Westminster Abbey

1. Peggy Ashcroft

Actress | A Passage to India

Academy Award-winning, legendary English actress - who maintained her status in the British acting elite for decades. Made a Dame of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1956. Almost always on stage, she appeared rarely in film, her first being The Wandering Jew (1933). On stage she was cast...

2. Samuel Arnold

3. Edmund Allenby

Edmund Allenby was born in 1861 at Brackenhurst Hall, Nottinghamshire county, England, one of six children and the son of a country gentleman. His military service began when he entered the Royal Military College at Sandhurst in 1881 where he was commissioned into the Royal Cavalry and sent to ...

4. Clement Attlee

Self | Film Fanfare

Clement Attlee was one of Britain's most significant political figures. He was the leader of Britain's Labour Party from 1935-1955 and Deputy Prime Minister of the UK during the wartime coalition against Nazi Germany (1940-45). He won a landslide victory in the 1945 general election, defeating ...

5. Stanley Baldwin

Self | BBC: The Voice of Britain

Stanley Baldwin was born on August 3, 1867 in Bewdley, Worcestershire, England, UK. He died on December 14, 1947 in Astley Hall, Worcestershire, England, UK.

6. Michael William Balfe

Soundtrack | Chaplin

Michael William Balfe was born on May 15, 1808 in Dublin, Ireland, UK [now Republic of Ireland]. He was a writer, known for Chaplin (1992), The Bohemian Girl (1936) and The Bohemian Girl (1922). He was married to Magdalena Roser. He died on October 20, 1870 in Romney Abbey, Hampshire, England, UK.

7. Francis Beaumont

Writer | The Knight of the Burning Pestle

Francis Beaumont was born in 1584. Francis was a writer, known for The Knight of the Burning Pestle (1938). Francis died in 1616.

8. Ernest Bevin

Self | Yesterday Is Over Your Shoulder

Ernest Bevin was born on March 9, 1881 in Winsford, Somerset, England, UK. He died on April 14, 1951 in London, England, UK.

9. Robert Browning

Writer | A Light Woman

Robert Browning (7 May 1812 - 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humor, social commentary, historical settings and challenging vocabulary and syntax. His early long ...

10. Edward George Bulwer-Lytton

Writer | Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei

Edward George Bulwer-Lytton was born on May 25, 1803 in London, England, UK. He was a writer, known for The Last Days of Pompeii (1959), In the Name of Love (1925) and The Last Days of Pompeii (1913). He was married to Rosina Doyle Wheeler. He died on January 18, 1873 in Torquay, Devon, England, UK.

11. Lord Byron

Writer | Don Juan DeMarco

Lord Byron seemed destined from birth to tragedy. His father was the handsome but feckless Captain John "Mad Jack" Byron and his mother the Scottish heiress Catherine Gordon, the only child of the Laird of Gight.

Captain Byron abandoned his wife and child leaving Catherine to bring up young Byron on...

12. Neville Chamberlain

Self | The Windsors & WWII

Neville Chamberlain was born on March 18, 1869 in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, UK. He was married to Anne de Vere Cole. He died on November 9, 1940 in Heckfield, Hampshire, England, UK.

13. Geoffrey Chaucer

Writer | The Ribald Tales of Canterbury

Geoffrey Chaucer was born in 1343 in London, Kingdom of England [now UK]. He was a writer. He was married to Philippa Roet. He died on October 25, 1400 in London, Kingdom of England [now UK].

14. William Congreve

Writer | Beryl Reid

William Congreve was born on January 24, 1670. He was a writer, known for Beryl Reid (1977), BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950) and Drama (1977). He died on January 19, 1729.

15. Noël Coward

Writer | In Which We Serve

Noel Coward virtually invented the concept of Englishness for the 20th century. An astounding polymath - dramatist, actor, writer, composer, lyricist, painter, and wit -- he was defined by his Englishness as much as he defined it. He was indeed the first Brit pop star, the first ambassador of "cool...

16. William Croft

Soundtrack | Lorna Doone

William Croft was born in December 1678 in Nether Ettington, Warwickshire, England, UK. William died on August 14, 1747 in Bath, Somerset, England, UK.

17. George Nathaniel Curzon

Self | Viceroy of India's Royal Levee

George Nathaniel Curzon was born on January 11, 1859 in Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire, England, UK. He was married to Grace Elvina Hinds and Mary Victoria Leiter. He died on March 20, 1925 in 1 Carlton House Terrace, London, England, UK.

18. Charles Darwin

19. John Denham

The Glowing Hours

John Denham is known for The Glowing Hours (2012).

20. Charles Dickens

Writer | Great Expectations

Charles Dickens' father was a clerk at the Naval Pay Office, and because of this the family had to move from place to place: Plymouth, London, Chatham. It was a large family and despite hard work, his father couldn't earn enough money. In 1823 he was arrested for debt and Charles had to start ...

21. Richard Dimbleby

Actor | Libel

Richard Dimbleby was born on May 25, 1913 in Richmond, Surrey, England, UK. He was an actor and producer, known for Libel (1959), This Is the BBC (1959) and School for Sinners (1965). He died on December 22, 1965 in London, England, UK.

22. Paul Dirac

Self | Horizon

Paul Dirac was born on August 8, 1902 in Bishopton, Bristol, England, UK. He was married to Margit Balazs. He died on October 20, 1984 in Tallahassee, Florida, USA.

23. Benjamin Disraeli

Writer | Sybil

Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, KG, PC, DL, JP, FRS was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation of the modern Conservative Party, defining its policies and its broad outreach. ...

24. Hugh Dowding

Self | The Battle for The Battle of Britain

Air Chief Marshal Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, GCB, GCVO, CMG (24 April 1882 - 15 February 1970) was an officer in the Royal Air Force. He was Air Officer Commanding RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain and is generally credited with playing a crucial role in ...

25. Michael Drayton

Location_management | From Barbados with Love

Michael Drayton is known for From Barbados with Love (2006).

26. John Dryden

27. Edward Elgar

Soundtrack | How I Live Now

Edward Elgar was born on June 2, 1857, in Broadheath, near Worcester, where his father named William Elgar, was a music shop owner and a piano technician. Elgar was the fourth of six children. He was self-taught in all musical instruments, that were at his disposal in his father's shop, and he ...

28. George Eliot

Writer | Middlemarch

Mary Anne Evans was born on 22 November 1819 at South Farm, Arbury Hall near Nuneaton, Warwickshire. Her parents were Robert Evans, the manager of Arbury Hall, and Christina Evans. She had four siblings: Robert, Fanny, Chrissy and Isaac. Mary was always considered a serious child and she always had...

29. David Garrick

Writer | Miss in Her Teens

David Garrick was born on February 19, 1717 in Hereford, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Miss in Her Teens (2014), Il matrimonio segreto (1943) and The Country Girl (1915). He was married to Eva Maria Veigel. He died on January 20, 1779 in London, England, UK.

30. Robert Gascoyne-Cecil

Self | The General Election Results

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil was born on August 27, 1893 in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, UK. He was married to Elizabeth Vere Cavendish. He died on February 23, 1972 in London, England, UK.

31. George Frideric Handel

Soundtrack | Children of Men

Born February 23 1685 in Halle, Germany, he was christened "Georg Friederich Händel" but always signed his name "Georg Friedrich Händel". His father intended for him to go into law, but Händel studied music clandestinely and was eventually allowed to study under an organist. He achieved some ...

32. Thomas Hardy

Writer | Far from the Madding Crowd

Thomas Hardy was born on June 2, 1840 in Upper Bockhampton, Dorset, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Far from the Madding Crowd (2015), Tess (1979) and Maiden No More. He was married to Florence Emily Dugdale and Emma Lavinia Gifford. He died on January 11, 1928 in Dorchester, Dorset, ...

33. Gerard Manley Hopkins

Writer | Camera Three

Gerard Manley Hopkins was born on July 28, 1844 in Stratford, London, England, UK. Gerard was a writer, known for Camera Three (1955), The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo (1955) and Spring: An Animation of the Hopkins Poem (2010). Gerard died on June 8, 1889 in Dublin, Ireland, UK [now Republic of ...

34. Robert Howard Lindsay

Writer | Matinee Theater

Robert Howard Lindsay was born in 1910 in Canada. Robert Howard was a writer, known for Matinee Theatre (1955), Scarlett Hill (1962) and Kraft Theatre (1947). Robert Howard was married to Kathleen Lindsey. Robert Howard died on January 22, 1962 in Greenlawn, Long Island, New York, USA.

35. Henry Irving

Actor | Soldier of Liberty

Henry Irving is known for Soldier of Liberty (2003).

36. Ben Jonson

Soundtrack | Sense and Sensibility

Benjamin Jonson was born 1571 as the posthumous son of a Protestant minister. His mother then moved him to Westminster, where she married a bricklayer. He attended a free parish school as a boy, and thanks to the sponsorship of the headmaster, was able to attend Westminster Grammar School. ...

37. Rudyard Kipling

Writer | The Man Who Would Be King

Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, Maharashtra, India, the son of John Lockwood Kipling, a museum director and author and illustrator. This was at the height of the "British Raj", so he was brought up by Indian nurses ("ayahs"), who taught him something of the beliefs and tongues of India. He was ...

38. Constant Lambert

Composer | Anna Karenina

Constant Lambert was born on August 23, 1905 in London, England, UK. He was a composer, known for Anna Karenina (1948), Merchant Seamen (1941) and Bar aux Folies-Bergère (1938). He was married to Isabel Agnes Delmar and Florence Chuter. He died on August 21, 1951 in London, England, UK.

39. Henry Lawes

Soundtrack | You Don't Mess with the Zohan

Henry Lawes was born in 1960 in Kingston, Jamaica. Henry is known for You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008), Be Kind Rewind (2008) and Boogie (2021). Henry died on June 13, 1999 in London, England, UK.

40. David Lloyd George

Writer | The First World War

David Lloyd George was born on January 17, 1863 in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, England, UK. He was a writer, known for The First World War (2003), Hearst-Selig News Pictorial, No. 26 (1915) and Pathé News, No. 24 (1915). He was married to Frances Stevenson and Mrs. Lloyd George. He died...

41. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Writer | Temple of Our Fathers

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born on February 27, 1807 in Portland, Maine, USA. He was a writer, known for Temple of Our Fathers, The Wreck of the Hesperus (1948) and The Village Blacksmith (1922). He was married to Frances Elizabeth Appleton and Mary Storer Potter. He died on March 24, 1882 in ...

42. Ramsay MacDonald

Self | BBC: The Voice of Britain

Ramsay MacDonald was born on October 12, 1866 in Lossiemouth, Morayshire, Scotland, UK. He was married to Margaret Ethel Gladstone. He died on November 5, 1937 in Atlantic Ocean.

43. Christopher Marlowe

Soundtrack | Richard III

Born the son of a shoe-maker two months before the birth of another famous playwright, William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe achieved fame as an Elizabethan dramatist as well as an atheist. He was killed in a tavern brawl by a former friend, allegedly over a bill. There is now some evidence that...

44. Elizabeth Gaskell

Writer | Heartstrings

Elizabeth Gaskell was born on September 29, 1810 in Chelsea, London, England, UK. She was a writer, known for Heartstrings (1923), Cranford (2007) and North & South (2004). She was married to Rev. William Gaskell. She died on November 12, 1865 in Holybourne, Hampshire, England, UK.

45. John Masefield

Soundtrack | The Shadows

John Masefield was a poet, known for his poems of the sea (as a young man, he was apprenticed aboard a sailing ship) and his narrative poems, although he also wrote a number of novels. He became Poet Laureate in 1930.

46. Richard Aldington

Writer | All Men Are Enemies

English author Richard Aldington was born in Hampshire, England, in 1892. He was educated at Dover College and the University of London. Determined from an early age to be a writer, in 1913 he became literary editor of a magazine called 'The Egoist". In that same year he married Hilda Doolittle, an...

47. Rupert Brooks

Writer | Star Tonight

Rupert Brooks is known for Star Tonight (1955).

48. Wilf Gibson

Music_department | Summer of Sam

Wilf Gibson was born on February 28, 1945 in Dilston, Northumberland, England, UK. He is known for Summer of Sam (1999), Game for Vultures (1979) and The Last September (1999). He died on October 21, 2014 in the UK.

49. Robert Graves

Writer | Le guerriere dal seno nudo

British poet and novelist Robert Graves was born Robert von Ranke Graves in London, England, in 1895. He began to write poetry while a student at London's Charterhouse School, and even while serving as an officer in the British army during World War I he kept at it, turning out three books of ...

50. Wilfred Owen

Writer | The Burying Party

British poet Wilfred Owen was born in 1893 in Oswestry, Shropshire, England. He attended London University, but moved to France in 1913 to escape the harsh English winters, which were bad for his health. He secured a job in Bordeaux as a tutor for a wealthy family and wrote a poetry book, "Minor ...

51. Siegfried Sassoon

Writer | The First World War

Siegfried Sassoon was born on September 8, 1886 in Matfield, Kent, England, UK. He was a writer, known for The First World War (2003), Aftermath (2016) and T. E. Lawrence 1888-1935 (1962). He was married to Hester Gatty. He died on September 1, 1967 in Heytesbury, Wiltshire, England, UK.

52. John Milton

Writer | Paradise Lost

John Milton was an English poet and intellectual who served as a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of State and later under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of religious and political instability, and is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667). Written in ...

53. Isaac Newton

54. Laurence Olivier

Actor | Sleuth

Laurence Olivier could speak William Shakespeare's lines as naturally as if he were "actually thinking them", said English playwright Charles Bennett, who met Olivier in 1927. Laurence Kerr Olivier was born in Dorking, Surrey, England, to Agnes Louise (Crookenden) and Gerard Kerr Olivier, a High ...

55. Henry Purcell

Soundtrack | Seeking Justice

Purcell grew up in a musical family. As a boy he attended the Chapel Royal church choir. His talent earned him training as an organist. In 1677, the 18-year-old became "composer for the violins" at the English court. Two years later he took up the position of organist at Westminster Abbey. Purcell ...

56. Charles Villiers Stanford

Soundtrack | Goodbye Christopher Robin

Charles Villiers Stanford was born on September 30, 1852 in Dublin, Irish Free State. He was married to Jane Anna Maria Wetton. He died on March 29, 1924 in London, England, UK.

57. Alfred Lord Tennyson

Writer | The Lady Clare

Alfred, Lord Tennyson was a popular English poet. He served as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom for 42 years (term 1850-1892). He often wrote poetry based on mythology. Among his most famous works was the "Idylls of the King" (printed in updated versions, 1859-1885), a collection of narrative ...

58. Dylan Thomas

Writer | These Are the Men

Dylan Thomas was born at the start of the First World War in the "ugly, lovely town" of Swansea, an industrial, coastal town on the South Wales Coast. He published his first volume of poetry, "Eighteen poems" in 1934 and went on to write many more volumes of poetry as well as many short stories, ...

59. Sybil Thorndike

Actress | The Prince and the Showgirl

This distinguished theatrical tragedienne will be remembered forever if only for the fact George Bernard Shaw wrote his classic "Saint Joan" work specifically for her. Her over six-decade career allowed for a gallery of sterling, masterful portrayals, both classic and contemporary, performing all ...

60. Ralph Vaughan Williams

Soundtrack | Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Dr. Ralph Vaughan Williams was perhaps the most important English composer of the 20th Century. His influence on the development of 20th Century music was immense. Benjamin Britten and numerous film composers (Jerry Goldsmith, etc.) owe a lot to him. He created a truly contemporary idiom whose ...

61. Ursula Vaughan Williams

Self | Omnibus

62. William Walton

Soundtrack | Last Action Hero

William Walton came from a musical family. He entered Christ Church, Oxford at the early age of sixteen but left without a degree in 1920. A fine musician, he was essentially self-taught as a composer, except some instruction from Hugh Allen, the cathedral organist. Through literary friends and ...

63. Frank Whittle

Self | Reaching for the Skies

Frank Whittle was born on June 1, 1907 in Coventry, West Midlands, England, UK. He died on August 9, 1996 in Columbia, Maryland, USA.

64. Stephen Hawking

Actor | Star Trek: The Next Generation

Stephen William Hawking was born on 8 January 1942 on Oxford, Oxfordshire, England. He was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge.

His scientific works include a collaboration with ...

65. John Gay

Soundtrack | Emma

John Gay was born on June 30, 1685 in Barnstaple, Devon, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Emma (1996), Pink String and Sealing Wax (1945) and The Beggar's Opera (1953). He died on December 4, 1732 in London, England, UK.

66. Rudyard Kipling

Writer | The Man Who Would Be King

Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, Maharashtra, India, the son of John Lockwood Kipling, a museum director and author and illustrator. This was at the height of the "British Raj", so he was brought up by Indian nurses ("ayahs"), who taught him something of the beliefs and tongues of India. He was ...