GO notable names in bristol

Bristol’s most famous adopted son would be Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who built the Great Western Railway from London to Bristol in the 1830s. A pioneer of engineering and architecture much of Brunel’s work has helped to shape the face of Bristol and can still be seen today, this includes the awe-inspiring Clifton Suspension Bridge [map] and the SS Great Britain, which was the first iron, propeller-driven ship in the world and can be viewed at the dry docks.

Another pioneering Bristolian is John Cabot, who sailed from Bristol in 1497 on a historic voyage to Newfoundland. Many streets in Bristol have Newfoundland in their name to commemorate this exciting discovery.

When Archibald Alec Leach was born one dark January day in 1904, nobody would have ever guessed that the shivering baby in the terrace at Hughenden Road in Horfield would grow up to become one of the world’s best-loved movie stars. Cary Grant, who rose to fame as everyone’s favourite gentleman in such films as Bringing Up Baby, To Catch A Thief and An Affair To Remember, never forgot his roots and even though he took American citizenship he regularly returned to Bristol to visit his mother.

There are plenty of pioneering women in Bristol’s history. One adopted daughter is Mary Carpenter, who was born in 1807 in Exeter. Moved by the plight of 19th century street children in Bristol, she started up a night school in the city. Her book Juvenile Delinquency was instrumental in the passing of the Juvenile Offenders’ Act of 1854, and in that year she opened a reform school for girls in the Red Lodge.

The first female doctor Elizabeth Blackwell was born in Counterslip, Bristol, in 1821, ten years later she immigrated to New York with her family. When she was old enough she saved enough money to enrol in medical school and later graduated as an MD breaking down many barriers for women. She later became a campaigner for women doctors across the world.