Great English pioneers, engineers and inventors have, over the centuries, changed the world. Here you’ll find snapshots of such geniuses and the places you can visit associated with them.
William Wilberforce
Best known for his role in the abolition of the slave trade, William Wilberforce was born in Hull.
Abraham Darby III
In 1779 Abraham III completed the world's first cast-iron bridge, over the River Severn near Coalbrookdale.
The Bronte sisters
Born in the Yorkshire village of Thornton, the Bronte Sisters spent most of their lives in Haworth where their father was a clergyman.
Charles Babbage
Although born in London, this mathematician, computer pioneer, economist, mechanical engineer and inventor came from a Devon background.
Charles Darwin
Born in Shrewsbury in Shropshire, Darwin was responsible for promoting the theory of evolution and natural selection.
Charles Dickens
Born in Portsmouth, the great 19th century English novelist with a great gift for story-telling began writing as a journalist.
Charles Parsons
Parsons developed the steam turbine in 1884, which revolutionised the generating of electricity and the means of powering ships.
Charles Stewart Rolls
The great aviation and motoring pioneer Charles Stewart Rolls was born in London and started selling cars in 1902.
D H Lawrence
Arguably the first famous writer from truly working class origins, Lawrence was brought up in the small Nottinghamshire mining community of Eastwood.
Harry Beck
It would be much more difficult to find our way around the London Underground system today if it wasn't for Beck.
Harry Brearley
Born in Sheffield, Brearley invented stainless steel after becoming an expert in the analysis of steel production.
Hesketh Lever (Lord Leverhulme)
Born in Bolton, Lever started work in the family’s wholesale grocery business at the age of 16.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
2006 marks the 200th anniversary of Brunel's birth. He was born in Portsmouth and was a pioneer with a passion for perfection and one of the most versatile, audacious and inspirational engineers of the 19th century.
James Brindley
Brindley was born in Derbyshire and was the mastermind behind Britain's canal network, revolutionising transport for the industrial heartlands.
James Hargreaves
A weaver and carpenter from Blackburn, Hargreaves is credited with inventing the spinning jenny in 1764.
James Starley
Born at Albourne, East Sussex, Starley ran away from his parents’ farm and lived in Lewisham in South London for a while where he worked at a sewing machine factory.
James Sumner
Sumner started work in his father’s blacksmithing business in Leyland, Lancashire, then became fascinated by steam power and was able to indulge his passion for motorised transport.
John Dalton
A chemist and physicist, Dalton was born into a modest Quaker family in Cumberland. He developed the atomic theory of matter and is one of the fathers of modern physical science.
Joseph Hansom
Joseph Hansom was living in Hinckley, Leicestershire, when in 1835, he drove the first prototype of his newly-invented cab along Coventry Road and Watling Street.
Joseph Priestley
Born in Birstall, Yorkshire and raised in nearby Heckmondwike, amongst other things Priestley discovered oxygen, opposed slavery and pushed for votes for all men.
Lancelot 'Capability' Brown
Brown, who created the wonderful landscapes of many of England's great estates, was born at Kirkharle in Northumberland.
Matthew Boulton
Born in Birmingham and known as the 'father of the industrial revolution', the 18th century industrialist Boulton worked with Scottish engineer James Watt to develop the steam engine.
Michael Faraday
London-born Faraday is referred to as the greatest experimentalist in the history of science who contributed significantly to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry.
Phyllis Pearsall
We would all have great difficulty finding our way around London’s streets if it wasn’t for this remarkable lady.
Reginald Mitchell
The Spitfire aeroplane was first tested in 1936 and played a vital role in World War II. It was designed by Mitchell.
Richard Trevithick
This Cornish mining engineer’s inventions revolutionised deep-shaft mining - he pioneered the use of high-pressure steam, and increased the efficiency of the engines used to pump water from the lower levels of Cornwall's tin and copper mines.
Sir Charles Wheatstone
Born at Barnwood Manor House, near Gloucester, Wheatstone is best known for inventing the electric telegraph and he was knighted for his work in laying the first transatlantic telephone cable.
Sir Christopher Wren
Born in Wiltshire, this great architect spent his early years in Windsor, Berkshire, but you can see wonderful testaments to his skill in other parts of the country.
Sir Frank Whittle
The pioneer of the jet engine was born in Coventry and developed an early interest in planes, spending hours in the library studying astronomy, physiology and engineering.
Sir Isaac Newton
Grantham-born Newton made revolutionary advances in mathematics, optics, physics and astronomy.
Sir Joseph Bazalgette
Civil engineer Joseph Bazalgette has been credited with being as influential in improving the appearance of London as Sir Christopher Wren.
Sir Oliver Lodge
While a professor at Liverpool University in 1894 he was the first person to transmit a radio signal - a year before Marconi.
Sir Richard Arkwright
Born in Preston and considered the father of the modern industrial factory system, Arkwright patented his spinning machine in 1769.
The Stephensons
This father and son team were great engineers. They built the Locomotion in 1825 for the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the first public railway locomotive.
Timothy Hackworth
Hackworth played a large part in the birth of passenger railways and the engineering of locomotives.
Titus salt
Born in Bradford, this manufacturer and inventor started wool spinning in 1834, devising machinery for making worsted from coarse Russian wool.
Tom Rolt
Best known for his biographies of great civil engineers such as Brunel, Trevithick and Stephenson.
W H Auden
He taught at the Downs School near Great Malvern and wrote some of his earliest love poems there.
William Caxton
On the continent he observed the new printing industry and set up a press in Bruges on which the first book in English was printed in 1475.
William Fox Talbot
Although he didn't invent photography, Dorset-born Fox Talbot discovered the process of printing on light-sensitive paper and developed the key photographic elements still in use today.
William Shakespeare
Considered by many to be the greatest playwright of all time, Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon but spent his early years in London as actor and manager.
Ellen McNulty is President of www.lynotttours.com
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