English Heritage has operated London's Blue Plaque scheme since 1986.
The scheme was initiated by the Society of Arts, in 1867. The very first plaque was erected on a house in Holles Street, near Cavendish Square (just off Oxford Street, near the junction with Regent Street), in honour of Lord Byron; unfortunately that house was demolished in 1889. A John Lewis department store now stands on the site, and bears a Westminster City Council plaque to Lord Byron.
In 1901 the scheme was taken over by the London County Council. Responsibility was passed to the Greater London Council in 1965, when that body took over from the County Council, and to English Heritage on the abolition of the GLC.
The Society of Arts's plaques were a variety of colours – often terracotta. It was the London County Council that standardised on blue, after the Second World War.
(The Society of Arts received its Royal Charter, becoming known as the Royal Society of Arts, in 1908.)
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