The preacher, philosopher and pioneer of actuarial science, Dr Richard Price, has been commemorated with a blue plaque, English Heritage announced today (22 February). Considered to be one of the greatest Welsh thinkers of all time, Price’s plaque marks his former home, in what is believed to be the oldest surviving terrace in London. The red brick house at 54 Newington Green dates from 1658 and still has the arched entrance though which Price would have ridden on his favourite white horse. Some interior features that Price would have recognised also remain, including an early 18th-century staircase.

It was in this house – from the little turret chamber in which he studied – that he lived from around 1758 to 1787, and wrote letters to the likes of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, with whom he enjoyed close friendships. His advice on the concept of liberty – that it was not the mere absence of restraint, but ‘to have the same expectation for others as we have for ourselves’ – helped to shape the United States constitution. Price’s support for the American revolution led him having his house searched.

English Heritage’s Howard Spencer said: “From economics and statistics to politics, religion and philosophy, Richard Price’s achievements are incredibly varied. He was a true man of the age of enlightenment and it is particularly exciting to commemorate him here in Newington Green, where we know he spent many years, and on a building of such note.”

Journalist, presenter and newsreader, Huw Edwards, said: “There is no doubt that Richard Price deserves to be a household name. He was a mathematical genius and forward-thinking philosopher and theologian whose influence is still felt today. I hope English Heritage’s new plaque will go some way towards getting him the recognition he deserves.”

Price’s friends during his time in Newington Green included Joseph Priestley, with whom he corresponded on his discoveries on ‘purified air’ (oxygen) and whose own blue plaque is in Hackney; Mary Wollstonecraft, who ran a school on Newington Green and was part of Price’s congregation; her husband William Godwin; and the prison reformer John Howard, who has a blue plaque on Great Ormond Street. The poet Samuel Rogers lived two doors away as a boy, and he remembered how much Price enjoyed ‘the society of the young and loved to contribute to their amusement’. There is a memorial to Price in the Unitarian Chapel where he preached, a short distance from his Newington Green house: ‘His eminent talents were matched by his integrity, simplicity and goodness of heart’, says its inscription.

The English Heritage London Blue Plaques scheme is generously supported by members of the public.