Famous Shrewsbury Folk
Shrewsbury has produced a number of famous people over the years. A selection of these famous individuals are displayed below:
CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN 1809 - 1882
Without question Shrewsbury's most famous son and official 'Great Briton'.
Charles Darwin was the English naturalist who first established the theory of evolution in his work 'Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection'.
Darwin was born in The Mount in the Frankwell area of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England on February 12th 1809 and was the grandson of Erasmus Darwin (the English scientist and poet - considered one of the foremost physicians of his day). His mother was a daughter of the famous English pottery manufacturer, Josiah Wedgwood, who died in 1817.
Darwin spent the early years of his life in Shrewsbury and he was educated at Shrewsbury School under his tutor Samuel Butler. Today the original Shrewsbury School houses the town library, outside of which is a statue of Darwin who looks down benignly over his town as it develops and adapts. After all, these changes are merely further examples of evolution at work.
In 1825 he went on to Edinburgh University to prepare himself to enter the medical profession. However, he decided he was unfit to follow a medical career, in 1828 he went to Christ's College, Cambridge with the idea he would become a clergyman.
From the December of 1831 at the age of 22, to the October of 1836 Darwin made his famous journey in H.M.S. Beagle as the naturalist for the surveying expedition which visited Cape Verde and other Atlantic islands, the South American coasts and the Galapagos Islands, Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia, Tasmania, Keeling Island, the Maldives, Mauritius, St Helena, Ascension and Brazil.
The voyage acted as the preparation for his life's work, his observations between the relationships of geographically separated animals (animals on the islands and contiguous mainland) and time-separated animals (those living and extinct animals).
Darwin's journal for 1837 contains the following words explaining his feelings following this idea:
"In July opened first notebook on Transmutation of Species. Had been greatly struck from about the month of previous March on character of South American fossils, and species on Galapagos Archipelago. These facts (especially latter) origin of all my views."
Darwin's theory changed the way we look at the world and evolution, he was one of the foremost thinkers of his generation and the legacy of his work has withstood over a century of debate and criticism, this is why Shrewsbury celebrates Darwin as its most famous son in its annual Darwin Festival.
WILFRED OWEN 1893 - 1918
Perhaps slightly lesser known than Charles Darwin, Wilfred Edward Salter Owen was a British poet during the First World War.
He was born in Oswestry, Shropshire on the 18th of March 1893 and lived in Birkenhead in 1897 and moved to Shrewsbury in 1907.
After an illness in 1913 he lived in France. In 1915 he enlisted in the Artists Rifles. The experience of Trench Warfare brought Owen to rapid maturity and his poems written after the January of 1917 were full of heart-rending and poignant anger at the pointless persuit of war and in particular "those who die like cattle."
In the June of 1917 he was briefly invalided home to Britain and while in a hospital in Edinburgh he made the acquaintance of one Sigfried Sassoon, who shared Owens feelings about the war.
Owen returned to France in August 1918 as a Company Comander. He was awarded the military cross in October and was killed aged 25, a week before Armistice day, in a German machine gun attack on the banks of the Sambre-Oise canal on November the 4th 1918.
Whilst a memorial to Owen lies in the grounds of Shrewsbury Abbey, he is buried in France.
MARY WEBB 1881 - 1927
Gladys Mary Webb was an English novelist and poet. She was born Gladys Mary Meredith, on the 25th of March 1881 at Leighton Lodge, Leighton-under-the-Wrekin, near Shrewsbury, Shropshire and lived there all her life, apart from her last six years, which were spent in London.
She was the eldest of six children and is perhaps best known for her book 'Precious Bane' (1924) although she did in fact write four other novels. 'The Golden Arrow' (1916), 'Gone to Earth' (1917), 'The House in Dormer Forest' (1920), 'Seven for a Secret' (1922) and her unfinished historical novel 'Armour Wherein he Trusted' (1929).
She is perhaps best known for romantic, rather than psychological exploration of her characters, but her writing style conveys a vivid impression of Shropshire's countryside and its people.
She died prematurely at St. Leonards, Sussex, on October 8th 1927 due to a thyroid disorder that had caused her ill-health throughout her life since she was in her twenties. She is buried in Shrewsbury's main cemetery in Longdon Road.
A Mary Webb Trail is available free of charge for those, wishing to learn more about the Shropshire of Mary Webb. For more information, please click here.
ROBERT CLIVE (CLIVE OF INDIA) 1725 - 1774
Robert Clive was a soldier and statesman who is famously associated with British power in India. He was born on September 29th 1775 at Styche, the Clive family estate, in the parish of Moreton Say, near Market Drayton, Shropshire.
The Clive family were one of the oldest associated with Shropshire and records can trace them in Styche Manor during the reign of Henry II.
The young Robert Clive was a difficult unruly tearaway and was sent to several schools without any real effect. In 1743 at the age of 18 he was sent to Madras as a 'writer' in the English East India service. This was seen as a last resort at the time as his prospects were very limited.
While at Madras he twice attempted suicide, quarreled and fought a duel. He did, however, find solace in the library of the governors where he virtually educated himself. Following the outbreak of hostilities between the French and British in India, Clive proved himself an expert military tactician. In March 1753 he returned to England having married Margaret Maskeleyne.
Upon his return to England he became the MP for Shrewsbury in 1761 was later to be elected Mayor in 1762. Today a statue of Robert Clive can be found looking down on the people in the Square, in Shrewsbury Town Centre. Clive's Son Edward (1754-1839) followed in his father's footsteps and became Earl of Powis in 1804.
ELLIS PETERS - (EDITH PARGETER) 1913 - 1995
When people think of Shrewsbury, they tend to think of Brother Cadfael, the Twelfth Century Benedictine, detective monk. This fictional character was created from the pen of Ellis Peters, whose real name was Edith Pargeter.
She was born on 28th September 1913 in Horehay, Shropshire and attended Coalbrookdale High School.
Shrewsbury Abbey is the setting for the chronicles of Brother Cadfael and even today the abbey still gets visitors from every corner of the globe, wanting to follow in the footsteps of Brother Cadfael.
Her 20 medieval mystery novels were so popular that they were adapted into a series of television dramas staring Sir Derek Jacobi.
She died aged 82 in 1995 in Shropshire and behind her a legacy of people who follow her Brother Cadfael novels.
In 1997 a new stained glass window depicting St. Benedict was put in Shrewsbury Abbey and is dedicated to the memory of Edith Pargeter.
OTHER FAMOUS SHREWSBURY FACES INCLUDE
Sir Philip Sidney 1554 - 1586
Poet Courtier & Soldier who died after being shot in his leg by a musket during the battle of Zutphen in Holland.
Judge George Jeffreys 1648 - 1689
Known as the Hanging Judge, was educated at Shrewsbury School
William George Rushton 1937 - 1996
Cartoonist, Broadcaster, Author and Actor, educated at Shrewsbury School.
Michael Heseltine
Conservative Member of Parliament in Margaret Thatcher's Government, was educated at Shrewsbury School.
Michael Palin
Entertainer, Comedian and Traveller, who was educated at Shrewsbury School.
Christopher Timothy
The Bayston Hill Actor who is best known for his portrayal of Yorkshire vet James Herriot in the television series 'All Creatures Great & Small', was educated in Shrewsbury.