Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...

is a town in the

London Borough of Bromley The London Borough of Bromley () is the southeasternmost of the London boroughs that make up Greater London, bordering the ceremonial county of Kent, which most of Bromley was part of before 1965. The borough's population is an estimated 332,3 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The following is a list of those people who were either born or live in Beckenham, or else had important connections to make to the town.

A

Raymond Adamson Raymond John Adamson (7 July 1920 – 25 March 2002) was a British actor often on television. Born in Beckenham, then in Kent, he made his TV debut in 1956, playing a constable in ''David Copperfield''. He became typecast playing policemen or ...

(1920–2002), television actor * Rory Allen (born 1977), football player * Julie Andrews (born 1935), actress, singer, author * Claude Ashton (1901–1942), football player, cricketer,

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

player * Gerald Aste (1900–1961), cricketer

B

A.L. Barker Audrey Lilian Barker FRSL (13 April 1918 – 21 February 2002) was an English novelist and short story writer. She was born in St Pauls Cray, Kent and brought up in Beckenham. During her lifetime she published ten collections of short stories a ...

(1918–2002),

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

writer *

Django Bates Django Bates (born Leon Bates, 2 October 1960) is a British jazz musician, composer, multi-instrumentalist, band leader and educator. He plays the piano, keyboards and the tenor horn. Bates has been described as "one of the most talented music ...

(born 1960), composer; multi-instrumentalist, band leader * Hugh Bean (1929–2003),

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

ist *

Floella Benjamin Floella Karen Yunies Benjamin, Baroness Benjamin, (born 23 September 1949GRO Register of Marriages: SEP 1980 14 0207 LAMBETH – Keith D. Taylor=Floella K.Y. Benjamin) is a Trinidadian-British actress, singer, presenter, author, businesswoman, ...

(born 1949), actress, singer and TV presenter * John Bennett (1928–2005), actor *

Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have b ...

(1897–1968), children’s writer *

Frank Bourne Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Edward Bourne OBE DCM (27 April 1855 – 9 May 1945) was a decorated British soldier who participated in the defence of Rorke's Drift during the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War. Early life Born in Balcombe, Sussex, England ...

(1984–1945),

Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, cou ...

veteran *

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

(1947–2016), musician, actor, producer, arranger * Zowie Bowie (born 1971), film director (and son of David Bowie) * Betty Box (1915–1999), film producer and screenwriter *

Sydney Box Frank Sydney Box (29 April 1907 – 25 May 1983) was a British film producer and screenwriter, and brother of British film producer Betty Box. In 1940, he founded the documentary film company Verity Films with Jay Lewis. He produced and co- ...

(1907–1983), film producer and screenwriter *

Tony Bradman Tony Bradman (born 22 January 1954) is an English writer of children's books and short speculative fiction best known for the '' Dilly the Dinosaur'' book series. He is the author of more than 50 books for young people published by multiple hous ...

(born 1954), children’s author * Peircy Brett (1709–1781), admiral in

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

; politician * Bob Broadbent (1924–1993), cricketer *

Ali Brown Alistair Duncan Brown (born 11 February 1970), commonly known as Ali Brown, is a former English cricketer who played for Surrey County Cricket Club, before moving to Nottinghamshire for the 2009 season. He was nicknamed "Lordy", in allusion to ...

(born 1970), cricketer *

Godfrey Bryan Brigadier Godfrey James Bryan (29 December 1902 – 24 March 1991) was an English army officer and cricketer. A left-handed batsman, he played first-class cricket between 1920 and 1935 for Kent County Cricket Club and the Army cricket team. ...

(1902–1991), cricketer *

Jack Bryan John Lindsay Bryan (26 May 1896 – 23 April 1985) was an English schoolteacher and cricketer who played for Cambridge University Cricket Club, Cambridge University and Kent County Cricket Club. Bryan served in the British Army in both World W ...

(1896–1985), cricketer * Ronnie Bryan (1898–1970), cricketer *

Stuart Bunce Stuart Alexander Bunce (born 21 October 1971) is an English actor who is best known for his portrayal of the First World War poet Wilfred Owen in the film '' Regeneration'' directed by Gillies MacKinnon. Biography Bunce was born in Beckenham, Ke ...

(born 1971), actor *

Arthur Gardiner Butler Arthur Gardiner Butler F.L.S., F.Z.S. (27 June 1844 – 28 May 1925) was an English entomologist, arachnologist and ornithologist. He worked at the British Museum on the taxonomy of birds, insects, and spiders. Biography Arthur Gardiner But ...

(1844–1925), entomologist

C

Pat Coombs Patricia Doreen Coombs (27 August 1926 – 25 May 2002) was an English actress. She specialised in the portrayal of the eternal downtrodden female, comically under the thumb of stronger personalities. She was known for many roles on radio, ...

(1926–2002), actress *

James Cossins James Cossins (4 December 1933 – 12 February 1997) was an English character actor. Born in Beckenham, Kent, he became widely recognised as the abrupt, bewildered Mr Walt in the ''Fawlty Towers'' episode " The Hotel Inspectors" and as Mr Wats ...

(1933–1997), actor

D

Richard Daintree Richard Daintree CMG (13 December 1832 – 20 June 1878) was a pioneering Australian geologist and photographer. In particular, Daintree was the first Government geologist for North Queensland discovering gold fields and coal seams for future ...

(1831–1878),

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...

and

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

* T. Pelham Dale (1821–1892),

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglica ...

ritualist Ritualism, in the history of Christianity, refers to an emphasis on the rituals and liturgical ceremonies of the church. Specifically, the Christian ritual of Holy Communion. In the Anglican church in the 19th century, the role of ritual became ...

clergyman *

Samuel Daukes Samuel Whitfield Daukes (1811–1880) was an English architect, based in Gloucester and London. Family background Daukes was born in London in 1811, the son of Samuel Whitfield Daukes, a businessman with coal mining and brewery interests, who b ...

(1811–1880),

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Maurice Denham William Maurice Denham OBE (23 December 1909 – 24 July 2002) was an English character actor who appeared in over 100 films and television programmes in his long career. Family Denham was born on 23 December 1909 in Beckenham, Kent, the son ...

(1909–2002), actor

E

George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland, (25 August 1784 – 1 January 1849) was an English Whig politician and colonial administrator. He was thrice First Lord of the Admiralty and also served as Governor-General of India between 1836 and 1842 ...

(1784–1849), politician and colonial administrator *

William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland, PC (Ire), FRS (3 April 174528 May 1814) was a British diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1793. Early life A member of the influential Eden family, Auckland was a younger son ...

(1745–1814), politician and diplomat * Carl Erhardt (1897–1988),

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

player

F

Liam Fontaine Liam Vaughan Henry Fontaine (born 7 January 1986) is an English footballer who plays as a defender for Scottish League One side Edinburgh City. He has previously played in the English leagues for Fulham, Yeovil Town and Bristol City, and ...

(born 1986), football player *

Philip Fotheringham-Parker Philip Fotheringham-Parker (22 September 1907 – 15 October 1981) was a racing driver from England. He was born in Beckenham, Kent. Fotheringham-Parker participated in the 1951 British Grand Prix, driving a privately run Maserati 4CL, bu ...

(1907–1981), racing driver * Peter Frampton (born 1950), singer-songwriter and musician

H

Haircut 100 Haircut One Hundred (also Haircut 100) were a British new wave group formed in 1980 in Beckenham, London by Nick Heyward, Les Nemes and Graham Jones. In 1981 and 1982, the band scored four UK top 10 hit singles: " Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets ...

, New wave/

Jazz-funk Jazz-funk is a subgenre of jazz music characterized by a strong back beat ( groove), electrified sounds, and an early prevalence of analog synthesizers. The integration of funk, soul, and R&B music and styles into jazz resulted in the creat ...

band formed in 1980 by

Nick Heyward Nicholas Heyward (born 20 May 1961) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. He came to international attention in the early 1980s as the lead singer and songwriter for Haircut One Hundred. He and the band parted ways after their first alb ...

* John Pennington Harman (1914–1944), recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

David Haye David Deron Haye (born 13 October 1980) is a British former professional boxer who competed between 2002 and 2018. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, and was the first British boxer to reach the final of the World Ama ...

, boxer *

Alec Hearne Alec Hearne (22 July 1863 – 16 May 1952) was a member of the famous cricketing Hearne family. He played as a professional for Kent County Cricket Club between 1884 and 1906 and made one Test match appearance for England. He was an all-round ...

(1863–1952), cricketer *

(born 1961), singer, guitarist * Leigh Hinds (born 1978), football player *

C. Walter Hodges Cyril Walter Hodges (18 March 1909 – 26 November 2004) was an English artist and writer best known for illustrating children's books and for helping to recreate Elizabethan theatre. He won the annual Greenaway Medal for British children's boo ...

(1909–2004), illustrator and author * Elizabeth Hope (1842–1922), evangelist;

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

* Charles Howard (1904–1982), cricketer

J

* Steve Jansen (born 1959), musician * Graham Johnson (born 1946), cricketer

K

* Georgina Kennedy (born 1997), professional squash player (Commonwealth Games champion 2022) * Robert Key (born 1979), cricketer * Daniel King (born 1963), chess player; writer and journalist *

John Kingman __NOTOC__ Sir John Frank Charles Kingman (born 28 August 1939) is a British mathematician. He served as N. M. Rothschild and Sons Professor of Mathematical Sciences and Director of the Isaac Newton Institute at the University of Cambridge fro ...

(born 1939), mathematician

L

Kate Lawler Kate Lawler (born 7 May 1980) is an English television personality, presenter, model and DJ. She became the first female winner of '' Big Brother UK'' after winning the third series of the reality series in 2002. Since ''Big Brother'', she has ...

(born 1980),

TV presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garner ...

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

, winner of ''

Big Brother UK ''Big Brother'' is the British version of the international reality television franchise '' Big Brother'' created by producer John de Mol in 1997. Broadcast yearly from 2000 to 2018, and due to return in 2023, the show follows the format of ot ...

'' * Alfred Layman (1858–1940), cricketer *

Mark Lovell Mark Lovell (27 March 1960 – 12 July 2003) was a British rally driver. He won the 1986 British Rally Championship in a Ford RS200 Group B, the 1987 and 1988 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, the 1988 International Dutch Rally Drivers' Ch ...

(born 1983), football player

M

Andrew Manze Andrew Manze (born 14 January 1965) is a British conductor and violinist living in Germany. Born in Beckenham, United Kingdom, Manze read Classics at Cambridge University. Manze studied violin and worked with Ton Koopman (his director in ...

(born 1965), baroque violinist and conductor *

Piers Merchant Piers Rolf Garfield Merchant (2 January 1951 – 21 September 2009) was a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle upon Tyne Central from 1983 to 1987, and then MP for Beckenham from 1992 until he ...

(1951–2009), politician *

Bob Monkhouse Robert Alan Monkhouse (1 June 1928 – 29 December 2003) was an English comedian, writer and actor. He was the host of television game shows including ''The Golden Shot'', '' Celebrity Squares'', '' Family Fortunes'' and '' ''Wipeout'. Ear ...

(1928–2003),

entertainer An entertainer is someone who provides entertainment in various different forms. Types of entertainers * Acrobat * Actor * Archimime * Athlete * Barker * Beatboxer * Benshi * Bouffon * Circus performer * Clown * Club Hostess/Host * Co ...

Ivor Moreton Ivor Moreton and Dave Kaye were an English musical variety double act who were known for performing syncopated piano duets together from the 1930s to 1950s. The duo consisted of pianists Ivor Arthur Moreton (born Arthur Lethbridge; 18 March 190 ...

(1908–1984), singer and pianist, lived in Beckenham during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

The National Archives National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives. Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...

;

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

, London, England; ''1939 Register''; Reference: ''RG 101/1215E''

O

John Orchard John Orchard (15 November 1928 – 3 November 1995) was an English actor. He is probably best remembered for playing Australian anesthesiologist "Ugly John" Black in the first season of ''M*A*S*H''. Career Orchard guest starred as Sgt. Walte ...

(1928–1995), film actor (''M*A*S*H'') * Jonathan Orders (born 1957), cricketer

P

Arthur Beresford Pite Arthur Beresford Pite (2 September 1861 – 27 November 1934) was a British architect known for creating Edwardian buildings in Baroque Revival, Byzantine Revival and Greek Revival styles. The early years Arthur Beresford Pite was born on 2 Se ...

(1861–1934), architect *

Mary Potter Mother Mary Potter (22 November 1847 – 9 April 1913) founded the sisters of the Little Company of Mary in 1877. On 8 February 1988, Pope John Paul II proclaimed her Venerable. Early life Mary Potter was born in a rented house at 23 O ...

(1900–1981), painter *

James Pigott Pritchett James Pigott Pritchett (14 October 1789 – 23 May 1868) was an English architect. He lived in London and York and his practice stretched from Lincolnshire to the Scottish borders. Personal life Pritchett was born on 14 October 1789 to Char ...

(1789–1868), architect * Frank Pullen (1915–1992), businessman and builder

R

Cornthwaite Rason Sir Cornthwaite Hector William James Rason (18 June 1858 – 15 March 1927), better known as Hector Rason, was the seventh Premier of Western Australia. Early life Rason was born in Cleeve, Somerset, in England on 18 June 1858. He was the son ...

(1858–1927),

Premier of Western Australia The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive bra ...

* Dorothy Richardson (1873–1957), novelist *

Christopher Ricks Sir Christopher Bruce Ricks (born 18 September 1933) is a British literary critic and scholar. He is the William M. and Sara B. Warren Professor of the Humanities at Boston University (US), co-director of the Editorial Institute at Boston Un ...

(born 1933), literary critic * Ken Ritchie (born 1946), psephologist

S

Stanley Scott Stanley Winckworth Scott (24 March 1854 – 8 December 1933) was an English cricketer who played for Middlesex. Scott was a middle-order batsman who played fairly regularly for Middlesex from 1878 to 1893, heading the batting averages in severa ...

(1854–1933), cricketer * Richard Smith (born 1971),

fingerstyle Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with a single plect ...

guitarist *

Wende Snijders Wende Snijders, known mononymously as Wende (born 10 October 1978 in Beckenham, Greater London) is a Dutch singer. Biography Wende moved to Indonesia when she was four years old and to Guinea-Bissau when she was six. When she was nine, she went t ...

(born 1978),

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

singer *

Frank Spenlove-Spenlove John Francis Spenlove-Spenlove (24 February 1864 – 20 April 1933) was a British landscape and figure painter. Life and work Spenlove-Spenlove was born in Stirling, Scotland. He painted in both oils and watercolour, and was a member of the Roy ...

(1868–1933), painter; founder of "Yellow Door School of Art" in Beckenham *

David Sylvian David Sylvian (born David Alan Batt, 23 February 1958) is an English musician, singer and songwriter who came to prominence in the late 1970s as frontman and principal songwriter of the band Japan. The band's androgynous look and increasingly ...

(born 1958), singer, musician, composer

T

* Richard Thorpe (born 1984),

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player

V

Paul Volley Paul William Volley (born 2 November 1971 in Beckenham, Kent) is an English former rugby union player. As an open-side flanker, he played for London Wasps for 16 years. He joined as a 16-year-old from Chinnor. Volley was first called up to th ...

(born 1975), rugby union player

W

Wavell Wakefield, 1st Baron Wakefield of Kendal William Wavell Wakefield, 1st Baron Wakefield of Kendal (10 March 1898 – 12 August 1983), known as Sir Wavell Wakefield between 1944 and 1963, was an English rugby union player for Harlequins, Leicester Tigers and England, President of the ...

(1898–1983), rugby union player and politician * Bill Wyman, bass guitarist, member of the Rolling Stones, lived at 44 Birkbeck Road, Beckenham in the 1960s

References

{{reflist People from Beckenham Lists of people from London