Are you an Elizabeth?

Then you could take a place alongside Elizabeth I and other famous namesakes at an exhibition to mark the Queen’s diamond jubilee.

To mark Elizabeth II’s 60 years on the throne, Sutton library is planning to create a snapshot of the lives of 60 women who share her name and have helped to form the borough’s past and present.

The exhibition will begin with Elizabeth I, who often stayed at Nonsuch Palace, and takes in 30 women with a link to Sutton’s past.

They include Bess Throckmorton, whose family home was Carew Manor, and was infamous during her lifetime for incurring the wrath of Elizabeth I by secretly marrying her favourite, Sir Walter Raleigh, without her permission.

After his execution for treason, she carried his embalmed head with her in a velvet pouch until her death 29 years later.

Elizabeth Yorke, who lived at Carshalton House during her childhood, and grew up to become one of the most politically active women of her day will also feature, alongside Elizabeth Kenny, who took charge of two polio wards at Queen Mary’s Hospital, and pioneered a new way of treating children with the disease.

Also featured will be Elizabeth Stone, who lived in Sutton as a child, and whose family gave its name to Stone’s Ginger Wine.

Now, the library is looking for modern-day Elizabeths who have lived or worked in Sutton to share their stories.

The library needs 30 women to give a little information on something that is important to them to create a snapshot of life in Sutton today.

The stories will be displayed in June.

Councillor Graham Tope, executive member for libraries, said: “We hear a lot about Sutton’s rich history, but these personal stories, many of which have never been heard before, give a rare and fascinating insight into what daily life was really like for people who have lived in the borough over the centuries.”

If you have a story you would like to share, call 020 8770 4622 or email jane.allen@sutton.gov.uk by Friday, May 11.