During his career with the Monty Python comedy troupe Graham Chapman was set upon by the Spanish Inquisition (which nobody expected), pitted in combat against the fearsome Black Knight and crucified in a musical number, accomplishments for which he surely deserves some recognition. Instead, Mr. Chapman, who died in 1989, is one of several noteworthy Britons and people who lived in Britain whose names have been dropped from a list to have their homes distinguished by ceremonial markers because of budget cuts at the organization that grants them.
The Telegraph of London reported that English Heritage, the preservation group that bestows so-called “blue plaques†on former dwellings of the great and famous, was lowering the number of plaques it would put up because of reductions in financing it receives from the British government, the group said. Other well-known figures who have been dropped from English Heritage's short li st include Brian Epstein, who was the manager of the Beatles; the cellist Jacqueline du Pré; and the author Vladimir Nabokov. Existing plans to recognize former homes of Ava Gardner, David Niven and Peter Sellers have not been changed.
The Telegraph said that despite budget cuts English Heritage officials including its chief executive, Simon Thurley, and director of resources, Keith Harrison, have seen their incomes rise this year. On the bright side of life, the celebrities who were cut from the list can be reconsidered for blue plaques â€" which cost about $4,600 each to make and install â€" in another 10 years.
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