List of people from Walsall
Walsall (/ˈwɔːlsɔːl/ ⓘ, or /ˈwɒlsɔːl/; locally /ˈwɔːrsʌl/) is a large market town and administrative centre in West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located 9 miles (14 km) north-west of Birmingham, 7 miles (11 km) east of Wolverhampton and 9 miles (14 km) from Lichfield. This list a list of notable people who were born in, lived in, or were otherwise strongly associated with Walsall.
Culture
Acting
- Bobby Ash (1925–2007), British-Canadian actor born in Walsall[1]
- Zoe Dawson (born 1979 in Walsall) actress, minor roles in the BBC soap opera Doctors
- Don Gilet (born 1967 in Caldmore) actor, roles in BBC productions Babyfather, EastEnders and 55 Degrees North.
- Jeffrey Holland (born Jeffrey Michael Parkes, 1946 in Walsall) actor,[2] roles in TV sitcoms and in Hi-de-Hi!, attended Queen Mary's Grammar School.
- Matthew Marsden (born 1973 in West Bromwich) stage and film actor,[3] brought up on the Yew Tree Estate in Walsall and schooled in Wednesbury and Great Barr.
- Peter McEnery (born 1940 in Walsall) stage TV and film actor.[4] Gave Hayley Mills her first "grown-up" screen kiss in the 1964 film The Moon-Spinners.
- Sue Nicholls (born 1943 in Walsall) actress,[5] played Audrey Roberts in Coronation Street.
- Erin O'Connor (born 1978 in Brownhills) model and TV actress, attended Brownhills Community School
- Meera Syal (born 1961) comedian, writer, playwright, singer, journalist, producer and actress. Brought up in Essington and attended Queen Mary's High School.
- Richard Wattis (born 1912 in Wednesbury – 1975), actor
- Frank Windsor (born 1927 in Walsall) actor,[6] mainly on TV. Attended Queen Mary's Grammar School. Played DS John Watt in Z-Cars from 1962 to 1965.
Music
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- Joe Hicklin, vocalist of Big Special[7]
- Amar (born 1982), British Indian singer
- Andy C (born 1976), DJ, record producer and co-founder of RAM Records[8]
- Blak_Prophetz aka Mark Duffus (born 1967 in Caldmore Green, Walsall) DJ, Musician, Record_Producer, Rapper attended Whitehall Infants, Blue Coat C of E Junior and Secondary School. Founder/Owner of the Record label Digital_Jukebox_Records.
- Rob Collins (1963 in Rowley Regis – 1996) musician,[9] original keyboardist of The Charlatans (the English band, not the American band)
- Martin Degville (born 1961 in Walsall) lead singer and co-songwriter[10] of the English pop band Sigue Sigue Sputnik.
- Goldie aka Clifford Joseph Price, (born 1965 in Walsall) musician,[11] DJ, graffiti artist, visual artist and actor, attended St. Francis of Assisi RC Secondary School in Aldridge
- Rob Halford (born 1951 in Sutton Coldfield) raised in Walsall, singer songwriter,[12] lead vocalist for the heavy metal band Judas Priest.
- Noddy Holder (born 1946 in Caldmore) musician and actor,[13] English lead singer and guitarist in glam rock band Slade
- Tom Major-Ball (1879 in Bloxwich – 1962) music hall and circus performer[14] and father of John Major, former Prime Minister
- Frank Mullings (1881 in Walsall – 1953) a leading English tenor[15] with Beecham Opera Company and its successor, the British National Opera Company
- Mark Rhodes (born 1981 in Darlaston) singer and TV presenter, finished 2nd in the 2nd series of Pop Idol, lives in Wombourne.
- Jorja Smith (born 1997 in Walsall) singer-songwriter
- Connie Talbot (born 2000) from Streetly, English singer based in Walsall[16] 2nd place in the first series of Britain's Got Talent (series 1)
- Kathryn Tickell (born 8 June 1967 in Walsall) is an English musician, noted for her mastery of the Northumbrian smallpipes and fiddle.[17]
- Dave Walker (born 1945 in Walsall) singer and guitarist,[18] front-man for a number of bands; including Idle Race, Savoy Brown, Fleetwood Mac, and, briefly, Black Sabbath.
- John Cooke guitarist and bassist of Napalm Death, Venomous Concept, and Malevolent Creation.
TV and radio
- Alex Lester (born 1956 in Walsall) radio broadcaster,[19]
- Andrew Peach (born in Bloxwich c. 1970) BBC Radio presenter[20]
- Bob Warman (born 1946) TV presenter,[21]
- Leila Williams (born in Walsall 1937) beauty queen and Blue Peter presenter from 1958 until 1962[22]
Visual arts
- Orlando Dutton born in Walsall 1 April 1894, was an English-born Australian monumental, figurative and architectural sculptor[23]
Politics
- William Dixon Allott, (1817–1892) born in Walsall, Mayor of Adelaide 1873–1874[24]
- David Ennals, Baron Ennals (1922–1995) Labour Party politician born in Walsall[25]
- Bruce George (born 1942) Labour Party politician,[26] MP for Walsall South 1974–2010
- Eddie Hughes (born 1968) Conservative Party politician,[27] MP for Walsall North 2017 to date.
- Joseph Leckie (Born Glasgow 24 May 1866 – 9 August 1938) after whom Joseph Leckie school, now an academy was named. MP for Walsall 1931 - 1938.
- Sir Harmar Nicholls (later Lord Harmar-Nicholls) (1912 in Walsall – 2000) Conservative Party politician,[28] MP for Peterborough 1950–1974. Father of Sue Nicholls (see above).
- John Stonehouse (1925 – 1988) Labour Party politician,[29] MP for Walsall North 1974–1976, notable for his unsuccessful attempt to fake his own death in 1974
- David Winnick (born 1933) Labour Party politician,[30] MP for Walsall North 1979–2017.
- Jenny Tonge, Baroness Tonge (born 1941 in Walsall) politician,[31] Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park in London 1997–2005, made a life peer in June 2005.
- Valerie Vaz (born 1954) Labour politician[32] and solicitor MP for Walsall South 2010 to date.
Public service and commerce
- Francis Asbury (1745 Hamstead Bridge – 1816) joint founder of the Methodist movement in the United States, brought up in Gt Barr, emigrated 1771.[33]
- Mike Ashley (born 1964), British billionaire retail entrepreneur focused in the sporting goods market[34]
- Sir Terence Beckett (1923 in Walsall – 2013) businessman,[35] chairman of Ford and later, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry
- Margaret Bromhall (born 1890 in Walsall)[36] first radiotherapist appointed to a radiotherapy department, at North Middlesex Hospital in London[37]
- John Henry Carless (1896 in Walsall – 1917) recipient of the Victoria Cross[38] during the First World War
- Reverend Harry Moore Dauncey (1863 in Walsall – 1932) missionary in Papua New Guinea[39]
- Sister Dora (1832–1878) Anglican nun[40] and a nurse in Walsall. She is honoured for her compassion and her medical work by a statue in the centre of town.
- Michael L. Fitzgerald (born Walsall in 1937) Roman Catholic Cardinal,[41] expert on Muslim-Christian relations
- Martin Fowler (born 1963 in Walsall) software developer[42]
- Frederick Gibbs (born 1899 in Walsall) World War I Flying Ace[43]
- Sir Harry Hinsley (1918 in Birchills – 1998) historian and cryptanalyst,[44] worked at Bletchley Park and became Master of St John's College, Cambridge University
- James Alexander Holden (1 April 1835 – 1 June 1887) was the businessman who founded the South Australian company which eventually produced the Holden automobile.
- Samuel Leeds (born 1991), social media influencer, property trainer and investor[45]
- Sir Len Peach (1932 in Walsall – 2016) Chief Executive[46] of the National Health Service 1986 – 1989.
- Air Chief Marshal Stuart William Peach, Baron Peach (born Walsall, 1956) former RAF officer and Chief of the Defence Staff.
- Sir Edwin Thomas Smith (6 April 1830 – 25 December 1919) was an English-born South Australian brewer, businessman, councillor, mayor, politician and philanthropist.
- Air Vice-Marshal Sidney Webster (1900 in Walsall – 1984) aviator[47] and senior officer in the RAF
Sport
- Norman Ashe (born 1943), footballer
- Fred Bakewell (1908 in Walsall – 1983) was a Northamptonshire and England opening batsman,[48] renowned largely because of his unorthodox methods
- David Brown (born 1942 in Walsall) former English cricketer,[49] attended Queen Mary's Grammar School played in twenty six Tests from 1965 to 1969
- Colin Charvis (born 1972 in Sutton Coldfield) attended Queen Mary's Grammar School in Walsall,[50] a former captain of the Wales national rugby union team
- Leon Drysdale (born 1991), footballer
- Nick Gillingham (born 1967 in Walsall) swimmer,[51] competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul and the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona
- Terry Holbrook (born 1945 in Walsall) football referee formerly in the Football League and Premier League
- Dean Keates (born 1978 in Beechdale) retired footballer and former First Team manager of Walsall.
- Vaughan Lee (born 1982) Mixed Martial Artist formerly competing in UFC.
- Mark Lewis-Francis (born Darlason 1982) 100 metres sprinter,[52] member of the gold medal winning 4x100 metres relay team at the 2004 summer Olympics.
- Robert Marshall (1869–1937), cricketer
- Rupert Moon former Llanelli and Welsh rugby international, known as the "Walsall Welshman" he became a radio and television presenter in Wales.[53]
- Lee Naylor (born in 1980 in Mossley) former professional footballer
- Jaydon Paddock (born 2001 in Walsall), English trampoline gymnast
- David Platt (born Walsall 1966) English-born[54] Australian darts player
- Rachel Unitt (born 1982 in Bentley) England Women's footballer[55]
- Ellie Simmonds (born 1994) Paralympian swimmer,[56] won gold in the 2008 and 2012 Summer Paralympics.
Writing
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- John Byrne (born 1950 in Walsall) comic book creator, raised in West Bromwich[57]
- Peter Corey (born 1946 in Walsall) author[58] of the Coping With children's book series and also a TV actor.
- Jerome K. Jerome (1859 in Caldmore – 1927) writer [59] and humourist,[60] author of comic travelogue Three Men in a Boat (1889).
- Paul McDonald (born 1961 in Walsall) comic novelist[61] and academic.[62]
- Sir Henry Newbolt (1862 in Bilston – 1938) poet, novelist and historian[63] and old boy of Queen Mary's Grammar School.
- Nick Redfern (born 1964 in Pelsall) author and UFO researcher[64]
Science
- Lindon Eaves (1944–2022) geneticist and Anglican priest, born in Walsall
- John Edward Gray (1800–1875), zoologist, born in Walsall.[65]
Murderers
- Raymond Morris (1929 in Walsall – 2014) convicted of the Cannock Chase murders in the late 1960s, served 45 years in prison.
- Louise Porton (born 1996) woman who murdered her two children in 2018, formerly lived in Walsall
Others
- Thomas Hughes, (1818–1876), Anglican minister and abolitionist
References
- ↑ Langan, F.F. (25 May 2007). "'Uncle Bobby' took on Sesame Street: After a start in British music halls, he kept children spellbound with a popular Toronto television show". The Globe and Mail.
- ↑ Jeffrey Holland at IMDb
- ↑ Matthew Marsden at IMDb
- ↑ Peter McEnery at IMDb
- ↑ Sue Nicholls at IMDb
- ↑ Frank Windsor at IMDb
- ↑ Trendell, Andrew (28 September 2023). "Big Special make vulnerable, soulful punk that needs to be heard". NME. Archived from the original on 8 July 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
- ↑ "Andy C wins DJ Mag Top 100 DJs 2017 Highest Drum & Bass Award". DJ Mag. 20 October 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
- ↑ MTV website, 10/31/1996 retrieved 16 February 2018
- ↑ Martin Degville at IMDb
- ↑ Goldie at IMDb
- ↑ Rob Halford at IMDb
- ↑ Noddy Holder at IMDb
- ↑ The miraculous Major-Balls, BBC News, 21 May 1999 retrieved 17 February 2018
- ↑ Archive of British National Opera Company website retrieved 16 February 2018
- ↑ Connie Talbot at AllMusic retrieved 16 February 2018
- ↑ Hickman, Pamela (26 September 2015). "Kathryn Tickell talks about Northumbrian music, about the fiddle and the Northumbrian pipes". Pamela Hickman's Music Interviews. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
- ↑ Archive of The Dave Walker Page, 2004 retrieved 17 February 2018
- ↑ BBC Local Radio, Saturday night with Alex Lester retrieved 16 February 2018
- ↑ BBC Radio Berkshire, Andrew Peach retrieved 16 February 2018
- ↑ Bob Warman at IMDb
- ↑ Leila Williams at IMDb
- ↑ "Born in Walsall". The Walsall Observer, and South Staffordshire Chronicle. Walsall, West Midlands, England. 6 January 1923. p. 6.
- ↑ "Obituary". South Australian Register. 22 November 1892. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
- ↑ HANSARD 1803–2005 → People (E) Mr David Ennals retrieved 16 February 2018
- ↑ TheyWorkForYou.com – Bruce George MP retrieved 16 February 2018
- ↑ TheyWorkForYou.com – Eddie Hughes MP retrieved 16 February 2018
- ↑ HANSARD 1803–2005 → People (N), Sir Harmar Nicholls retrieved 17 February 2018
- ↑ HANSARD 1803–2005 → People (S) Mr John Stonehouse retrieved 16 February 2018
- ↑ TheyWorkForYou.com – David Winnick Former MP retrieved 16 February 2018
- ↑ TheyWorkForYou.com – Baroness Tonge retrieved 16 February 2018
- ↑ TheyWorkForYou.com – Valerie Vaz MP retrieved 16 February 2018
- ↑ . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. Vol. I. 1900. pp. 108–109.
- ↑ "Mike Ashley: Sports Direct's media-shy owner enters spotlight". Retrieved 29 January 2018.
- ↑ The Guardian, Obituary, 12 May 2013 retrieved 17 February 2018
- ↑ "Winifred Harriet Bromhall". geni_family_tree. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
- ↑ Haines, Catharine M. C.; Stevens, Helen M. (2001). International Women in Science: A Biographical Dictionary to 1950. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-090-1.
- ↑ "vconline.org.uk".
- ↑ Rev Harry Moore Dauncey (Biographical details), British Museum retrieved 17 February 2018
- ↑ Walsall Council archive, History of Walsall's Sister Dora and the steam engine[link removed] retrieved 17 February 2018
- ↑ BBC News, 16 September 2006, Pope's remarks reveal harder stance retrieved 17 February 2018
- ↑ A Conversation with Martin Fowler, 9 December 2002 retrieved 17 February 2018
- ↑ Frederick John Gibbs, The Aerodrome, 2015 retrieved 17 February 2018
- ↑ Sir Harry Hinsley: The Influence of ULTRA in WW2, 26 November 1996 retrieved 17 February 2018
- ↑ Vukmirovic, James (13 March 2026). "'I'm buying a church in my Black Country hometown to save it from redevelopment - and if I succeed I'll let the right group use it rent-free'". Express & Star. MNA Media. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
- ↑ The Telegraph, 29 August 2016, Obituary retrieved 17 February 2018
- ↑ The London Gazette (Supplement), 1 January 1946. p. 32, No. 37407 retrieved 17 February 2018
- ↑ ESPN cricinfo Database retrieved 16 February 2018
- ↑ ESPN cricinfo Database retrieved 16 February 2018
- ↑ South Wales Argus, 28 September 2010, Charvis no longer with Dragons retrieved 16 February 2018
- ↑ Staffs ASA archive, NICK GILLINGHAM retrieved 16 February 2018
- ↑ Mark Lewis-Francis profile at IAAF retrieved 16 February 2018
- ↑ Thomas, Simon. "The remarkable life of Rupert Moon, one of Welsh rugby's great characters". WalesOnline.
- ↑ Player profile on David Platt from Dartsdatabase retrieved 16 February 2018
- ↑ BBC Sport, 2 October 2014, Rachel Unitt: retrieved 16 February 2018
- ↑ The Telegraph, Eleanor Simmonds, Paralympic Sport, Paralympics GB retrieved 16 February 2018
- ↑ "Comic creator: John Byrne" URL retrieved 25 July 2006
- ↑ Peter Corey at IMDb
- ↑ . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). 1911.
- ↑ Jeromekjerome.com website retrieved 16 February 2018
- ↑ "Black Country – Features – From Saddles to Chuckles". BBC. 25 January 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
- ↑ University of Wolverhampton Staff Page retrieved 16 February 2018
- ↑ . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). 1911.
- ↑ Nick Redfern's Celebrity Secrets blog retrieved 17 February 2018
- ↑ . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 391.