Giant People
Wellington has been the launching point for the careers of a cast of stellar characters from the world of music, literature and the arts. Here, we profile some of the most famous names associated with the town and explore the cultural connections that put them on the world map.
Philip Larkin
Philip Larkin
Philip Larkin is widely regarded as one of the most important British literary figures of the Twentieth Century. Famed for his no-nonsense and down-to-earth style, the poet and author began his literary career in Wellington, where he became the town’s Librarian in 1943.
Hesba Stretton
Hesba Stretton (real name, Sarah Smith) was a best-selling late Nineteenth Century author who pioneered a realistic style of fiction focussed on the plight of Victorian street children. In later life, she became a prominent social campaigner, helping found the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
Hesba Stretton (real name, Sarah Smith) was a best-selling late Nineteenth Century author who pioneered a realistic style of fiction focussed on the plight of Victorian street children. In later life, she became a prominent social campaigner, helping found the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
Bruce Chatwin
Bruce Chatwin
Bruce Chatwin was a writer and storyteller, raised in the Forest of Arden and educated in Wellington. He established his reputation as a travel correspondent with The Times before releasing a string of highly regarded books that seamlessly interwove fact, fiction and local folklore to often stunning effect.
Brian Epstein
Brian Epstein was a leading pop impresario of the 1960s and is widely credited with discovering The Beatles. Educated at Wrekin College, he left Wellington to join the family business, through which he became a leading figure in Liverpool’s Merseybeat scene and the fab four’s manager.
Brian Epstein was a leading pop impresario of the 1960s and is widely credited with discovering The Beatles. Educated at Wrekin College, he left Wellington to join the family business, through which he became a leading figure in Liverpool’s Merseybeat scene and the fab four’s manager.
Samuel Parkes Cadman
Samuel Parkes Cadman
Samuel Parkes Cadman was a leading Congregational minister of the early twentieth century and a North American broadcasting pioneer. Born in Ketley, and educated in Wellington, he became a Doctor of divinity, writer and radio pastor whose programmes and columns were heard and read by many millions across the United States in the 1920s and ‘30s.
Patrick Bronte
Patrick Brönte was an Irish-born clergyman and father of one of the world’s most famous literary dynasties: Anne, Charlotte and Emily Brönte. A poet in his own right, he was first published in Wellington, where he worked as a curate for a year in 1809.
Patrick Brönte was an Irish-born clergyman and father of one of the world’s most famous literary dynasties: Anne, Charlotte and Emily Brönte. A poet in his own right, he was first published in Wellington, where he worked as a curate for a year in 1809.
William Withering
Doctor William Withering is best-known for his pioneering work in the field of heart disease but the eighteenth century Wellington-born medic also has a literary claim to fame. In 1776 he published a ground-breaking guide to British plant life, bringing the subject to a wider audience and earning international acclaim.
William Withering
Doctor William Withering is best-known for his pioneering work in the field of heart disease but the eighteenth century Wellington-born medic also has a literary claim to fame. In 1776 he published a ground-breaking guide to British plant life, bringing the subject to a wider audience and earning international acclaim.