Joseph Arch, 1826-1919 - Trade Union Organiser and Politician

Arch was born in the village of Barford, near Warwick, the son of an agricultural labourer. He himself worked as a labourer for many years, but because of his strength of character and his role as a Methodist lay-preacher became a leading figure in the area. He spoke out against the poor conditions of the working classes, and following an Act of Parliament in 1871 which legalised Trade Unions, he formed the Warwickshire Agricultural Labourers' Union. After a successful strike to raise pay, a National Union of Agricultural Labourers was formed, with Arch as President and its headquarters in Leamington. In 1885 he became Liberal MP for North West Norfolk, the first agricultural labourer ever to attain such a position.

John Barber, 1734-c.1800 - Colliery Manager and Inventor

Barber was born in Nottinghamshire, but came to Warwickshire in the 1760s to manage collieries in the Nuneaton area. For a time he lived in Camp Hill House, between Hartshill and Nuneaton, and later lived in Attleborough. He patented several inventions between 1766 and 1792, of which the most remarkable was one for a gas turbine. Unfortunately nothing practical came out of this patent, but Barber was the first man to describe in detail the principle of the gas turbine, and in recent years a working model based on Barber's specification has been built.

Neville Chamberlain, 1869-1940 - Politician

Chamberlain was born in Birmingham, the son of a successful businessman who became a Liberal MP and Government minister. He attended Rugby School, and spent much of his life in local Birmingham politics, becoming Lord Mayor of the city. In 1918 he became a Conservative MP, and in 1937 Prime Minister, being in charge of the country in the run-up to World War II. Although he has been blamed for not doing enough to stop Hitler, it was largely due to the rearmament programme instigated by him that Britain was able to survive the Nazi onslaught in 1940. He died in November 1940, shortly after handing over office to Churchill.

William Croft, 1678-1727 - Musician and Composer

Croft was born at Ettington, near Stratford-on-Avon, and at the age of four his family moved to nearby Tredington. He became a chorister and later Master of the Children at the Chapel Royal, composer to Queen Anne and organist at Westminster Abbey. He was recognised as the foremost church musician of his time and several of his hymns are still frequently sung - one of the best known being 'O God our help in Ages Past' set to Croft's St Anne melody).

Sir William Dugdale, 1605-1686 - Historian and Herald

Born at Shustoke, North Warwickshire, the son of a local gentleman, Sir William Dugdale was one of a group of 17th century people who laid the foundations of modern historical methodology, and in the course of a long and industrious life published many books which are still used as important sources. Outstanding amongst these works is his 'Antiquities of Warwickshire', first published in 1656, which was the earliest detailed county history based on close study of original archives.

Dugdale also worked as a herald and rose to become Garter King-of Arms. During the Civil War he served on the Royalist side and was present at the Battle of Edgehill in October 1642. His tomb can be seen in St Cuthbert's Church, Shustoke.

Mary Anne Evans (George Eliot), 1819-1880 - Author

Mary Anne Evans was born at Arbury Farm, near Nuneaton, the daughter of Robert Evans, who managed the Arbury Estates of the Newdigate family. At the age of 29 she moved to London to become an Assistant Editor on the Westminster Review and found success as a novelist, writing under the name of George Eliot. Several of her books, including 'Adam Bede' and 'Middlemarch', are distilled from her early life in Warwickshire.

William Webb Ellis, 1807-1872 - Innovator of the Game of Rugby

Ellis was born in Manchester, but moved to Rugby in 1812 and attended Rugby School from 1816 to 1825. In 1823, while playing in a game of football at the school, he caught the ball and, disregarding the rules of the game then in force, ran forward with it in his hands towards the opposite goal. From this was to develop the game of Rugby, whose rules were first written down in 1845.

Ellis later went to Oxford, became a Church of England clergyman and died in France in 1872.

Major Harry Gem, 1819-1881 - Pioneer of Lawn Tennis

Born in Birmingham where he practised as a solicitor, Gem moved to Leamington Spa in 1872 where, in the summer of that year, he and three local friends founded the world's first Lawn Tennis Club. They played on the lawns of the Manor House Hotel in Avenue Road, Leamington Spa.

Gem died in Leamington in November 1881 after falling ill while leading the Birmingham Rifle Volunteers to their annual camp at Sutton Coldfield.

Thomas Hughes, 1822 - 1896

Author of Tom Brown’s Schooldays

Born in 1822, Thomas Hughes became a pupil at Rugby School at the age of 11 in the days of the headship of the famous Dr. Arnold. "Tom Brown’s Schooldays" was not written until long after he had left the town but it is faithfully described in the book.

Hughes was never regarded as a great scholar, although he went up to Oriel College, Oxford after leaving Rugby. He was, however, a distinguished sportsman and played cricket for Rugby at Lords in the amateur match against a Marylebone Club 11.

He became a lawyer in 1845 and in 1869 a Q.C.. In 1854 Hughes was instrumental in setting up the working men’s college in Great Ormand Street. In 1865, Hughes was elected the Member of Parliament for Lambeth, and in 1868 he became MP for Frome. He relinquished his candidature in 1874. During his career in the House of Commons Hughes was always regarded as a reformer and, especially, as a friend of the working classes.

Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, 1428-1471 - The Kingmaker

Neville was the son of the Earl of Salisbury, but through his marriage inherited most of the estates of Henry Beauchamp, the Duke of Warwick who died in 1447, and the title of Earl of Warwick. He became the most powerful man in England, and was instrumental in replacing Henry VI with the Yorkist Edward IV in 1461. Some years later, having fallen out with Edward, he plotted the successful Lancastrian rising that temporarily restored Henry VI, but was killed at the battle of Barnet in 1471 when Edward fought his way back to the throne. Neville's main residence and power base was Warwick Castle.

William Shakespeare, 1564-1616 - Poet and Playwright

Probably the most famous Warwickshire person of all, Shakespeare was born in Stratford upon Avon (Shakespeare's Birthplace), the descendant of an ancient Warwickshire family, and moved to London in the late 1580s to become an actor. It was there that he wrote some of the most famous plays of all time, such as 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', 'As You Like It', 'Macbeth', and 'Hamlet'. A prolific writer of poetry, Shakespeare retired to Stratford where he died in 1616. He is buried in the parish church of the Holy Trinity where he had been baptised 52 years before.

Sir Frank Whittle, 1907-1996 Inventor of the Turbo-Jet

Whittle was born in Coventry but moved to Leamington in 1916 where he attended school. He joined the RAF in 1923 and became a pilot, but was always interested in the problems of aircraft propulsion. In 1936 he formed a company called Power Jets to exploit his patent for a jet engine, and over the next five years, hampered greatly by a lack of capital and Government support, he slowly developed a practical jet engine. Much of this work was done in and around Rugby. This successfully powered an aircraft for the first time in 1941 and by the end of World War II two types of fighter aircraft powered by jet engines were in production in Britain.

Sir Christopher Wren, 1632-1723 - Mathematician, Scientist, and Architect

Born in Wiltshire, Wren went up to Wadham College, Oxford, and was Savilian Professor of astronomy at the university from 1661 to 1673. Increasingly drawn to the profession of architecture, his great opportunity came with the Great Fire of London in 1666, following which he designed the new St Paul's Cathedral, 36 companies' halls and more than 50 parish churches.

His connection with Warwickshire dates from 1713 when he bought the Wroxall Abbey estate, just north west of Warwick. It is unlikely that he spent much time on the estate, but his son lived there until his death in 1747, and descendants of Sir Christopher owned the estate until 1861.