List of people from Royal Tunbridge Wells explained

Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England. The following is a list of those people who were either born or live(d) in Royal Tunbridge Wells, or made some important contribution to the town. As a spa town Royal Tunbridge Wells was a popular resort for the upper classes, including members of the British royal family.

A

• Peter Adolph (1916–1994), Inventor of Subbuteo Table Soccer
• Joe Alwyn (born 1991), actor
• Jonathan Anders (born 1971), Shropshire cricketer

B

• Luke Baldwin (born 1990), rugby player
• Gary Barden (born 1955), musician
• The Reverend Thomas Bayes (1702–1761), mathematician, who lived in Ashton Lodge
• Will Bayley (born 1988), paralympian
• C. A. Bayly (1945–2015), historian
• Jeff Beck (1944–2023), musician
• Rachel Beer (1858–1927), newspaper editor
• Compton Bennett (1900–1974), film director
• Golding Bird (1814–1854), medical writer
• Douglas Booth (born 1992), actor and musician
• Frank W. Boreham (1871–1959), Baptist preacher
• Jo Brand (born 1957), comedian
• William Thomas Brande (1788–1866), chemist
• Gary Brazil (born 1962), football player
• Christopher Brown (born 1943), British composer
• Nick Brown (born 1950), politician
• Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–1873), author
• Thomas Harrison Burder (1789–1843), physician and author
• Peter Burton (1924–2007), physicist, philosopher, logician
• Ballard Berkeley, British actor

C

• John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll (1845–1914), Governor General of Canada
• Oliver Chris (born 1978), actor
• George Cohen (born 1939), football player
• Paul Condon, Baron Condon (born 1947), police commissioner
• Emma Corrin (born 1995), actress^[1]
• Martin Corry (born 1973), rugby player
• The Reverend Arthur Shearly Cripps (1869–1952), missionary and writer
• Sidney Elisabeth Croskery (1901–1990), doctor^[2]
• Richard Cumberland (1732–1811), dramatist
• Sir Alan Gordon Cunningham (1887–1963), military officer

D

• Gerald Charles Dickens (born 1963), actor and performer
• Marcus Dillistone (born 1961), film director
• Sir Howard Douglas, (1776–1861), military officer
• Keith Douglas (1920–1944), poet
• Roy Douglas (1907–2015), classical composer
• Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding (1882–1970), Royal Air Force officer

E

• John Cox Dillman Engleheart (1784–1862), miniature painter

F

• Arthur Fagg (1915–1977), cricketer
• Caroline Fry (1787–1846), writer

G

• Thomas Field Gibson (1803–1889), Tunbridge Wells improvement commissioner and Royal Commissioner for the Great Exhibition of 1851^[3]
• Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe, artist and educator
• Jilly Goolden (born 1956), television personality
• Léon Goossens (1897–1988), oboist
• Edward Meyrick Goulburn (1818–1897), clergyman and writer ↑
• David Gower (born 1957), cricketer
• Pauline Gower (1910–1947) pilot, commandant of the Women's Air Transport Auxiliary in Second World War
• Sir Robert Gower, MP (1880–1953)
• Sarah Grand (1854–1943), suffragist and "New Woman" writer
• Sir Tyrone Guthrie (1900–1971), theatrical director

H

• Ker Baillie Hamilton (1804–1889), colonial governor
• Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge (1785–1856), Viceroy of India
• Jake Hill (born 1994), racing driver in the British Touring Car Championship
• Philip Carteret Hill (1821–1894), Nova Scotia politician
• Katrina Hodge, soldier and Miss England 2009

J

• Louise Jameson (born 1951), actress
• Richard Jones (1790–1855), economist

L

• Danny La Rue (1927–2009), entertainer
• Enid Lakeman (1903–1995), political reformer
• Duncan Lamont (1918–1978), actor
  • Sydney Turing Barlow Lawford (1865–1953), Lieutenant-General and father of actor Peter Lawford Ron Ledger (1920–2004), politician
• Henry Bilson Legge (1708–1764), politician
• Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll (1848–1939), daughter of Queen Victoria

M

• Annunzio Paolo Mantovani (1905–1980), conductor
• Patrick Mayhew, Baron Mayhew (1929–2016), politician
• Alec McCowen (1925–2017), actor
• Victor McLaglen (1886–1959), actor

N

• Richard (Beau) Nash (1674–1762), celebrated dandy and leader of fashion
• William Nicholson (born 1948), writer

O

• Sir Charles Ogle (1775–1858), naval officer

P

• Tim Page (1944–2022), photojournalist
• Charles Paulet, 3rd Duke of Bolton (1685–1754), politician
• Tim Pears (born 1956), novelist
• Eliza Phillips (1822/3–1916), conservationist and co-founder of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds^[4]
• Rose Pipette (born 1986), pop singer with The Pipettes

R

• Sir Richard Robinson (1849–1928), businessman and local politician
• Richard Rose (born 1982), footballer

S

• Sir David Lionel Salomons (1851–1925), scientist
• Sarah Sands (born 1961), journalist
• Henry Albert Seymour (1861–1938), secularist, anarchist and gramophone pioneer
• Mary Monica Maxwell-Scott (1852–1920), author
• Dominic Sherwood (born 1990), actor
• Slaves, musical band
• Colin Smart (born 1950), rugby player
• Horace Smith (1779–1849), poet and novelist
• Jamie Spence (born 1963), golfer
• Sir Thomas Abel Brimage Spratt (1811–1888), naval officer
• The Reverend Thomas Roscoe Rede Stebbing (1835–1926), zoologist
• Gary A. Stevens (born 1962), footballer
• Francis Meadow Sutcliffe (1863–1941), photographer

T

• William Temple (1833–1919), recipient of the Victoria Cross
• William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1863), novelist
• Bob Todd (1921–1992), comedy actor

V

• Krystal Versace (born 2001), Winner of RuPaul's Drag Race UK (Season 3)
• Sid Vicious (1957–1979), musician

W

• Virginia Wade (born 1945), tennis player
• H T Waghorn (1842–1930), cricket historian
• Scott Wagstaff (born 1990), footballer
• Charity Wakefield (born 1981), actress
• Arthur Waley (1889–1966), Orientalist
• Nick Wallace (born 1972), writer
• Frank Weare (1896–1971), World War I flying ace
• William Webber (1800–1875), surgeon
• James Whitbourn (born 1963), composer

Z

• Andy Zaltzman, comedian and writer
• Helen Zaltzman, co-host of popular podcast, Answer me this

Notes and References

1. Web site: Thorne. Will. 2020-11-12. Meet Emma Corrin, ‘The Crown’ Star Bringing Princess Diana to Life For a New Generation. 2020-12-23. Variety. en-US.
2. Sidney Elisabeth Croskery: Whilst I Remember (1983),
3. Web site: Thomas Gibson & Thomas Field Gibson. Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography. 20 November 2017.
4. Web site: Phillips [née Barron], Eliza [known as Mrs Edward Phillips] (1822/3–1916)]. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Jonathan Burt. 19 October 2012.