A green plaque for William Pitt

I've long been interested in history: it's the subject I studied at university, and a couple of years ago The Wandsworth Borough News published an article I wrote investigating the local dignitaries who are commemorated in our borough.

I republished that article last year for anyone interested.

William Pitt the Younger was one of Britain's longest-serving Prime Ministers. Anyone who thinks Tony Blair or Margaret Thatcher were in power for too long might reflect that Pitt was Prime Minister for 19 years from 1783 (then aged just 24); helped advance the cause of abolition of the slave trade (though it wasn't finally outlawed until just after his death), and presided during the upheaval of the French Revolution, the Napoleonic wars and the Madness of King George III.

The only thing that prevented Pitt from serving even longer than he did was his untimely death, which occurred in Bowling Green Cottage in the middle of Putney Heath.

Pitt, as you would expect, already has an English Heritage blue plaque - but outside his flat at 120 Baker Street, which is stuck almost unnoticeably above a Pret-a-Manger shop. Because only one blue plaque can be issued for each dignitary it isnt possible to situate one in Bowling Green Cottage, more's the pity.

But there's nothing to stop the Council from recognising the historical significance of this house by adding a plaque of its own. Especially given its recently-launched green plaque scheme.

The irony of Labour's parliamentary candidate for Putney championing the commemoration of a Tory Prime Minister isn't lost on me - though I question whether Pitt, like his good friend and fellow parliamentarian William Wilberforce would have been Conservatives today. Party politics aside, I hope that Pitt - as a historically consequential figure - is being actively considered for the next tranche of Wandsworth plaques.