Walsall (, or ; locally ) 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.
Sue Nicholls, 2010
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 [citation needed ]
Don Gilet (born 1967 in Caldmore) actor, roles in BBC productions Babyfather , EastEnders and 55 Degrees North .[citation needed ]
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 [citation needed ]
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.
Noddy Holder, 1981
Mark Duffus (Blak Prophetz) & Chris Brown at Los Angeles Awards, USA, 2013
Amar (born 1982), British Indian singer
Andy C (born 1976), DJ, record producer and co-founder of RAM Records [ 7]
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,[ 8] original keyboardist of The Charlatans
Martin Degville (born 1961 in Walsall) lead singer and co-songwriter[ 9] of the UK pop band Sigue Sigue Sputnik .
Goldie aka Clifford Joseph Price, (born 1965 in Walsall) musician,[ 10] 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,[ 11] lead vocalist for the heavy metal band Judas Priest .
Noddy Holder (born 1946 in Caldmore) musician and actor,[ 12] lead singer and guitarist in glam rock band Slade
Tom Major-Ball (1879 in Bloxwich – 1962) music hall and circus performer[ 13] and father of John Major , former Prime Minister
Frank Mullings (1881 in Walsall – 1953) a leading English tenor[ 14] 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 .[citation needed ]
Jorja Smith (born 1997 in Walsall) singer-songwriter[citation needed ]
Connie Talbot (born 2000) from Streetly , teen singer[ 15] 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 .[ 16]
Dave Walker (born 1945 in Walsall) singer and guitarist,[ 17] front-man for a number of bands; including Idle Race , Savoy Brown , Fleetwood Mac , and, briefly, Black Sabbath .
John Cooke guitarist and bassist, member of Napalm Death , Venomous Concept , and Malevolent Creation .
Orlando Dutton born in Walsall 1 April 1894, was an English-born Australian monumental, figurative and architectural sculptor[ 22]
Valerie Vaz MP, 2017
William Dixon Allott , (1817–1892) born in Walsall, Mayor of Adelaide 1873–1874[ 23]
David Ennals, Baron Ennals (1922–1995) Labour Party politician born in Walsall[ 24]
Bruce George (born 1942) Labour Party politician,[ 25] MP for Walsall South 1974–2010
Eddie Hughes (born 1968) Conservative Party politician,[ 26] 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,[ 27] MP for Peterborough 1950–1974. Father of Sue Nicholls (see above).
John Stonehouse (1925 – 1988) Labour Party politician,[ 28] 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,[ 29] MP for Walsall North 1979–2017.
Jenny Tonge, Baroness Tonge (born 1941 in Walsall) politician,[ 30] Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park in London 1997–2005, made a life peer in June 2005.
Valerie Vaz (born 1954) Labour politician[ 31] and solicitor MP for Walsall South 2010 to date.
Public service and commerce [ edit ]
Francis Asbury
John Henry Carless, VC
Francis Asbury (1745 Hamstead Bridge – 1816) joint founder of the Methodist movement in the United States, brought up in Gt Barr, emigrated 1771.[ 32]
Mike Ashley (born 1964), British billionaire retail entrepreneur focused in the sporting goods market[ 33]
Sir Terence Beckett (1923 in Walsall – 2013) businessman,[ 34] chairman of Ford and later, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry
Margaret Bromhall (born 1890 in Walsall)[ 35] first radiotherapist appointed to a radiotherapy department, at North Middlesex Hospital in London[ 36]
John Henry Carless (1896 in Walsall – 1917) recipient of the Victoria Cross [ 37] during the First World War
Reverend Harry Moore Dauncey (1863 in Walsall – 1932) missionary in Papua New Guinea [ 38]
Sister Dora (1832–1878) Anglican nun[ 39] and a nurse in Walsall. She is honoured for her compassion and her medical work by a statue in the centre of town.[citation needed ]
Michael L. Fitzgerald (born Walsall in 1937) Roman Catholic Cardinal,[ 40] expert on Muslim-Christian relations
Martin Fowler (born 1963 in Walsall) software developer[ 41]
Frederick Gibbs (born 1899 in Walsall) World War I Flying Ace [ 42]
Sir Harry Hinsley (1918 in Birchills – 1998) historian and cryptanalyst,[ 43] worked at Bletchley Park and became Master of St John's College, Cambridge University
Sir Len Peach (1932 in Walsall – 2016) Chief Executive[ 44] 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 .
Air Vice-Marshal Sidney Webster (1900 in Walsall – 1984) aviator[ 45] and senior officer in the RAF
Mark Lewis-Francis, 2007
Ellie Simmonds, 2008
Norman Ashe (born 1943), footballer
Fred Bakewell (1908 in Walsall – 1983) was a Northamptonshire and England opening batsman,[ 46] renowned largely because of his unorthodox methods
David Brown (born 1942 in Walsall) former English cricketer,[ 47] 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,[ 48] a former captain of the Wales national rugby union team
Leon Drysdale (born 1991), footballer
Nick Gillingham (born 1967 in Walsall) swimmer,[ 49] 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.[citation needed ]
Mark Lewis-Francis (born Darlason 1982) 100 metres sprinter,[ 50] 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.[ 51]
Lee Naylor (born in 1980 in Mossley) former professional footballer[citation needed ]
Jaydon Paddock (born 2001 in Walsall), English trampoline gymnast
David Platt (born Walsall 1966) English-born[ 52] Australian darts player
Rachel Unitt (born 1982 in Bentley) England Women's footballer[ 53]
[[Ellie Simmonds] (born Walsall 1994) Paralympian swimmer,[ 54] won gold in the 2008 and 2012 Summer Paralympics .
Jerome K. Jerome, 1890
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