Notable Residents
The following people were born or have lived in Taunton:
- Joseph Alleine - (1634–1668). English Puritan Nonconformist pastor and author.
- Colin Addison - former professional footballer and manager. Born in Taunton 8 May 1940.
- Jenny Agutter - actress. Born in Taunton 20 December 1952.
- William Larkins Bernard - architect (1 October 1843 – 22 July 1922). Born in Taunton.
- Pattie Boyd - Actress and model, born 17 March 1944. Former wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton.
- William Crotch - Noted composer and Principal of the Royal Academy of Music. Buried at Bishops Hull Church, Taunton.
- Stephen Daldry - Three-time Academy Award nominated and Tony Award winning theatre and film director and producer.
- Charles George Gordon - British general, known as Gordon of Khartoum. Was educated at Fullands School, now a retirement complex off Shoreditch Road, and also lodged in a house next to the Temple Methodist Church.
- Antony Hewish - Astronomer and Nobel Prize for Physics winner
- Rebecca Huxtable -Born in Taunton. British radio personality and producer, currently co-producing The Scott Mills Show on BBC Radio 1
- Alexander William Kinglake - barrister, travel writer and historian (5 August 1809 – 2 January 1891). Born at Wilton House near Taunton.
- Lee Martin - footballer who plays for Charlton Athletic on loan from Ipswich Town. Born in Taunton 9 February 1987.
- Deborah Meaden - business mogul, philanthropist, star of T.V series Dragons Den. Born in Taunton 11 February 1959.
- William Ellis Metford - (1824–1899) - engineer, best known for the Metford rifling in the .303 Lee-Metford service rifle of the late nineteenth century, born in Taunton.
- Ciara Michel - Member of Team GB Olympic Volleyball squad, the first GB volleyball team to play in the Olympic games.
- Frank Montague Moore (1877–1967) - painter and the first director of the Honolulu Museum of Art, born in Taunton
- Alfred B. Mullett - architect to Abraham Lincoln. Born in Taunton (7 April 1834 – 20 October 1890).
- James Purefoy - actor, one of the stars of the joint HBO-BBC series, Rome. Born in Taunton 3 June 1964.
- Gary Rhodes - celebrity chef who was head chef at The Castle Hotel from 1986 – 1990.
- Viv Richards - former West Indies cricketer. Born in Antigua, resident in Taunton while playing for Somerset 1974–1986.
- Andy Robinson - former England rugby union international and head coach. Now head coach of Scotland. Born in Taunton 3 April 1964
- Miranda Shearer - Author. Born in Taunton 11 May 1982, but resident of Spaxton, later Over Stowey and Taunton.
- Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard - Military officer involved in establishment of Royal Air Force (3 February 1873 – 10 February 1956). Born in Taunton.
- Marcus Trescothick - England cricketer, given Taunton Deane Citizenship Award in 2005.
- Sir Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet - Governor of Madras (2 April 1807 – 19 June 1886). Born in Taunton.
- Phil Vickery - Celebrity Chef
- Frederick Porter Wensley - chief constable of Scotland Yard CID (1865 – 1949) Born in Taunton.
- David Henry Wilson - English writer, known for his children's stories such as the Jeremy James series.
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Famous quotes containing the words notable and/or residents:
“Every notable advance in technique or organization has to be paid for, and in most cases the debit is more or less equivalent to the credit. Except of course when it’s more than equivalent, as it has been with universal education, for example, or wireless, or these damned aeroplanes. In which case, of course, your progress is a step backwards and downwards.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
“Most of the folktales dealing with the Indians are lurid and romantic. The story of the Indian lovers who were refused permission to wed and committed suicide is common to many places. Local residents point out cliffs where Indian maidens leaped to their death until it would seem that the first duty of all Indian girls was to jump off cliffs.”
—For the State of Iowa, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)