Great Characters

With a landscape and built heritage as rich and varied as that of Cumbria, the Bay area and the Dales, it should come as no surprise to learn there is also an equally gregarious wealth of human character associated with this part of the world.

With connections ranging from artists, writers and poets to scientists, entertainers and even an historic murderer, there are few places in Britain where such biographical richness can be rivalled.

ART AND LITERATURE

Arguably Cumbria's most celebrated son, the poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was born at Cockermouth and attended Hawkshead Grammar School. He later settled at Dove Cottage, Grasmere, with his sister Dorothy. Wordsworth achieved legendary status in his lifetime, becoming Poet Laureate in 1843. His poem Daffodils remains one of the most popular ever to be written in the English language.

The Lakeland poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) who came from Devon and lived at Greta Hall, Keswick, was a close contemporary of Wordsworth. His life and career, however, were tragically curtailed by opium addiction, although the drug is said to have been inspirational when it came to writing his most famous work, Kubla Khan.

The third member of the triumvirate of legendary Lake Poets was Robert Southey (1774-1843). In his day he was as famous as Wordsworth, but posterity has not been kind to him. Although the Bristol-born Southey preceded Wordsworth as Poet Laureate, he is nowadays best remembered for just one poem, The Three Bears . He lived with Coleridge at Greta Hall, Keswick, and is buried in the town at Crosthwaite Church.

Thomas de Quincey (1785-1859) was a close friend of the Lake Poets and wrote a book about them. He lived in Dove Cottage after the Wordsworths left and edited The Westmorland Gazette for a short time after its launch in 1818. Today he is remembered mostly for The Confessions of an English Opium Eater (1821).

John Ruskin (1819-1900) is perhaps Cumbria's most eclectic cultural icon. In addition to poetry, he excelled as an artist, critic and in the field of social reform. His philosophical writings, which are said to have influenced the great Mahatma Gandhi, remain influential today. Ruskin was born in London and educated at Oxford but he chose to settle in the Lake District, buying Brantwood on the shores of Coniston. The house is now an important visitor attraction.

Cumbria's most famous poet in the 20 th century was Norman Nicholson (1914-87), who lived all his life in the house where he was born at Millom. His poetry, which showed great concern for local issues, is notable for its straightforward language and use of common speech.

Arguably the county's most underrated poet was Margaret Cropper (1886-1980), who lived at Burneside and wrote a book about the village, The End of the Road.

For more than 100 years the children's writer and illustrator Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) has been most celebrated for her stories about endearing characters such as Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck and Squirrel Nutkin. Today, however, it is her own personal story that has generated major international interest after the release of the film Miss Potter , which reveals the moving and ultimately tragic love story of Beatrix and her publisher Frederick Warne. In later life she became a Lake District farmer and was celebrated for helping to preserve the Herdwick breed of Lakeland sheep.

The novelist Hugh Walpole (1884-1941) hailed from New Zealand but found literary inspiration in Cumbria. He bought a house at Brackenburn on Derwentwater where he wrote until the end of his life. He is best known for his Cumberland-set series of novels, The Herries Chronicles.

Arthur Ransome (1884-1967) was born in Leeds and enjoyed childhood holidays in the Lake District. He led an intriguing life as a reporter, covering the Russian Revolution, after which he married Trotsky's secretary. They came to live in the Lakes where Ransome wrote his famous Swallows and Amazons children's adventure stories.

The Rev Wilbert Awdry (1911-97) was influenced by the railway at Barrow-in-Furness when he created his Thomas the Tank Engine stories. The fictional setting of Sodor was an island between Barrow and the Isle of Man.

Postman Pat was born in the 1970s in the back room of 32 Greenside, Kendal, the home of writer John Cunliffe , who was a teacher at Castle Park Primary School.

Novelist and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg was born in Wigton in 1939. His books include The Maid of Buttermere (1987), A Time to Dance (1990) and The Soldier's Return (1999). He is perhaps more widely known as presenter of the TV arts programme, The South Bank Show.

Charlotte and Emily Bronte were pupils at the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge, later to become Casterton School. Charlotte is said to have been inspired to write Jane Eyre (1847) after her own ordeal at the strict school.

Charlotte Bronte's biographer and fellow novelist Elizabeth Gaskell was a regular visitor to Silverdale during the 19 th century, staying at Gibralter Farm and Tower House. One of the characters in her classic novel Mary Barton (1848) hails from Milnthorpe.

Thriller writer Desmond Bagley was born in Kendal in 1923 and lived there until the age of 14. He became a journalist and left England for Africa in 1947, settling in South Africa in 1951. He returned to England in the 1970s, living at Totnes, Devon. He died in 1983.

The writer Richard Adams , famous for Watership Down , set the opening of his third book The Plague Dogs (1977) at an animal research centre near Coniston.

George Romney (1734-1802) must rank as Cumbria's most famous painter. Born at Dalton-in-Furness, he trained at Kendal before establishing himself as the leading portraitist of his generation in London. Lady Hamilton, Admiral Lord Nelson's mistress, was one of his sitters. After returning to Kendal, he moved to a house now known as Romney House in Milnthorpe Road, where he lived until he died. Many examples of his works can be seen at Abbot Hall Art Gallery in Kendal.

The German Dadaist sculptor and painter Kurt Schwitters came to the Lake District after being driven from his home by the Nazis. He is best known for developing an art form known as Merz, a variation on collage using discarded rubbish. He lived for three years at Ambleside and died in Kendal in 1948. He was buried in Ambleside but his body was eventually exhumed and reburied in Germany.

The artistic influence of the Heaton Cooper family, of Grasmere, straddles three centuries. The painting dynasty was founded at the end of the 19 th century by Alfred Heaton Cooper and continued throughout most of the 20 th century headed by William, who died in 1995. In the 21 st century, William's son Julian carries the artistic baton along with other members of this talented family. The Heaton Cooper Gallery in Grasmere is a popular tourist attraction.

Illustrator Paul Hogarth � best known for the artwork in Penguin editions of Shakespeare and books by Graham Greene and Lawrence Durrell � was born at Caroline Street, Kendal, in 1917.

Lakeland writer, artist and fell walker Alfred Wainwright (1907-91) has influenced thousands of visitors to the Lake District with his beautifully illustrated guidebooks. He was working as Kendal Borough Treasurer when he began his series of guides, which at one stage were published by The Westmorland Gazette. He famously used his considerable royalties to establish the Kapellan animal shelter outside Kendal.

The sculptor Josefina da Vasconcellos worked in the Lake District until her death in 2005 at the age of 100. She was born in 1904 to a Brazilian diplomat and an English mother, and before her death was thought to be the oldest working sculptor in the world. Her work, which often has religious themes, is greatly sought after and appears in many collections, including that of Sir Richard Branson.

Cumbrian sculptor and photographer Andy Goldsworthy is renowned for creating and then photographing sculptures which are formed organically from natural materials such as stones, ice and leaves. In the late 1990s he created his celebrated countywide work Sheepfolds.

FILM AND STAGE

One of the world's most famous comedians, Stan Laurel (1890-1965), was born in Ulverston as Arthur Stanley Jefferson in 1890. He lived with his grandparents in the town for around six years and had relatives at Flookburgh and Sawrey. He eventually found fame in Hollywood with his partner Oliver Hardy. A museum in his honour can be visited at Ulverston.

Shakespearian actor Geoffrey Kendal , father of the actress Felicity Kendal , was born on Aynam Road, Kendal, in 1909. His original name was Bragg. He died in 1998.

Joan Littlewood and Ewan MacColl launched the renowned Theatre Workshop � famous for Oh! What A Lovely War � in Kendal in 1946.

The pivotal playwright John Osborne was stage manager at St George's Theatre, Kendal, before writing his most celebrated play Look Back In Anger.

THE GREAT, THE GOOD AND THE INFAMOUS

Katherine Parr (1512-1548) was the daughter of Sir Thomas Parr, of Kendal Castle, but historians are unclear whether this future English queen was actually born at the castle. She grew up an intelligent and deeply religious woman, marrying her third husband Henry VIII at Hampton Court on July 12, 1543. Katherine's strong religious views gave rise to clashes with the king but she avoided the executioner's axe. After Henry's death in 1547 she married Lord Thomas Seymour.

Lady Anne Clifford (1590-1676) is celebrated for the strength of character which spurred her to fight for her lost inheritance and spend 26 years restoring her estates and castles, including Pendragon Castle at Mallerstang, the Norman keep at Appleby Castle and Brough and Brougham castles. She also repaired Skipton Castle, which had been damaged in the Civil War. Lady Anne was renowned for giving alms to poor people and built almshouses for widows at Appleby. Her tomb is at St Lawrence's Church in Appleby.

Quakers' founder George Fox (1624-91) travelled widely in England preaching a gospel about brotherly love, braving insults and persecution, before moving to Swarthmoor Hall, Ulverston, in 1652 where he established the Society of Friends' first missionary centre. Legend has it that Fox clambered into the branches of a tree at Lorton, so great was the crowd that turned up to hear him preach.

The Hoad Monument, a replica of Eddystone lighthouse overlooking Ulverston, was built in memory of Sir John Barrow (1764-1848), the traveller and great naval figure. He was born at Dragley Beck, Ulverston, and educated at Ulverston School. After a lowly beginning � he worked at a Liverpool iron foundry � Barrow gradually worked his way up the academic and social ladder until in 1804 he become second secretary to the Admiralty, a powerful position. He promoted Arctic exploration and was a founder of the Royal Geographical Society in 1830.

The ironmaster John Wilkinson , one of the great figures of the Industrial Revolution, was born in Clifton, Cumberland, in 1728. Wilkinson, who owned ironworks in Shropshire, Wales and Staffordshire, invented a machine that could bore engine cylinders and cannon barrels accurately, enabling James Watt to perfect his steam engine. He died in 1808 and is buried in an iron coffin at Lindale, Grange-over-Sands.

The notorious Bounty mutineer Fletcher Christian was b orn in 1764 at Cockermouth.. He was master's mate on board the HMS Bounty during William Bligh's fateful voyage to Tahiti. Christian seized command from Bligh on 28th April 1789 and travelled with his co-mutineers to Tahiti. He married the Tahitian Maimiti, who claimed he was murdered during conflicts between the mutineers and Tahitian men. However, rumours have persisted for 200 years that he left the island and returned to England.

John Dalton (1766-1844) was a scientific genius, renowned as one of the fathers of modern physical science and whose masterpiece was the atomic theory of matter. He was born at Eaglesfield in Cumberland, son of a Quaker weaver, and taught for 12 years at Kendal's Stramongate School. He later lectured at New College, Manchester. For more than 50 years he kept a weather diary, recording the climate of the Lake District, which ultimately contained more than 200,000 entries.

The great geologist Adam Sedgwick (1785-1873) delved back millions of years and gave the name Cambrian to the oldest layer of fossil-bearing rocks, dating back 570 to 505 million years. He was born at Dent and educated at Sedbergh, later becoming Woodwardian professor of geology at Trinity College, Cambridge. Sedgwick established the importance of geology in university studies. He was made president of the Geological Society of London in 1829. The Sedgwick Museum at Cambridge was built as a memorial.

In late Victorian times Charlotte Mason (1841-1923) had a profound influence on the future of teaching by promoting the then novel idea that parents should be involved in their children's education. She founded the Parents' National Educational Union in 1887, a group supported by many eminent educationalists. In 1891, Mason moved to Ambleside, where she established the PNEU School and House of Education.

The National Trust founder Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley , was born in 1851 and grew to love the Lake District as a schoolboy visitor. On joining the church, his first charge was a hostel in Soho, where he had developed the idea of providing open spaces and clean air for poor workers. He moved to St Margaret's at Wray, Windermere, in 1877 from where he fought to protect the countryside, particularly from railways. In 1883, he became vicar at Crosthwaite, near Keswick, where he and his wife Edith established the Keswick School of Industrial Art. He co-founded the National Trust in 1895 and died in 1920.

Sir Arthur Eddington , who was born in 1882, was the son of the headmaster at Stramongate School, Kendal. He was considered by many to be the greatest of modern English astronomers. He won every mathematical honour at Trinity College, Cambridge, becoming director of Cambridge's observatory. From 1906-13 he was chief assistant at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. He did much to establish Einstein's theory of relativity and his great work, The Mathematical Theory of Relativity was considered by Einstein to be the finest presentation of the subject in any language. Eddington died in 1944.

The son of an Ulverston draper, Lord Birkett (1883-1962) earned a brilliant reputation as an advocate, especially in murder trials. But his greatest claim to legal fame is perhaps representing Wallis Simpson in her divorce case in 1936. William Norman Birkett became the 1 st Baron Birkett of Ulverston in 1958. Just two days before his death he persuaded the House of Lords to reject the Manchester Corporation Bill to take water from Ullswater and Bannisdale. Nameless Fell, near Ullswater, was renamed Birkett Fell in his memory.

Edwin Sandys , who was born at Esthwaite near Hawkshead, was a loyal supporter of Elizabeth 1 st, and the Anglican Church established by her father, Henry VIII. Edwin, who built Hawkshead Grammar School, was rewarded for his religious devotion by being made him Archbishop of York in 1576. He was renowned for his oratory powers and his pronouncements from the pulpit were collected together in a book The Sermons of Edwin Sandys.

Legendary speed record aces Sir Malcolm Campbell and his son Donald Campbell between them had a 28-year association with Coniston. Both achieved new water speed records on the lake. Tragically, Donald was killed in January 1967 when his boat, Bluebird, crashed on the lake at 320 mph. The boat and later Donald Campbell's remains were finally recovered from Coniston in 2001.

Boys' own hero Lord (Wavell) Wakefield, of Kendal, a friend of the speed record ace Sir Malcolm Campbell, was not averse to taking a few risks himself. Having shown his spirit as England Rugby Union captain, he became a pioneer in the Fleet Air Arm and was the first pilot to land an aircraft on the deck of a ship. Later, he became a Member of Parliament and entrepreneur, incorporating Ullswater �Steamers' and the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway into the family business.

Sir Hugh de Morville , one of the knights who murdered Thomas a Beckett, built Pendragon Castle, Mallerstang.

And finally, there's one living son of Cumbria arguably more in tune than most where the past is concerned. The historian and broadcaster David Starkey hails from Kendal stock and once commented that the town would have been as wonderful a visitor attraction as York if so many of its historical buildings had not been demolished.