Wisbech - Notable People

Notable People

• William Godwin, (born in Wisbech, 3 March 1756 – 7 April 1836) was an English political writer and novelist, considered one of the important precursors of both utilitarian and liberal anarchist thought. He first married Mary Wollstonecroft. One of his daughters Mary Wollstonecroft Godwin became Mary Shelley, the famed author of Frankenstein.
• Joseph Medworth, (born in Wisbech, 1752 - 1827) was a builder and carried out the development of 'The Crescent' in Wisbech and the redeveopment of 'Thurloe's' Mansion' into the current villa on the 'Castle' site.
• William Skrimshire, (born in Wisbech, 1766–1829) was a surgeon-botanist.
• Richard Young (1809–1871), MP (ship owner), Mayor of Wisbech 1858-62, one of the Sheriffs of the city of London 1871.
• William Digby, (born in Wisbech, 1 May 1849 – 29 September 1904) was an English writer, journalist and liberal politician. He was the first secretary of the National Liberal Club.
• Thomas Clarkson, the anti-slavery campaigner, was born in Wisbech in 1760 and educated at Wisbech Grammar School. The Clarkson Memorial was built to commemorate his life ending slavery in the British Empire on March 25, 1833.
• John Clarkson, (1764–1828) younger brother of Thomas, another key figure in the British abolitionist movement. He organised the voluntary migration of former slaves, freed by the British as part of a deal to reward their loyalty to the Crown during the American War of Independence, to Sierra Leone, where he became governor.
• The Reverend William Hazlitt, who was the minister at the Presbyterian meeting house from 1764 to 1766. Hazlitt became an influential Unitarian minister, and was the father of the essayist William Hazlitt and the portrait painter John Hazlitt. While resident at Wisbech, he married Grace Loftus.
• The sisters Miranda and Octavia Hill, both born at Wisbech. Miranda founded the influential Kyrle Society, a progenitor of the National Trust. Social reformer Octavia was co-founder of the National Trust.
• Alexander Peckover (banker) (16 August 1830 - 21 October 1919) Baron Peckover of Wisbech. Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire 1893-1906.
• Sir Harry Kroto, 1996 Nobel Laureate in chemistry, for the discovery of fullerenes.
• Anton Rodgers (1933–2007), actor, was born in Wisbech.
• Jill Freud (born 1927), actress (and wife of Sir Clement Freud MP for Isle of Ely 1973-87) founded 'Jill Freud and Company' whilst working with the Angles Theatre in 1980.
• Rev. W. Awdrey (June 15, 1911 - March 21, 1997)(the creator of Thomas the Tank Engine was Vicar of Emneth, 1953-65. Toby the Tram Engine, one of the Rev. W. Awdrey's characters, is based on the small steam trams that used to transport farm produce on the Strawberry Line between Wisbech and Upwell.
• John Gordon, adolescent fiction writer and author of The Giant Under The Snow, grew up in Wisbech. The town and the surrounding fens provided inspiration for many of his novels, including: The House on the Brink (Peckover House); and Fen Runners.
• Jesse Pye. Professional football player, who scored two goals in 1949 FA Cup Final, and who represented England at international level, became player-manager for Wisbech Town F.C. from 1960–1966. He scored the goal that knocked Colchester United out of the first round of the FA Cup in the 1959/60 season.
• Tony Martin who, while living in an isolated Norfolk farmhouse just outside Wisbech, gained notoriety for shooting and killing one of two young men, both from a travellers' community, who were burgling his home one night. Although he was convicted of murder, he became something of a local celebrity as a symbol of rough justice.
• Mark Wheat, radio host on The Current from Minnesota Public Radio, born in Wisbech.
• Joe Perry (born 13 August 1974 in Wisbech) - snooker player.
• Russell Arthur Missin born 1922 (Gorefield Nr Wisbech) - Organist and Master of the Choristers at Newcastle Cathedral.
• Constable William Wolsey and painter Robert Pygot, who were burned at the stake for Christian heresy on 16 October 1555.