List of people from 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
- 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
- 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
Fictional
Models
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
- 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 [1]
- Richard Quiller Couch, naturalist
- Sir Humphry Davy, scientist, inventor and President of the Royal Society
- 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
- 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
- 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
Literary-related
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
Sportsmen/Sportswomen
Painters and craftspeople
The St. Ives School
Others
See also