Ethelbald was King of Wessex from 856-860. He was a popular king but created a scandal by marrying his 16 year old step-mother, Judith of France. He died in Sherborne and is buried in Sherborne Abbey.
Raleigh was an English aristocrat, writer, soldier, courtier, spy, poet and explorer. He is famous for bringing potatoes and tobacco to England. He was a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I who granted him ownership of land including the Sherborne estate (and Sherborne Castle). He built Sherborne Lodge in the grounds of the estate (now known as Sherborne (new) Castle). He later fell out with the Queen because of his secret marriage in 1591 to Elizabeth “Bess” Throckmorton (a lady-in-waiting to the Queen) and was sent to the Tower of London. He was later beheaded for treason at the command of King James I.
Dorset women convicted of poisoning her new husband Thomas Channing. She was strangled and burnt at the stake in Maumbury Rings, Dorchester, on 21 March 1706. Channing was the inspiration behind the Thomas Hardy poem The Mock Wife.
Mary was a British fossil collector and palaeontologist who became famous for her important finds in the Jurassic fossil beds at Lyme Regis near her home where she lived. Major finds include the first ichthyosaur skeleton to be correctly identified (found when she was 12), the first two plesiosaur skeletons to ever be found, and the first pterosaur skeleton to be found outside of Germany. Her work contributed to fundamental changes in scientific thinking about prehistoric life and the history of the earth and her observations played a key role in the realisation that coprolites were fossilied faeces and that belemnite fossils contained ink sacs. Anning narrowly escaped death in 1833 during a landslide that killed her dog Tray. She died from breast cancer on 9th March 1847.
Fox Talbot was born in Melbury. He was a British inventor and a pioneer of photography. He invented the calotype process, and made major contributions to the development of photography as an artistic medium.
Barnes was a writer, poet, minister, and philologist who was born at Rushay in the parish of Bagber. He wrote over 800 poems, some in the Dorset dialect. He first contributed the Dorset dialect poems to periodicals, including Macmillan’s Magazine. A collection of Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect was published in 1844 and it was translated into common English in 1868. A second collection Hwomely Rhymes followed in 1858, and a third collection in 1863. A combined edition was published in 1879. He published a Glossary of Dorset Dialect in 1863. His memorial and grave can be found at the 14th century St Peter’s Church, Winterborne Came.
Hardy was a poet and novelist of the naturalist movement. He set much of his work in the semi- fictitious place of Wessex. He was born at Higher Bockhampton , east of Dorchester. His most famous works include Far From the Madding Crowd, Jude the Obscure and Tess of the d’Urbervilles. His body is interred at Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey but his heart is buried at his wife Emma’s grave in Stinsford.
Economist James Mead was born in Swanage. In 1977 he was joint winner (with Swedish economist Bertil Ohlin) of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for “Pathbreaking contribution to the theory of international trade and international capital movements.”
Blunt was born in Bournemouth. He was a Professor of the History of Art at the University of London and was knighted for his achievements. He was exposed as a Soviet spy when he was found to be a member of the Cambridge Five and subsequently stripped of his honours.
Known as “Alfie” and “Bill”, he was a Royal Air Force squadron leader who was a flight sergeant during the Second World War.He was shot down by the Luftwaffe in 1939 and held in twelve different prisoner of war camps, including Stalag Luft III (the “Great Escape”). As the last of the “39ers” (those taken prisoner in the first year of the war), he was the oldest surviving and longest serving British POW. He was raised in Wimborne and after retiring from the RAF, he moved to Bournemouth. His nephew Robert Fripp is a guitarist and founding member of King Crimson. Fripp died in Bournemouth hospital on 3 January 2013.
The actor, entertainer and cabaret performer is best know for playing the Third Doctor between 1970 and 1974 and starring in children’s programme Worzel Gummidge. He attended Sherborne School for Boys.
Harry “Buster” Merryfield was an actor best known for his performances in the popular BBC comedy series Only Fools and Horses. He was born in Battersea, London and died in Poole General Hospital on 23 June 1999 from a brain tumour. He is buried in Verwood.
German-born painter and draftsman, specialising in figurative art. He’s known as one of the foremost 20th-century portraitists. He’s the grandson of Sigmund Freud. Lucian attended Bryanston School in Blandford.
Designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer. Conran was knighted in 1983. He attended Bryanston school in Blandford.
John Makepeace is a world renowned furniture designer and maker. He lived at Parnham House, which he bought in 1976. He founded the Parnham Trust and the School for Craftsmen in Wood (now Parnham College) to provide courses for aspiring furniture-makers. Following the sale of Parnham in 2001, John Makepeace purchased Farrs, a listed house in Beaminster. He taught Viscount Linley, nephew to the Queen of England. He uses the art of lamination (layering wood) and explores form, structure and a range of indigenous and sustainable resources. In 2016 he won the Prince Philip Designers Prize.
DJ who broadcast on the “pirate” stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s. He was the first disc jockey to broadcast on BBC Radio 1 at its launch at the end of September 1967. He was educated at Castle Court School in Parkstone, Poole.
Journalist Kate Adie is perhaps best known for being chief news correspondent for BBC News, reporting from war zones around the world. Her big break had been the London Iranian Embassy siege in 1980 where she reported live and unscripted, as the first reporter on the scene. She lives near Cerne Abbas.
Rock vocalist and songwriter Ian Gillan found commercial success as the lead singer and lyricist for Deep Purple. He lives in lyme Regis.
Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was part of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He was born in Wimborne Minster and attended Bournemouth College where he studied economics, economic history and political history. Fripp married Toyah Wilcox in Poole in 1986.
Henry James “Harry” Redknapp is a football manager and has managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United, Portsmouth (twice), Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City. Redknapp is also a director at Wimborne Town. He lives on the exclusive Sandbanks peninsula in Poole. He’s father to Jamie Redknapp.
Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford is an actor, novelist, film director and screenwriter, and a Conservative peer of the House of Lords. Known for creating ITV hit series Downton Abbey. He lives in the village of West Stafford with his wife Lady Emma Kitchener-Fellowes. Fellowes was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Dorset in 2009.
Born Stephen William Bragg, Billy Bragg is an alternative rock musician and left-wing activist. His music blends punk, folk and protest songs and his lyrics often deal with political or romantic themes. During the 2001 UK general election he tried to combat voter apathy by promoting tactical voting aimed at unseating Conservative Party candidates in Dorset. The Labour Party won South Dorset with their smallest majority, and the Conservative majority in West Dorset was reduced. Bragg lives in the south west Dorset village of Burton Bradstsock and can regularly be seen at the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival (an annual event celebrating the memory of those transported to Australia in the 30’s for founding a union).
Celebrity chef Leslie Waters lives in Evershot in a 16th-century manor house where she also has Waters’ Cookery School.
Martin Clunes OBE (born Alexander Martin Clunes on 28 November 1961) is an English actor. He is best known for portraying Martin Ellingham in the ITV drama series Doc Martin and Gary Strang in Men Behaving Badly. He lives in Beaminster with his second wife Philippa. They organise the annual Buckham Fair to benefit a range of charities.
Hugh Richard Bonneville Williams (born 10 November 1963), is a stage, television and film actor best known for playing Robert Crawley in the ITV drama series Downton Abbey from 2010 until 2015. He’s been nominated for BAFTA, Emmy and Golden Globe awards. He attended Sherborne School for Boys.
Musician and songwriter, journalist and cheesemaker. Best known as the bassist of the band Blur. He was born in Boscombe and attended Bournemouth School.
Polly Jean Harvey is a musician, singer-songwriter, writer, poet, and composer. She was born in Bridport and grew up on the family’s farm in Corscombe. She went to school in Beaminster.
Retired professional footballer (1989 – 2005) and sports pundit. He began his footballing career in 1989, aged 16, at Bournemouth. Jamie attended Twynham School in Christchurch.He married Eternal singer Louise Nurding but the couple divorced after 19 years.
Actor perhaps best known for playing the starring role of Batman in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). He attended Bournemouth School.
Choirmaster and broadcaster. TV appearances began in 2007 with his BBC2 reality series The Choir. He attended Bournemouth School and sang with the Symphony Chorus of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO).
Comedian Alan Carr was born in Weymouth. He can be seen regularly on the stand-up circuit, on tour and on TV. In 2001 he won the BBC Best New Stand Up award and in 2008 Carr won Best Entertainment Personality at the British Comedy Awards.
Singer, songwriter, musician, record producer and philanthropist. He’s Coldplay’s co-founder and lead singer. He attended Sherborne School for Boys.
Anthony Ashley-Cooper became the 11th Earl of Shaftesbury in 2005 on the confirmation of the death of his father, the 10th Earl, also of the same name. He died suddenly and unexpectedly following a heart attack in New York.
Zara Anne Elizabeth Tindall MBE (née Phillips) is a British equestrian and the second child of Anne, Princess Royal. She is the second-eldest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II. She was educated at Port Regis School in Shaftesbury. She’s married to rugby union player Mike Tindall.
Lady Catherine Anna Brudenell-Bruce is a singer-songwriter, known for her appearance on talent show The Voice UK. She was educated at Port Regis School, Shaftesbury.
Little Mix singer Perrie Edwards attended Radipole Primary School in Weymouth before moving to South Shields.
“I am thrilled that I have been given the opportunity to feature some comments about family history.
When I was younger I wasn’t interested in family trees and I didn’t even know what the word ‘genealogy’ meant, but when I grew older it seemed a good idea to search my family roots to see where I had originated from. Because I had the name Turner I was very inquisitive to find out if I had any connections to the famous artist JMW Turner as I had some artistic members on both sides of the family. My large Turner family were discovered to have initiated from a place called Stockland in Devon which used to be in Dorset. I also found that the family of JMW had originated from South Molton in Devon and that I had five links to the great man.
The Dorset family Hann/Hand and the family Billet has branches over several counties. The action of similar named families linking to others sometimes more than once has given me links to many famous Dorset associated characters such as the already mentioned artist JMW Turner who painted sunsets over Poole Harbour, swashbuckling sailor Sir Walter Raleigh authors Thomas Hardy, Jane Austen, Mary Shelley and Mary Anning the ‘fossil lady’. I also have associations to Giles Turner the Mayor of Corfe, whose daughter Susan Turner married into the Dackombe family and whose grandson was John Morton who owned the Morton Manor House which apparently had secret tunnels to Corfe Castle. I have links to Robert Turner the Rector and owner of Studland and Sarah Turner of the Isle of Purbeck, who married Gload De Bague. There are also further links to John Bond of the illustrious family at Creech Grange and his secret (007) acquaintances.”