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.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

## Culture

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### Acting

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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.

### Music

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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.

### TV and radio

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* Alex Lester (born 1956 in Walsall) radio broadcaster,[18]
* Andrew Peach (born in Bloxwich c. 1970) BBC Radio presenter[19]
* Bob Warman (born 1946) TV presenter,[20]
* Leila Williams (born in Walsall 1937) beauty queen and Blue Peter presenter from 1958 until 1962[21]

### Visual Arts

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* Orlando Dutton born in Walsall 1 April 1894, was an English-born Australian monumental, figurative and architectural sculptor[22]

## Politics

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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

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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

## Sport

[edit]

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 1994) Paralympian swimmer,[54] won gold in the 2008 and 2012 Summer Paralympics.

## Writing

[edit]

Jerome K. Jerome, 1890

* John Byrne (born 1950 in Walsall) comic book creator, raised in West Bromwich[55]
* Peter Corey (born 1946 in Walsall) author[56] of the Coping With children's book series and also a TV actor.
* Jerome K. Jerome (1859 in Caldmore – 1927) writer [57] and humourist,[58] author of comic travelogue Three Men in a Boat (1889).
* Paul McDonald (born 1961 in Walsall) comic novelist[59] and academic.[60]
* Sir Henry Newbolt (1862 in Bilston – 1938) poet, novelist and historian[61] and old boy of Queen Mary's Grammar School.
* Nick Redfern (born 1964 in Pelsall) author and UFO researcher[62]

## Science

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* Lindon Eaves (1944–2022) geneticist and Anglican priest, born in Walsall
* John Edward Gray (1800–1875), zoologist, born in Walsall.[63]

## Murderers

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* 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

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* Thomas Hughes, (1818–1876), Anglican minister and abolitionist

## References

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1. ^ 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.
2. ^ Jeffrey Holland at IMDb
3. ^ Matthew Marsden at IMDb
4. ^ Peter McEnery at IMDb
5. ^ Sue Nicholls at IMDb
6. ^ Frank Windsor at IMDb
7. ^ "Andy C wins DJ Mag Top 100 DJs 2017 Highest Drum & Bass Award". DJ Mag. 20 October 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
8. ^ MTV website, 10/31/1996 retrieved 16 February 2018
9. ^ Martin Degville at IMDb
10. ^ Goldie at IMDb
11. ^ Rob Halford at IMDb
12. ^ Noddy Holder at IMDb
13. ^ The miraculous Major-Balls, BBC News, 21 May 1999 retrieved 17 February 2018
14. ^ Archive of British National Opera Company website retrieved 16 February 2018
15. ^ Connie Talbot at AllMusic retrieved 16 February 2018
16. ^ 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.
17. ^ Archive of The Dave Walker Page, 2004 retrieved 17 February 2018
18. ^ BBC Local Radio, Saturday night with Alex Lester retrieved 16 February 2018
19. ^ BBC Radio Berkshire, Andrew Peach retrieved 16 February 2018
20. ^ Bob Warman at IMDb
21. ^ Leila Williams at IMDb
22. ^ "Born in Walsall". The Walsall Observer, and South Staffordshire Chronicle. Walsall, West Midlands, England. 6 January 1923. p. 6.
23. ^ "Obituary". South Australian Register. 22 November 1892. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
24. ^ HANSARD 1803–2005 → People (E) Mr David Ennals retrieved 16 February 2018
25. ^ TheyWorkForYou.com – Bruce George MP retrieved 16 February 2018
26. ^ TheyWorkForYou.com – Eddie Hughes MP retrieved 16 February 2018
27. ^ HANSARD 1803–2005 → People (N), Sir Harmar Nicholls retrieved 17 February 2018
28. ^ HANSARD 1803–2005 → People (S) Mr John Stonehouse retrieved 16 February 2018
29. ^ TheyWorkForYou.com – David Winnick Former MP retrieved 16 February 2018
30. ^ TheyWorkForYou.com – Baroness Tonge retrieved 16 February 2018
31. ^ TheyWorkForYou.com – Valerie Vaz MP retrieved 16 February 2018
32. ^ "Asbury, Francis" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. Vol. I. 1900. pp. 108–109.108-109&rft.date=1900&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:List+of+people+from+Walsall" class="Z3988">
33. ^ "Mike Ashley: Sports Direct's media-shy owner enters spotlight". Retrieved 29 January 2018.
34. ^ The Guardian, Obituary, 12 May 2013 retrieved 17 February 2018
35. ^ "Winifred Harriet Bromhall". geni_family_tree. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
36. ^ 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.
37. ^ "vconline.org.uk".
38. ^ Rev Harry Moore Dauncey (Biographical details), British Museum retrieved 17 February 2018
39. ^ Walsall Council archive, History of Walsall's Sister Dora and the steam engine retrieved 17 February 2018
40. ^ BBC News, 16 September 2006, Pope's remarks reveal harder stance retrieved 17 February 2018
41. ^ A Conversation with Martin Fowler, 9 December 2002 retrieved 17 February 2018
42. ^ Frederick John Gibbs, The Aerodrome, 2015 retrieved 17 February 2018
43. ^ Sir Harry Hinsley: The Influence of ULTRA in WW2, 26 November 1996 retrieved 17 February 2018
44. ^ The Telegraph, 29 August 2016, Obituary retrieved 17 February 2018
45. ^ The London Gazette (Supplement), 1 January 1946. p. 32, No. 37407 retrieved 17 February 2018
46. ^ ESPN cricinfo Database retrieved 16 February 2018
47. ^ ESPN cricinfo Database retrieved 16 February 2018
48. ^ South Wales Argus, 28 September 2010, Charvis no longer with Dragons retrieved 16 February 2018
49. ^ Staffs ASA archive, NICK GILLINGHAM retrieved 16 February 2018
50. ^ Mark Lewis-Francis profile at IAAF retrieved 16 February 2018
51. ^ Thomas, Simon. "The remarkable life of Rupert Moon, one of Welsh rugby's great characters". WalesOnline.
52. ^ Player profile on David Platt from Dartsdatabase retrieved 16 February 2018
53. ^ BBC Sport, 2 October 2014, Rachel Unitt: retrieved 16 February 2018
54. ^ The Telegraph, Eleanor Simmonds, Paralympic Sport, Paralympics GB retrieved 16 February 2018
55. ^ "Comic creator: John Byrne" URL retrieved 25 July 2006
56. ^ Peter Corey at IMDb
57. ^ "Jerome, Jerome Klapka" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). 1911.
58. ^ Jeromekjerome.com website retrieved 16 February 2018
59. ^ "Black Country – Features – From Saddles to Chuckles". BBC. 25 January 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
60. ^ University of Wolverhampton Staff Page retrieved 16 February 2018
61. ^ "Newbolt, Henry John" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). 1911.
62. ^ Nick Redfern's Celebrity Secrets blog retrieved 17 February 2018
63. ^ "Gray, John Edward" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 391.