Hull Famous People

Ask most people these days to name a famous person from Hull and they may well come up with the name of the East Hull MP John Prescott. But while his legacy is still being debated, there is little doubt about the huge impact of one of Mr Prescott’s predecessors as the city’s representative in Parliament, William Wilberforce. Wilberforce grew up on High Street as part of a wealthy merchant family, but it was his persistence and determination in Parliament which cemented his reputation and which was to eventually lead to the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833, just days before he died.

This national prominence of Hull people goes right back to the start of Hull’s existence, for example the wealthy De La Pole family in the medieval period. William de la Pole was a merchant who became Hull’s first Mayor in 1331 but who also became a key money lender to Edward III. This close relationship between the Hull based De La Poles and the monarchy was to continue for around 150 years and was perhaps to reach its height when Richard II made William’s son, Michael De La Pole, Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1383 and two years later, Earl of Suffolk.

Throughout its history, the town’s MPs have been prominent on a national and international stage. During the Civil War, poet and MP Andrew Marvell skilfully combined service in both Cromwell and Charles II’s Governments, even managing to convince the King not to execute fellow poet John Milton for anti-monarchical writings. The following century during the American War of Independence, it was Hull MP David Hartley who signed the Treaty of Paris, recognising the independence of the United States.

The Treaty of Paris by Benjamin West – Benjamin Franklin is in the middle - the British signatories, including Hartley, refused to sit for the painting!

The Victorian era was also to produce a number of individuals from the city whose achievements are still with us today. For example, local miller turned filmmaker Joseph Arthur Rank was born towards the end of the Victorian period and is well known for his exploits in developing Pinewood Studios and the British film industry during the 1930’s and 40’s. Less well known from the early Victorian period is composer John Bacchus Dykes who was born in Hull in 1833 and at age 12 became assistant organist at St John’s Church where his father was vicar. From these humble roots he went on to compose 300 original hymn tunes, the most famous of which is undoubtedly the tune to ‘Eternal Father Strong to Save’, sometimes known as ‘For Those In Peril on the Sea’. This went on to become the adopted hymn of the US Navy and was played at the funerals of Presidents Roosevelt, Kennedy and Reagan. John Venn, whose father was also a rector in Hull, was born around the same time as Dykes but developed as a mathematician and logician. His studies eventually led to the development of diagrams which still bear his name today and which have become commonplace in the study of mathematics. He was also unusually good at building machines, and at the turn of the century developed a cricket bowling machine which proved so successful that in 1909 it bowled out one of Australian cricket’s top stars four times!

This mathematical link continues to this day with acclaimed international mathematician Keith Devlin who originated from Hull but who now works out of Stanford University, and whose numerous books about the subject have led to worldwide acclaim and prizes. The arts are well represented too. Hull born actress, columnist and general all rounder Maureen Lipman remains a staunch defender of the city, while the current Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, though not born in the city, used it as the background and inspiration to his first published collection of poems in 1977 whilst teaching English at the University of Hull. Another Hull based writer whose work is very much rooted in the area is playwright Alan Plater whose credits include Z Cars, The Beiderbecke Tapes and the Barchester Chronicles. Perhaps the most well known writer to have been influenced by the city was the former librarian at the University of Hull, Philip Larkin.

Perhaps due to its port status Hull people have often had a reputation for adventure and exploration. Indeed, when Ernest Shackleton went on his famous expedition to the South Pole in 1914, he had more people from Hull in his team than anywhere else and was reputed to always turn to Hull for recruiting his fellow explorers. Perhaps the most well known adventurer was the heroine of Hull, Amy Johnson who in 1930 became the first female pilot to fly alone from Britain to Australia. She was only 26 when accomplishing this feat which propelled her to international stardom and a series of further audacious flights, before her untimely and mysterious disappearance whilst flying over the Thames Estuary in 1941. Less well known are the likes of Henry Bayfield who was born in Hull in 1795 but by the age of 11 had entered the Royal Navy. His ultimate destiny was to spend 40 years in the first part of the 19th century mapping most of the Canadian Great Lakes, a feat of stamina, endurance and commitment which was to earn him the status today as the father of Hydrography in Canada. The Canadian Hydrographic Service even continues to name one of its ships after Bayfield in his honour.