Background:

The plaque is known to have been in position on the panel within the garden by 1962. The entire site was cleared in 1998-99 to allow for the building of the Ceramica extension to the Town Hall, but it is hoped that it will be reinstalled when the landscaping of the site is complete

Enoch Arnold Bennett (1867-1931) was born near Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. He studied locally, then at London University before quickly embarking on a career in journalism.
In 1896 Bennett was made editor of the journal Woman. His first novel, The Man from the North, was published in 1898. From 1902 he was engaged exclusively in writing. His most famous books include Anna of the Five Towns published in 1902, The Old Wives' Tale published in 1908, and the Clayhanger series, published in 1925 as The Clayhanger Family.

All the novels feature the 'Five Towns' based on the towns of Stoke-on-Trent, centres of the pottery industry. In fact Stoke-on-Trent consists of six towns but Bennett ignored the town of Fenton.