir George Cayley

Scientist and pioneer of aviation. Born Scarborough.

Person, Aviation, Science

2 memorials
Thomas Hearne

Thomas Hearne

Thomas Hearne was born on 22 September 1744 in Marshfield, Gloucestershire, the son of William and Prudence Hearne. He was baptised on 26 September 1744 in St Mary the Virgin Church, Marshfield. H...

Person, Art, Caribbean Islands

1 memorial