Plan to remember town historian Nelly Copson with a plaque

Councillor John Cook has spoken to a number of High Street businesses including Tom Lymer of Lymers Butchers, who has agreed to help raise funds for the plaque in memory of Nelly Copson.

The plaque will be placed inside Nelly’s old house, which is now home to the Button Tree Cafe.

Hannah Bloor the cafe manager, said: “She’s a bit of an icon of Droitwich. She lived here, the shop was in two. This was her shop, and she lived above it, she even went to prison because of it. She’s hugely interesting. She was really popular in Droitwich so we’re happy to have a plaque up in the shop.”

Nelly became the oldest woman to be sent to a British jail in 2000, when at the age of 81, she served two days in what was then Brockhill women’s prison, near Redditch, for refusing to pay business rates on the empty shop where her father had worked as a cobbler.

Local historian Paul Jones has written a book about Nellie. He added: “I think it’s an absolutely wonderful idea and I’m sure Nelly would be absolutely delighted. She loved the High Street, she was born on the High Street in 1919, and I think to commemorate her in such a way is a lovely idea.

“After the funeral I really did feel concerned that there was the serious risk of Nelly, in a few generations, becoming forgotten. Anything really that highlights Nelly and ensures that she won’t be forgotten is fantastic. She wasn’t just a local historian she was also a great character, and she spent her entire life at the rear of 42 High Street.”

Nelly Copson’s plaque may only be one of a handful to be put up in Droitwich, after a plaque was installed several years ago on the outside of the Old Cock Inn to give some information on its significance to the town, and another was set into the floor of the old town hall to mark the centenary of the Worcester Turnpike. Should anyone else have a memorial plaque in Droitwich? Feel free to contact the Advertiser with suggestions.