If you’re reading this you’re probably already of the mindset that Cornwall is pretty special.
Hopefully, by the end of this look at some of the Cornish men and women who have an impact on the wider world you’ll realise this corner of Britain is even more unique.
Before social media keyboard warriors get commenting, the list contains not only those born in Cornwall but whose who achieved greatness while living in Cornwall.
So you know Richard Trevthick, Phil Vickery and Daphne du Maurier but what about Grenville Davey and Lilian Wyles?
Here are 51 Cornish men and women who have had a massive impact in alphabetical order.
Born near Launceston, Couch Adams’ most famous achievement was predicting the existence and position of Neptune using only maths. He is credited with co-discovering the planet as another mathematician, Urbain Le Verrier, made the same calculations at exactly the same time!
Along with Thomas Flamank, Michael Joseph – better known as Michael An Gof (“the blacksmith”) led the Cornish Rebellion of 1497. They marches on London to protest against Henry VII’s tax levy to pay for a Scottish invasion. The rebellion failed and both men were hanged, drawn and quartered and their heads displayed on London Bridge. His name – synonymous with Cornish pride – was later used by the Cornish nationalist organisation.
The first man to design a watch that was both practical and accurate was born in Bodmin. He also produced marine chronometers for use on board ships.
Legend has it that the Mousehole fisherman braved a vicious storm one Christmas to catch enough fish to feed the starving village. As a result we now have stargazy pie and the popular children’s story, The Mousehole Cat.
The Royal Naval officer famed for being in command during the Mutiny on the Bounty was born in St Tudy, near Bodmin. He later became Governor of New South Wales.
Born and raised in Penzance, Maria met Patrick Brontë while visiting her aunt and uncle in Yorkshire, which means, yes, she was the mother of British authors Emily, Anne and Charlotte Brontë and their poet/painter brother Branwell.
The poet, writer and schoolmaster from Launceston is now known the world over for his poetry, for adults and children. He was known as the “greatest poet laureate we never had”. See also John Betjeman, who lived for many years at Trebetherick and is buried at St Enodoc Church.
Arguably, the most famous playwright to come from Cornwall, Darke was born in Bodmin and lived most of his life in Porthcothan. Many of his plays reflect Cornish culture and have been staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company and Kneehigh Theatre among others, including Never Say Rabbit In A Boat, The Dead Monkey, Hell’s Mouth and The King of Prussia.
From Launceston and a visiting professor of the University of the Arts in London, the sculptor won the Turner Prize in 1992, the only Cornish person to do so in the art prize’s history.
There are certain names that are a given on a list such as this and Davy is definitely one. The Penzance chemist and inventor is best known for inventing the Davy Lamp for miners, an early form of the light bulb and for isolating substances such as potassium, sodium, calcium, strontium, barium, magnesium and boron as well as discovering the elemental nature of chlorine and iodine.
Her Fowey home of Menabilly is almost as legendary as the author’s works, such as Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel, Jamaica Inn, The Birds and Don’t Look Now, many of which were set in Cornwall.
Born in Blackwater, near Truro, the journalist, newspaper owner and Liberal MP was a major philanthropist who championed the working classes, building hospitals, libraries, schools, convalescence homes and art galleries across England, many of which are still in use.
The former slave from Guinea’s life story is begging for a film version. Sold as a child to Portuguese traders, taken to Brazil and Portugal, where he became a virtuoso violinist in the Lisbon Opera, Emidy was press-ganged by the British Navy during the Napoleonic wars and was ship’s fiddler. Abandoned in Cornwall in 1799 he became leader of Truro Philharmonic Orchestra and eventually one of the leading composers of the day. Sadly, no known copies of his works survive.
From Helston, Fitzsimmons was a professional boxer who made history as the sport’s first three-division world champion (middleweight, heavyweight and light heavyweight). One of the hardest punchers in history, Fitzsimmons had the delightful nickname, The Freckled Wonder.
Born in Redruth, Mick formed one of the best-selling rock bands in history, Fleetwood Mac, whose Rumours is one of the seminal “break-up” albums.
One of the leading British actors of his day, the Truronian and former mayor of the city mesmerised London audiences with his Shylock in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice at the Drury Lane Theatre in 1741. He was also a celebrated playwright and theatre owner.
The founding member of the influential Newlyn school of painters, Forbes is known for his landscapes “en plein air”.
Although born on the Isle of Wight, the bestselling author has lived in Cornwall for 30 years and many of his books are set in the county, most notably A Perfectly Good Man and Rough Music. Patrick chairs the North Cornwall Book Festival, is patron of Penzance LitFest and is a director of both Endelienta and the Charles Causley Trust. He can also be seen playing the cello in Cornish ensembles.
Ranked the number one female rower in the world since 2015, the two-time Olympic champion, triple world champion, quintuple World Cup champion and triple European champion was born in Truro and grew up in Penzance, where she may well be better known for being from the family who run Jelbert’s Ices in Newlyn.
Born in Newquay and ending his days in Perranarworthal, Golding is best known for Lord of the Flies, which won the Nobel Prize for Literature, and Rites of Passage, which was awarded the Booker Prize.
Okay he wasn’t Cornish, though he did live in Perranporth for 34 years and will always be an honorary Cornishman for writing the Poldark series of historical novels. Yes, we have him to blame for Aidan Turner and his scythe.
The prototype Victorian gentleman scientist and inventor was born at Treator near Padstow, attended Truro Grammar School and studied medicine in Wadebridge. He is best known for inventing limelight, which was used to illuminate theatres and music halls, and gave its name to the phrase “in the limelight”.
Born in Perranporth, Healey studied engineering at Newquay College and went on to design Triumph cars before forming the Donald Healey Motor Company and cars such as the Austin-Healey. He was also a rally driver and speed record holder.
Barbara was as Yorkshire as they come, we’ll give you that, but her inspiration and the majority of her most celebrated work was created while a leading member of the St Ives school of artists during the Second World War. Her modernist sculpture is among the most celebrated in the world and she was one of the few female artists of her generation to achieve international recognition.
Born and raised in St Ive, near Liskeard, Hobhouse is remembered for campaigning to change the deprived conditions inside the British-administered concentration camps to imprison Boer women and children in South Africa. Treated with hostility in her home country, her death went unreported in the Cornish press.
Born in Ireland, but having grown up in Lanner and educated at Redruth School and back living in the county, Richard “Aphex Twin” James is very much a Cornish pioneer in techno and ambient electronic music. He received a Grammy award in 2014 for his Syro album. One of the biggest cult musicians in the world, James has been cited as an influence by everyone from Radiohead to Daft Punk.
The Truro explorer followed the River Niger through West Africa. On a second visit he was shot and died from his injuries. His statue now stands tall overlooking the city.
One of the country’s most celebrated abstract painters was one of the few artists connected to St Ives who was actually born there. He died following a gliding accident and his reputation (and his works’ worth) has only grown in the ensuing years. David Bowie collected his paintings, several of which he loaned to the Tate St Ives.
And not just because his real name is Cornwell … the author of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold and so many expert thrillers has lived in St Buryan for more than 40 years and owns a mile of cliff near Land’s End.
The “father of British studio pottery” moved to St Ives after spending many years in Japan. He saw pottery as a combination of art, philosophy, design and craft. The Leach Pottery still flourishes.
The Redruth boy went on to become an international opera star. Now retired and living in America, the baritone was a member of Benjamin Britten’s English Opera Group, English National Opera and has sung everywhere from the Royal Opera House to the Metropolitan Opera.
The St Austell goalkeeper started his career with Bristol Rovers and moved to Crystal Palace where he became the first £1 million goalkeeper in British football. He spent six seasons at Leeds United and won 23 England caps before retiring due to injury after three seasons with Everton.
Brought up in Penzance, Newton won a BAFTA for her role in Crash and was recently nominated for a Golden Globe and Emmy for the HBO sci-fi drama Westworld. She also gained rave reviews for her portrayal of DCI Roz Huntley in the BBC’s Line of Duty.
The only Cornishman to be buried in St Paul’s Cathedral, Opie – from Trevellas between St Agnes and Perranporth – was one of the great portrait painters of his age. His subjects included members of the royal family after he was introduced to the court of King George III.
The farmer’s son from Mevagissey invented transparent soap, which was mass-marketed around the world after he established the Pears soap company in London. The global company is still going strong.
The Liberal MP for Truro – where he was born and raised – was one of the most popular Parliamentarians to hail from Cornwall. It’s often been said that he was likely to lead the party if it hadn’t been for his tragic death in a car crash, aged just 42.
David’s cousin was known as the “British Bardot” in the 1970s thanks largely to her performance in the controversial 1976 drama Bouquet of Barbed Wire. Other TV roles include Upstairs Downstairs, A Fine Romance and Emmerdale while she has acted in films such as No Sex Please, We’re British and The Land That Time Forgot. Her very successful stage career continues.
Often dubbed the last native Cornish speaker, Dolly “tramped her fishy wares” around Penwith and Penzance and claimed not to have been able to speak a word of English until she was 20. She was particularly good at swearing in Cornish.
From Lelant, Pilcher has published 28 romance novels, which are especially popular in Germany where over 100 TV productions of her stories ensure a steady stream of German tourists to Cornwall.
Born and raised in Hayle, where he idolised the American soldiers stationed in preparation for D-Day. He later served in the US Army in Northern Rhodesia and Vietnam. A hero of the World Trade Center attacks of September 11, 2001, Rescorla (then director of security for Morgan Stanley) saved many lives before being tragically killed.
The clue’s in the name. Better known as Jethro, Rowe is the most successful comedian to emerge from Cornwall – St Buryan to be exact. Still touring, Jethro was arguably at his height in the 1990s when he made many appearances on TV shows hosted by Des O’Connor as well as The Generation Game presented by his mate Jim Davidson.
Yes, he’s half-Dutch but Smit has lived in Cornwall for 30 years, first helping to establish the Lost Gardens of Heligan before creating the Eden Project, which is said to have contributed £1 billion to the Cornish economy and is one of the most visited attractions in Britain.
Naysayers are quick to point out that Stein isn’t Cornish but he’s done more than anyone to make Cornwall one of if not THE finest parts of Britain for dining. He owns four restaurants in Padstow, and other establishments in Falmouth, Porthleven and Newquay. And to think it all started from a mobile disco in what has become known as “Padstein”.
The most famous musician to emanate from Truro, Roger Taylor was already touring Cornwall in bands while still at Truro School. He formed Smile after moving to London to study dentistry, before the band morphed into Queen playing their first gig under that name in Truro. The rest is rock’n’roll history.
The Redruth author, poet and playwright and translator is most famous for his erotic novel The White Hotel which narrowly missed out on winning the 1981 Booker Prize. He is also renowned for his translations of Russian poetry.
The Helston School pupil joined BBC Radio Devon aged just 19, joining the newly formed Classic FM in 1992 before becoming one of the stars of Radio 3. He has introduced hundreds of broadcasts for the station, most notably at the BBC Proms.
Born in Tregajorran, the heart of Cornish mining country, Trevithick’s most famous invention was the high-pressure steam engine, responsible for the world’s first railway journey. Though he did a helluva lot more than that.
Starting his rugby union career in Bude and then Redruth, Vickery was a member of England’s World Cup winning squad in 2003 and is a former England captain. He played in three Rugby World Cups and toured Australia and South Africa with the British and Irish Lions.
From Suffolk, Lady Killigrew married into the ancient Cornish family and was accused of piracy during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. She was sentenced to death but was eventually pardoned by the queen.
Raised in Newlyn, Wootton is the most famous folk singer to emerge from Cornwall. A great ambassador for Cornwall, she took Cornish song and poetry to all the Celtic nations and as far as Australia and Canada. She is still fondly remembered 23 years after her death, with a blue plaque commemorating her life unveiled in Truro earlier this year.
The first female detective in the British police force, Wyles was among the first police officers to take statements from female and juvenile assault victims. She wrote her memoirs in Penzance where she lived for almost 30 years.
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