Famous People from Bournemouth
Notable People Who Were Born in the Seaside Resort of Bournemouth on the South Coast of England
Bournemouth is a well known seaside resort right in the middle of the South Coast of England, and a place that I know well, since I grew up there. It's a beautiful part of the English coastline, in the county of Dorset, with miles of golden sandy beaches, cliffs, twin piers, and it's also home to a number of international language schools as well as the headquarters of some large financial companies.
However, despite growing up in Bournemouth, I was never aware of any really famous people who had a connection with the town, until I did research for a Squidoo lens a couple of years ago. What I turned up, thanks to Google and Wikipedia was nothing short of amazing for me.
This is a selection of the people that I found who have a connection to my hometown...
Few towns these days are without a connection to the music industry, and so this is there I will start.
Famous People From The Music Industry
Tony Blackburn is well known in the UK as the first disc jockey on BBC Radio One, the first "official" pop radio station in the UK. He was previously a DJ on Radio Caroline, which used to broadcast from a ship that was stationed off the east coast of England in international waters. Tony actually grew up with his family in the road next to where I used to live.
Greg Lake of Emerson Lake and Palmer came from here, and actually went to my high school, but a few years before me. I was never aware of this until a few years ago.
Lesser known musicians include Colin Allen one time drummer with the Dutch band Focus, Tony Brock drummer with Spontaneous Combustion, Michael Giles, Peter Giles and Gordon Haskell of King Crimson, John Hawken who played with the Nashville Teens, Lee Kerslake drummer with Uriah Heep and Ozzie Osbourne, and Richard Palmer-James founder of Supertramp,
Notable mentions include Don Partridge, a street busker who had a hit in the 1960's with the song Rosie, and Hubert Parry, the composer of the English anthem "Jerusalem".
Other show-business personalities include Max Bygraves, a legendary singer and entertainer who now lives in Australia.
Spies And Politics
Sir Anthony Blunt, the famous spy and art historian was born in Bournemouth, as was actor Lawrence Grant who starred in The Mask Of Fu Manchu, and Charles Gray who played "Blofeld" in the James Bond movies. Also we have Melita Norwood who was a spy for the KGB,
If you are from the USA you might be interested to know that Asia Frigga (Booth) Clarke, the sister of John Wilkes Booth who assassinated Abraham Lincoln died in Bournemouth. Her family were so affected after this tragic event, that they moved to England and settled in Bournemouth, which was then only a small town.
Historical Figures
People from Bournemouth who were decorated for gallantry include Richard Frewen Martin who was a decorated WWII pilot and early Jet test pilot, also Cecil Reginald Noble and Frederick Charles Riggs, both of whom received the Victoria Cross in WWI. Not to be forgotten is also Derek Anthony Seagrim who received the Victoria Cross in WWII.
Finally, we have Barbara West, who was the second to last remaining survivor from the fated voyage of The Titanic. Sadly now the last of the survivors has passed on.
Sports Personalities
These are thin on the ground, but include Freddie Mills who was a British Boxing champion, and Virginia Wade the tennis star.
Bournemouth In The Arts
The town of Bournemouth is well known for the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, but also has a number of literary connections.
The author J.R.R. Tolkien spent his last years in Bournemouth, and Vera Chapman, founder of the Tolkien Society was also born here.
Jayne Atkinson who plays Karen Hayes on the television series 24 was born in Bournemouth, as was television personality Amanda Holden, television presenter Russell Spencer, and political cartoonist Ken Sprague.
Not to be forgotten of course, the author Robert Louis Stevenson, who penned the famous novel Treasure Island while living in Bournemouth.
As you can see, this seaside resort is full of intrigue and interest for many reasons, and not just for it's beauty.
If you have never been to this part of England, I hope you can visit some day, as there are many wonderful things to see in the area.
Published by Tony Payne
Tony Payne is a freelance writer who lives on the South Coast of England with his wife Debbie. He has worked in the IT Industry all his life, and has been writing on various sites for the last 10 years. T... View profile
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9 Comments
Post a CommentA lot of the people are best known in the UK, although many of the rock bands like Uriah Heep and King Crimson were well known in the 70's.
The photo looks beautiful. Funny, but being an old something and not from England, I knew of almost none of these people. However, I have heard of Emerson, Lake, & Palmer, and I've heard of Tolkien, though I've never read him. The one that is a ringer for me is Robert Louis Stevenson. Some of his stuff is pretty good. I liked the one something or other Balfour... It's been a long time since I read it.
Thanks. I have a new lens on Famous People from Bournemouth, actually inspired by this article, but it's not complete yet. I published it early so I could add a link from this article, but I hope to have the lens in good shape by the end of the week. The list of people with connections to Bournemouth and the area just keeps growing.
It is such a beautiful place. I loved your lens on this as well.
I spent a lot of my childhood on holiday in Bournemouth. Didn't know about Bournemouth's famous people though :-)
Must be a musical place with all of the musicians that came from the area!! :) Interesting article.
Was it as late as 1967 that Radio One started? I guess it was, with Tony Blackburn playing "Flowers In The Rain" by "The Move", a great song. I suppose there was always Children's Favourites on a Sunday morning lol :)
I remember Radio Luxembourg too Morag. The Government owned the Post Office, which controlled all television and radio broadcasting, and the BBC was also Government controlled. There were only (I think) 3 BBC Radio Stations serving the country, and nothing playing Rock And Roll or Pop music at all.
Even now there are nowhere near as many radio stations in the UK as in parts of the USA. You are often very limited in what you can listen to, although you have Satellite/Cable channels now in addition. Satellite Radio like the USA doesn't exist in the UK (to my knowledge).
Nice article. You reminded me of the movie Pirate Radio, which I really enjoyed and made me aware for the first time how the BBC controls the media in the UK. I couldn't believe they actually had radio stations on boats, just to allow people to hear pop music! Maybe the Rpublicans are right, some things shouldn't be controlled by the government! :)