Click on towns in blue to read their histories
ALDWICNKLE, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE John Dryden 1631-1700
ARBURY, WARKS George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) 1819-1880
ARNOLD Richard Bonington 1801-1828 Artist
BELPER, DERBYSHIRE Tracy Shaw 1973- Actress
BIRMINGHAM
Walter Allen 1911-1995 Writer Eilen Atkins 1934- Actor Michael Balcon 1896-1977 Film Producer David Bomberg 1890-1957 Artist Gerald Brockhurst 1891-1979 Artist Sir Edward Burne-Jones 1833-98 Artist Jasper Carrott 1945- Comedian barbara Cartland 1901-1999 Writer neville Chamberlain 1869-1940 Prime Minister John Curry 1949-1994 Ice skater Edgar Guest 1881-1959 Poet Tony Hancock 1924-68 Comedian Felicity Kendal 1947- Actor Charles Onions 1873-1965 Lexicographer Ozzy Osbourne 1948- Singer Max Pemberton 1863-1950 Writer william Pole 1814-1900 Engineer Sax Rohmer 1886-1959 Writer Joseph Shorthouse 1834-1903 Writer Julie Walters 1950- Actor Reex Warner 1905-1986 Writer Steve Winwood 1948- singer BRIDGNORTH Gerald Berners 1883-1950 Composer BROMSGROVE Geoffrey Hill 1932- Poet Laurence Housman 1865-1959 Writer BURBAGE Roger Cotes 1682-1716 Mathematician BURSELM Josiah Wedgwood 1730-95 Potter Frederick Hayward 1876-1944 Leader of Co-operative movement Tim Brooke-Taylor 1942 Comedian Lloyd Cole 1961- Singer CANNOCK Stan Collymore 1971- Footballer Elgar Howarth 1935- Trumpeter Russ Abbot 1947- Comedian Sir Adrian Boult 1889-1983 Conductor Randolph Caldecott 1846-1886 Artist Sameul Molyneux 1689-1728 Astronomer Richard Syne 1914-1994 Biochemist Francis Firth 1822-1898 Photographer John Hurt 1940 Actor Sir Robert Robinson 1886-1975 Chemist COALVILLE Kathleen Fidler 1899-1980 Writer CODSALL, STAFFORDSHIRE Sir Charles Wheeler 1892-1974 Sculptor Laura Davies 164- Golfer Frank Ifield 1937- Singer Nigel Hawthorne 1929-2001 Actor vince Hill 1937- Singer Philip Larkin 1922-85 Poet Ellen Terry 1847-1928 Actress Sir Frank Whittle 1907-96 Co-inventor of jet engine CROMFORD, DERBYSHIRE Alison Uttley 1884-1976 Writer DAVENPORT, CHESHIRE Margaret Burbidge 1922- Astronomer DAWLEY, SHROPSHIRE Matthew Webb 1848-1883 The first person to swim the English Channel DENBY, DERBYSHIRE John Flamsteed 1646-1719 Astronomer Herbert Spencer 1820-1903 Sociologist Sir William de Wivelesie Abney 1843-1920 Chemist Richard Roberts 1943- Biologist Joseph Wright 1734-97 Artist Charles Coulson 1910-1974 Chemist Lenny Henry 1958- Comedian EASTWOOD D H Lawrence 1885-1930 Writer EAST RETFORD Catherine Gore 1799-1861 Writer
GLOSSOP Vivienne Westwood 1941- Fashion Designer
HALESOWEN, WORCESTERSHIRE Leslie Bridgewater 1893-1975 Composer
HANLEY Arnold Bennett 1867-1931 Novelist
David Garrick 1717-79 Actor
Thomas Traherne 1636-1674 Poet
John Masefield 1878-1967 Poet
HINCKLEY Robert Chessler 1750-1831 Surgeon
HUCKNALL Eric Coates 1886-1957 Composer
KETTERING Alfred East 1849-1913 Artist KIDDERMINSTER Edward Bradley 1827-1889 Writer Sir Rowland Hill who invented the pre-paid penny stamp in 1840 LEAMINGTON SPA Ethel Anderson 1883-1958 Writer Terry Frost 1915-2003 Artist LEDBURY William Langland 1340-1400 Wrote Piers Plowman Julian Barnes 1946- Writer
Henry Bates 1825-1892 Naturalist Lady Jane Grey Queen for 9 days in 1553 Graham Chapman 1941-89 One of the Monty Python team John Merrick 1862-90 'The Elephant Man' Joe Orton 1933-1967 Playwright Charles Percy Snow 1905-1980 Writer Sue Townsend 1946- Writer Colin Wilson 1931- Writer Elias Ashmole 1617-92 Founder of Ashmolean museum in Oxford Samuel Johnson 1709-84 literary critic and lexicographer (dictionary writer) LOUGHBOROUGH John Celveland 1613-1658 Poet LYE Sir Cedric Hardwick 1893-1964 Actor OSWESTRY Wilfrid Owen 1893-1918 Poet MACCLESFIELD Arthur Smith 1864-1944 Geologist MANSFIELD Robert Dodsley 1704-1764 Playwright John Pye 1932- Zoologist MANSFIELD WOODHOUSE John Ogdon 1937-1989 Composer MARKET BOSWORTH Thomas Simpson 1710-1761 Mathematician MELBOURNE Thomas Cook Pioneer travel agent NANTWICH David Beatty 1871-1936 Admiral Kenneth Mather 1911-1990 Geneticist NEWARK Sir Godfrey Hounsfield 1919-2004 Engineer NEWCASTLE UNDER LYME Philip Astley 1742-1814 Pioneer of the circus William Alwyn 1905-1985 Composer Francis Crick 1916-2004 Biologist Sir Jesse Boot 1850-1931 Retailer William Booth 1829-1912 Founder of Salvation Army Sir Charles Fellows 1799-1800 Archeologist George Green 1793-1841 Mathematician Sir Alister Hardy 1896-1985 Marine Biologist Norman Pogson 1829-1891 Astronomer Ken Loach 1936- Film Director Thomas Simpson 1710-176 Mathematician OAKHAM Titus Oates 1649-1705 Liar who invented the 'Popish plot' PENKHULL, STAFFS Oliver Joseph Lodge Scientist REDDITCH Charles Dance 1946- aCtor RIPLEY Barnes Wallis 1887-1979 Inventor of the bouncing bomb RUNCORN Sir Thomas Caine 1853-1931 Writer RUGBY Rupert Brooke 1887-1915 Poet Sir Joseph Lockyer 1836-1920 Astronomer Rose Macaulay 1881-1958 Writer Margaret Louise Woods 1856-1945 Writer RUSHDEN Herbert Ernest Bates 1905-1974 Writer SHUGBOROUGH STAFFS George Anson 1697-1762 Admiral SOLIHULL Stephanie Cox 1941- Actress Felicity Kendal 1946- Actress Henry Tonks 1862-1937 Artist John Benbow 1653-1702 Admiral Thomas Porter Blunt 1842-1929 Scientist Charles Burney 1726-1814 Composer Charles Darwin Scientist STAFFORD Izaak Walton 1593-1683 Author of The Compleat Angler (1656) STERNSHAM, WORCESTERSHIRE Samuel Butler 1612-1680 Poet STOURBRIDGE Anthony Bate 1934- Actor Frank Short 1857-1945 Artist STRATFORD UPON AVON Sir William Flower 1831-1899 Zoologist William Shakespeare 1564-1616 Playwright SUTTON COLDFIELD Hazel Court 1926-1998 Actress TALKE Reginald Mitchell 1895-1937 Inventor of the spitfire TINTWISTLE, DERBYSHIRE Vivienne Westwood 1941- Fashion Designer WALSALL John Gray 1800-1875 Biologist Lucy Aikin 1781-1864 Writer Rick Astley 1966- Singer Christopher Evans 1966- Singer WELLINGTON, SHROPSHIRE William Withering 1741-1799 Doctor who derived digitalis from foxgloves WIDNES Charles Barkla 1877-1944 Physicist Frances Barber 1958- Actor Sir William Bayliss 1860-1924 Physiologist Alfred Noyes 1880-1958 Poet Tessa Sanderson 1956- Javelin Thrower James W. Tate 1875-1922 Pianist Maggie Teyte 1888-1976 Singer Herbert Turnbull 1885-1961 Mathematician Evelyn Underhill 1875-1914 Poet Philip Gosse 1810-1888 Naturalist Henry Wood 1814-1887 Writer SOUTH MIDLANDS (Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire) ABINGDON, OXFORDSHIRE Robert Abbot 1757-1829 Responsible for the the first census in 1801 Dorothy Richardson 1873-1957 Writer AYLESBURY Rutland Broughton 1878-1960 Composer BAMPTON, OXFORDSHIRE John Philips 1676-1709 Poet BANBURY Sir Alan Hodkin 1914-1998 Physiologist BARNET, HERTFORDSHIRE Elain Paige 1952- Actor Ronnie Barker 1929- Comedian Mark Rutherford (William White) 1831-1913 Writer William Cowper 1731-1800 Poet and Hymn writer Graham Greene 1904- Writer Michael Hordern 1911-1994 Actor Esther Rantzen 1940- Broadcaster Graham Greene 1904-1991 Writer BOVINGDON, HERTFORDSHIRE Frances De La Tour 1944- Actess BRINKELY, CAMBRIDGESHIRE Chrsitopher Anstey 1724-1805 Writer
BUSHEY, HERTFORDSHIRE George Michael 1963- Singer
CHARLTON, HERTFORDSHIRE Henry Bessemer 1813-1898 Inventor
COLESHILL, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Edmund Waller 1608-1687 Poet
BISHOPS STORTFORD Cecil Rhodes 1853-1902 Imperialist
ELSTOW, BEDFORDSHIRE John Bunyan 1628-1688 Writer
ETON, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE William Oughtred 1574-1660 Mathematician
GAWCOTT, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Sir George Gilbert Scott 1811-1878 Architect
GRANDBOROUGH, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Henry Jones 1851-1929 Playwright
HARPENDEN Sir William Lawes 1814-1900 Chemist
HERTFORD William Earl Johns 1893-1968 Writer
HITCHIN George Chapman 1559-1634 Poet
HODDESDON
Henry Clifton 1832-1872 Singer/songwriter
William Gosse 1842-1881 Explorer
JUNIPER HILL, OXFORDSHIRE Flora Thompson 1876-1947 Writer
LEIGHTON BUZZARD Mary Norton 1903-1992 Writer
LITTLE MISSENDEN, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Herbert Austin 1866-1941 Industrialist
Arthur Hailey 1920- Writer
Sir Alec Jeffreys 1950- Geneticist
John Pomfret 1667-1702 Poet
Paul Young 1956- Singer
Martin Amis 149- Writer
Lennox Berkeley 1903-1983 Composer
Orlando Gibbons 1583-1625 Composer
John Haldane 1892-1964 Geneticist
Stephen Hawking 1942- Scientist
King John 1167-1216
Hugh Laurie 1959- Comedian/actor
Sue MacGregor 1941- Broadcaster
Winifred Nicholson 1893-1981 Artist
Richard I 1157-1199
Michael Sadleir 1888-1957 Writer
Dorothy L Sayers 1893-1957 Writer
Humphrey Searle 1915-1982 Composer
Neil Sidgwick 1873-1952 Chemist
Philip Webb 1831-1915 Architect
UFFINGTON, OXFORDSHIRE Thomas Hughes 1822-1896 Writer
WATFORD
Ruby Ayres 1883-1955 Writer
Joy Batchelor 1914-1991 Animator
Michael Bentine 1921-1996 Comedian
WELWYN GARDEN CITY Nick Faldo 1957- Golfer
WENDOVER, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Humfry Payne 1902-1936 Archeologist
WOODSTOCK, OXFORDSHIRE Winston Churchill 1874-1965 Prime Minister
