The plaques bringing lesser-known London histories to life

Ever heard of suffragette and jiu-jitsu master Edith Garrud? What about Christine Granville, the daring second world war secret agent who escaped Poland on skis? These are just two of the incredible life stories that London's plaque schemes have brought to light in recent years.

The oldest of them all is the blue plaque scheme, now run by English Heritage, which has slapped sapphire-coloured circles on buildings with connections to notable Londoners of yore since 1866. In recent years, the scheme has begun to remedy its woeful lack of diversity with a spate of new plaques dedicated to female and ethnic minority Londoners, including Muslim war heroine Noor Inayat Khan and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Abdus Salam. 

Many individual London boroughs have their own schemes — look out for green plaques next time you're in Westminster, Haringey or Islington — and other niche organisations (plus one or two pranksters) have got in on the action, too. The links embedded above provide some fascinating insights into the lives of those commemorated across these various heritage schemes, or you can click below for details on how you can help uncover more untold histories.