Wolverhampton's Blue Plaques

 Chapel Ash and
Tettenhall Road
Commemorating:

The Reverend Kenneth Hunt, M.A.

Sponsored by:

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Location:

St. Mark's Church, Chapel Ash.

 
Kenneth Hunt was born in Oxford in 1884 and moved to Wolverhampton in 1898 when his father became vicar at St. Mark's. He attended the Grammar School and Trent College before joining Queen's College, Oxford. While he was an undergraduate he played as an amateur for Wolves and scored in the 3-1 F.A. Cup Final win against Newcastle in 1908.

He represented England at both Full and Amateur levels and won an Olympic Gold Medal for Great Britain at the London Games in 1908.

He was ordained in 1910 and became a Housemaster at Highgate School. He died in 1949 and is buried at Heathfield in Sussex.
The unveiling Ceremony.

Left to Right: Bert Williams, ex-Wolves player; Dick Rhodes, Chairman of the Wolverhampton Civic Society; Graham Hughes, Wolves historian; and at the back Patrick Quirke, historian.

 

View the ceremony
Commemorating:

George Benjamin Thorneycroft

Sponsored by:

The Mason Richards Partnership

Location:

Salisbury House, 2 and 2a Tettenhall Road
George Thorneycroft was born in 1791 and became a wealthy industrialist. In 1824 he founded
the Shrubbery Ironworks with his brother Edward. The works became the largest employer of labour in the town. George was also a churchwarden at St. Peter's Church, a JP, and became first Mayor of the town, in 1848. George died in 1851. The ironworks closed in 1877 after loosing money for several years.

Commemorating:

John Fraser M.D. F.G.S.

Sponsored by:

Bryan Fowler

Location:

5 Tettenhall Road.
The plaque can be seen on the front of the house.

Commemorating:

George Bidlake, architect

Sponsored by:

Wolverhampton Society of Architects

Location:

91 Tettenhall Road
The plaque, seen here on the front of the house, commemorates George Bidlake, who was one of the most important architects in the town.
Commemorating:

John Masefield, Poet Laureate

Sponsored by:

Wolverhampton Literary and Scientific Society

Location:

141 Tettenhall Road

John Masefield was born in Ledbury on 1st June 1878. At the age of 15 he went to sea on a voyage to Chile, via the Cape of Good Hope. Illness forced him to return home, and when recovered he travelled to America and worked in New York. He returned to the U.K. in 1897 and in 1900 joined the staff of the Manchester Guardian. His first book of verse published in 1902 is called 'Sea Ballads' and includes his famous poem 'Sea Fever'. In the same year he stayed in Wolverhampton while in charge of the fine art section of the Arts and Industrial Exhibition. He published numerous works including plays, novels and two autobiographies. He became poet laureate in 1930 and in 1935 was made a member of the Order of Merit. He died on 12th May 1967.