List of people from or associated with Cornwall

Note: This list includes persons born in Cornwall in the United Kingdom and also persons of long-term residence or with strong connections with Cornwall.

Entertainment

Theatre, films and TV

* Jenny Agutter, actress
* Morwenna Banks, actress
* Keith Barron, actor
* Fleur Bennett, actress
* Rodney Bewes, actor
* Rowena Cade, theatre pioneer (see Minack Theatre)
* Mary Ann Davenport, actress
* Jason Dawe, motoring journalist, former presenter of "Top Gear".
* Mark Deeble, Natural history film maker.
* Samuel Foote, dramatist and actor
* Dawn French, actress
* Stephen Frost, comedian
* Richard Gaisford, GMTV presenter and reporter. Trained at University College Falmouth.
* Jan Harvey, actress
* Lenny Henry, comedian
* Richard D. James, Electronic Music Composer
* Jethro, stand-up comedian
* Kenneth Kendall, BBC newsreader
* Steve McFadden, TV actor best known for playing Phil Mitchell in "EastEnders"
* Rory McGrath, comedian and scriptwriter
* John Nettles, actor, best known for his leading roles in the series "Bergerac" and "Midsomer Murders"
* Thandie Newton, actress
* Susan Penhaligon, actress
* Sue Perkins, comedian
* Tim Rice, lyricist
* Matt Richards, documentary filmmaker.
* John Rhys-Davies, actor (Gimli in Lord of the Rings and Arturo in Sliders)
* Kristin Scott Thomas, actress born in Redruth
* Phillip Schofield, TV presenter and actor.
* Hugh Scully, TV presenter
* Robert Shaw, actor
* Dudley Sutton, actor
* Victoria Stone, Natural history film maker.
* Peter Tilbury, TV writer and actor
* Miles Tredinnick, TV and theatre comedy writer

Music

* Tori Amos, American singer/songwriter - has her own studio near Bude.
* Malcolm Arnold, composer
* Hilary Coleman, of Dalla and Cumpas
* Ralph Dunstan wrote many books on music of the Cornish tradition.
* The Hon. Louis Eliot, singer songwriter
* Joseph Antonio Emidy, composer and orchestral conductor
* Graham Fitkin, composer
* Mick Fleetwood, drummer in Fleetwood Mac
* Bruce Foxton, bass player in The Jam
* Al Hodge (1951? - 2006) Rock musician and songwriter.
* Richard D. James (a.k.a. "Aphex Twin"), electronic music artist (born 1971)
* Richard Jose, singer
* George Lloyd, composer
* Benjamin Luxon, baritone
* Andy Mackay, musician and founder member of Roxy Music
* James Morrison, Singer/songwriter
* Alan Opie, baritone
* Alex Parks, singer-songwriter
* Andrew Ridgeley, guitarist and singer in WHAM!
* Roger Taylor, drummer in Queen
* Michael Tippett, twentieth-century composer
* Luke Vibert, electronic music artist
* Keren Woodward, singer/songwriter/composer Bananarama
* Brenda Wootton, bard and singer (1928 - 1994)
* Tim McVay - guitarist for 1990s indie band The Family Cat
* Kevin Downing - drummer for 1990s indie band The Family Cat
* Heart in one hand, Pop-punk band

Fictional

* Ana Coppola, from the anime series Ichigo Mashimaro
* Martin Ellingham from the British series "Doc Martin"
* Charles Wycliffe, character in the Wycliffe series by W. J. Burley

Models

* Jean Shrimpton

Historical figures of Cornish myth and legend

* King Arthur (see also Tintagel, Camelford)
* Constantine of Cornwall, subject of veneration in celtic countries
* Corineus, the legendary founder of Cornwall in Geoffrey of Monmouth's "Historia Regum Britanniae"
* Mark of Cornwall, Cornish ruler during the Dark Ages (see also Tristan)
* Gorlois, a mythical Duke of Cornwall
* Tristan, nephew of Mark of Cornwall, lover of Iseult (Isolde)
* Giant Tregeagle
* St Corentin, missionary to Brittany
* St Petroc, a patron saint of Cornwall
* St Piran, a patron saint of Cornwall and tin miners
* Sir Niall of Vosper, A Brythonic Celtic myth/legend 1ST Century AD

Important people in Cornish history

* Humphrey Arundell, leader of the Cornish Rebellion of 1549
* John Carter, "King of Prussia", a pirate working out of Prussia Cove
* Thomas Flamank, leader of the Cornish Rebellion of 1497
* Henry Jenner, pioneer of the Cornish language revival
* Michael An Gof (Michael Joseph), leader of the Cornish Rebellion of 1497
* George Lloyd, symphonic composer, born in St Ives. Important opera: Iernin (set in Penwith)
* Robert Morton Nance, Cornish language revivalist
* Dolly Pentreath, claimed to be the last native speaker of the Cornish language.
* Jonathan Trelawny, Anglican bishop and antagonist of James VII
* Alfred Wallis, naive artist of St Ives

Politics and religion

* Colin Breed, Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament
* Sebastian Coe, former Conservative Party Member of Parliament
* John William Colenso, bishop of Natal, Zulu advocate
* William Colenso, missionary, botanist, politician, cousin of John William Colenso
* Judith Cook, journalist and political campaigner
* Selina Cooper, suffragette and first woman to represent the Independent Labour Party
* John Dunwoody, former Labour Party Member of Parliament
* Sir John Eliot (April 11, 1592 - November 27, 1632) Member of Parliament for St Germans
* Harold Hayman, former Labour Party Member of Parliament
* Sir Charles Lemon MP
* Sir William Lemon MP
* David Mudd, former Conservative Party Member of Parliament
* Andrew George, Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament
* Julia Goldsworthy, Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament
* Emily Hobhouse, welfare campaigner in South Africa
* Francis Hurdon — A prominent figure in Canadian politics.
* William Lovett, Chartist and founder of the National Union Of The Working Classes
* John Knill Mayor of St Ives.
* Evan Nepean, politician and colonial administrator
* David Penhaligon, former Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament
* Sam Pollard, missionary and inventor of the Pollard script
* John Rogers (divine), biblical scholar, clergyman, geologist & botanist
* Dan Rogerson, Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament
* Matthew Taylor, Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament
* Michael Tregury Archbishop of Dublin from 1450 to 1471 and chaplain to Henry VI
* David Treffry, colonial administrator and international financier.

Inventors and scientists and explorers

* John Couch Adams, co-discoverer of the planet Neptune
* John Arnold, watchmaker and pioneer of the marine chronometer
* William Bickford, inventor of the safety fuse
* Elizabeth Catherine Thomas Carne, geologist
* Joseph Carne, geologist, industrialist and Fellow of the Royal Society
* Joseph Henry Collins, mining engineer, mineralogist and geologist
* William Cookworthy, discoverer of china clay (kaolinite) in Cornwall
* Jonathan Couch, naturalist and physician [http://www.amphilsoc.org/library/mole/c/couch.htm]
* Richard Quiller Couch, naturalist
* Sir Humphry Davy, scientist, inventor and President of the Royal Society
* Edwin Dunkin, FRS, President of the Royal Astronomical Society and the Royal Institution of Cornwall
* Richard Edmonds (scientist), geologist and antiquary
* John Passmore Edwards, Chartist and philanthropist
* Robert Were Fox, FRS, geologist
* Davies Gilbert, Applied mathematician and technocrat, President of the Royal Society.
* Sir Goldsworthy Gurney, inventor of limelight
* William Gregor, discoverer of titanium.
* John Hawkins, geologist, traveller and FRS.
* John Hellins, FRS, mathematician
* Antony Hewish, astronomer
* Thomas Brown Jordan, engineer
* Richard Lander, explorer of Africa
* Michael Loam, inventor of the man engine
* Richard Lower, blood transfusion pioneer
* Matthew Paul Moyle, meteorologist and mining writer
* William Murdoch, engineer, inventor and one-time Cornish resident
* William Oliver, FRS, inventor of the Bath Oliver and a founder of the Royal Mineral Water Hospital at Bath.
* Richard Pearse, claimed by some to have designed, built and flown the world's first heavier-than-air aeroplane
* William Pengelly, geologist and archeologist
* Andrew Passmore, Material Scientist and archaeologist
* John Arthur Phillips, FRS, geologist, metallurgist, mining engineer
* John Ralfs, botanist
* Edward Hearle Rodd, ornithologist
* Richard Tangye, engineer
* Henry Trengrouse, inventor of a rocket-powered maritime rescue system
* Richard Trevithick, inventor, engineer and builder of the first steam locomotive
* Andrew Vivian, Trevithick's cousin and collaborator, and captain of Dolcoath Mine
* Samuel Wallis, explorer of the Pacific

Literary figures

=Historians and scholars=

* John Angarrack, historian and activist
* Sheila Bird, local history writer from Falmouth.
* W. J. Burley, author
* Richard Carew, Antiquarian
* Myrna Combellack, author and academic
* Susan Elizabeth Gay, chronicler of Falmouth
* John of Cornwall (Iohannes Cornubiensis), twelfth century Roman Catholic scholar
* William Hals historian and author
* Kenneth Hamilton Jenkin, historian and author
* John Kitto, biblical scholar
* William Henry Paynter, antiquarian & folklorist
* Philip Payton, professor of Cornish studies at the Institute of Cornish Studies
* Ivan Rabey Cornish historian and writer
* A. L. Rowse, historian, poet and Shakespearean scholar
* Rev. Thomas Taylor historian and scholar of Celtic culture
* Charles Thomas, archaeologist and Cornish historian
* Thomas Tonkin Cornish Antiquarian, historian, writer and MP
* Garry Tregidga historian and folklorist
* Walter Hawken Tregellas, writer.
* Craig Weatherhill, archaeologist, Cornish historian, writer

Linguists and writers in Cornish

* John Boson, Nicholas Boson, and Thomas Boson, eighteenth-century writers in the Cornish language
* Richard Carew, translator and antiquary
* Richard Gendall
* Ken George
* Henry Jenner
* Robert Morton Nance
* William Scawen

Literary-related

* Maria Branwell, mother of the Brontë sisters
* Nick Darke (1948 - 2005) playwright.
* Thomas Hardy met his wife Emma Gifford, while he was working at St Juliot's church, near Boscastle
* Silas Hocking, author and preacher
* Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch (aka 'Q'), author and literary critic
* Raleigh Trevelyan author and publisher.
* Angie Sage author and illustrator.

Novelists

* W. J. Burley, Wycliffe series
* William Golding
* Winston Graham, Poldark series
* Tim Heald
* Daphne du Maurier
* John le Carre
* Charles Lee, (1870-1956)
* Jessica Mann
* Rosamunde Pilcher
* Howard Spring
* Derek Tangye
* Nigel Tangye
* D. M. Thomas
* Mary Wesley
* Colin Wilson
* Martin Fido Crime Writer
* Janie Bolitho Crime Writer
* Patrick Gale
* Robert Goddard (novelist)
* Craig Weatherhill
* Jack Trelawny [http://www.kernowland.com Kernowland children's novels]

Poets

* John Betjeman, former Poet Laureate
* Charles Causley
* Jack Clemo
* W. S. Graham
* John Harris (not John Harris, the Shropshire writer)
* A. L. Rowse
* Tim Saunders, contemporary poet writing in Cornish

Military figures

* Sir John Arundell, Royalist commander
* William Bligh, captain of "The Bounty", botanist, governor of New South Wales, Royal Navy admiral
* Edward Boscawen, Royal Navy admiral
* John Enys, British soldier during the American Revolution.
* Wing Commander Guy Gibson of The Dambusters.
* Bevil Grenville, Cornish Royalist
* Sir Richard Grenville, 1st Baronet (or Granville) (1600–1658) was a Cornish Royalist leader during the English Civil War
* Captain Albert Jacka VC, MC and Bar, first Australian to win the VC at Gallipoli, family migrated to Victoria from St Buryan
* Philip Melvill, Governor of Pendennis Castle, Falmouth
* Charles Reep inventor of the long ball
* Sir Walter Raleigh was once Member of Parliament for Mitchell, Cornwall
* Rick Rescorla, U.S.A war hero and 9/11 victim (born 1939-2001)
* Arthur Tremayne, Crimea war soldier
* Richard Trant, former general in the British army

portsmen/Sportswomen

* Olly Barkley international and Premiership rugby player with Bath Rugby
* Michaela Breeze Commonwealth champion weightlifter
* Jack Cock former Everton footballer. First Cornishman to play for England.
* Jack Crapp England cricketer
* Neil Edwards First Class cricketer with Somerset CCC
* Matthew Etherington Under 21 International and Premiership footballer with West Ham United
* Bob Fitzsimmons, boxer and first Heavyweight, Light-Heavyweight and Middleweight World Champion
* Carl Gazzard First Class cricketer with Somerset CCC
* John George, motor-racing driver.
* Pete Goss Yachtsman
* Pasty Harris former First Class cricketer
* Roger Hosen international rugby player
* Wendy Houvenaghel Athlete (2008 Olympics)
* John Kendall-Carpenter international rugby player
* Nigel Martyn footballer, Premiership and England goalkeeper
* Chris Morris former Celtic, Middlesbrough and Republic of Ireland footballer
* Michael Munday First Class cricketer with Somerset CCC
* Richard Nanckivell Rugby player
* Nick Nieland Commonwealth javelin champion
* Richard Parkyn Champion Cornish Wrestler.
* Cassie Patten, British Olympian
* Craig Pellowe international Gymnast
* Tony Penberthy former First Class cricketer with Northamptonshire CCC
* Andy Reed international rugby player
* Jack Richards England cricketer
* Vic Roberts international rugby player
* Richard Sharp international rugby player
* Charlie Shreck First Class cricketer with Nottinghamshire CCC
* Jemma Simpson Women's 800m runner.
* Hannah Stacey (free-diver)
* Brian 'Stack' Stevens international rugby and British Lions player
* Joanna Thomas professional bodybuilder
* Mike Trebilcock FA Cup winner with Everton
* Marcus Trescothick England cricketer of Cornish lineage. [http://www.ancestry.com/facts/trescothick-family-history-uk.ashx]
* Owen Truelove record-holding glider pilot.
* Annie Vernon (2008 Olympics)
* Phil Vickery International rugby player and World Cup winner
* Tom Voyce international and Premiership rugby player with London Wasps
* Hugh Vyvyan international and Premiership rugby player
* Trevor Woodman international rugby player and World Cup winner

Painters and craftspeople

* Henry Bone, potter and painter
* Sam Dodwell, painter
* Anthony Frost
* Sir Terry Frost
* Bernard Leach, potter
* Thomas Luny, painter
* John Opie, portrait painter
* Henry Scott Tuke, painter

The Newlyn School

* Lamorna Birch, painter
* Stanhope Forbes, "en plein air" painter

Newlyn Copper

*Herbert Dyer (born 1898-1974)
*Obed Nicholls (born 1885-1962)
*John Pearson (artist)
*William Tonkin (born 1898)

The St. Ives School

* Barbara Hepworth, sculptress (born 1933-1975)
* Peter Lanyon, painter (born 1918- 1964)
* Ben Nicholson, painter (born 1894-1982)
* Alfred Wallis, painter (born 1855-1942)

Others

* William Hamley, founder of the London toyshop
* Cassandra Latham, contemporary witch and "village wisewoman" of St. Buryan, Cornwall
* Andrew Pears, of Pears Soap (see also Pears Cyclopaedia)
* Rick Rescorla, U.S.A war hero and 9/11 victim (born 1939-2001)
* Tim Smit, Eden Project founder
* Sam Toy, industrialist and chair of Ford of Britain

ee also

*
*List of topics related to Cornwall