Blue plaque to be unveiled at Luker building in commemoration of Esther Luker, the first headmistress of Newbury Girls' School

Newbury will unveil its 14th blue plaque later this month, as it commemorates the first headmistress of the town’s girls’ school.

Esther Jane Luker (1872-1969) was seen as an education pioneer, after Newbury Girls’ School became the first school in the town to offer secondary education for girls to university standard.

She was headmistress from 1904 until 1933 and by the 1920s, the school’s girls were gaining entrance scholarships to Cambridge.

The plaque will be unveiled at the northern entrance of the ‘Luker building’ – now flats next to St Bartholomew’s School - by the Mayor of Newbury, Billy Drummond, at 12.30pm next Thursday (January 20).

Members of the public and especially former pupils of the Girls’ School are welcome to attend.