This is a list of notable people from Bedford, in Bedfordshire, England. People on this list may have been born in Bedford, attended school there, or resided in Bedford. For people whose primary association to Bedford is an education from the

Bedford School :''Bedford School is not to be confused with Bedford Girls' School, Bedford High School, Bedford Modern School, Old Bedford School in Bedford, Texas or Bedford Academy in Bedford, Nova Scotia.'' Bedford School is a public school (English indep ...

, see the

list of people educated at Bedford School This is a list of people educated at Bedford School. Academia * Revd James Dennis (1815–1861), paleontologist and natural historian * Sir Warington Wilkinson Smyth FRS (1817–1890), geologistDe-la-Noy, p.26 * Francis Penrose FRIBA FRS ...

. For people whose primary association to Bedford is an education from Bedford Modern School, see the

List of Old Bedford Modernians The following is a list of some notable Old Bedford Modernians who are former pupils of Bedford Modern School in Bedford, England. At the school, alumni are known as OBMs.Underwood, p. 109 The Old Bedford Modernians' Club was founded in 1892. ...

Academics

C. E. M. Hansel Charles Edward Mark Hansel (12 October 1917 – 28 March 2011) was a British psychologist most notable for his criticism of parapsychological studies. Early life and education Hansel was born in 1917 in Bedford, England and attended Bedford ...

(1917–2011) Emeritus Professor of

Experimental Psychology Experimental psychology refers to work done by those who apply experimental methods to psychological study and the underlying processes. Experimental psychologists employ human participants and animal subjects to study a great many topics, in ...

* Hubert Horace Lamb (1913–1997) English climatologist * Dame

Bertha Phillpotts Dame Bertha Surtees Phillpotts (25 October 1877 – 20 January 1932) was an English scholar in Scandinavian languages, literature, history, archaeology and anthropology. Biography Phillpotts was born in Bedford on 25 October 1877. Her fa ...

, Scandinavian scholar and pioneer of university education for women * Stephen Shalet, endocrinologist

Athletes

* Harold Abrahams, 1924 Olympic

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

champion and character in the film '' Chariots of Fire'' *

Sam Baldock Samuel Edward Thomas Baldock (born 15 March 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Oxford United. He grew up in the village of Steeple Claydon, Buckinghamshire, while attending the Royal Latin School in Bucking ...

, Reading footballer *

Martin Bayfield Martin Christopher Bayfield (born 21 December 1966) is an English actor, broadcaster, and former rugby union player who played lock forward for Northampton Saints, Bedford Blues and England, gaining 31 England and 3 Lions caps. Early life and ...

, rugby player * Peter Bichener, cricketer * Joe Bugner, heavyweight

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

Calum Davenport Calum Ray Paul Davenport (born 1 January 1983) is an English former professional footballer who currently plays for non-league Tavistock AFC. During his career he played for Coventry City, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Southampton, Norwich ...

, Ex- West Ham United footballer * Kelvin Davis,

Southampton F.C. Southampton Football Club () is an English professional football club based in Southampton, Hampshire, which competes in the . Their home ground since 2001 has been St Mary's Stadium, before which they were based at The Dell. The club play in ...

footballer *

Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards Michael David Edwards (born 5 December 1963), better known as Eddie the Eagle, is an English ski-jumper and Olympian who in 1988 became the first competitor since 1928 to represent Great Britain in Olympic ski jumping, finishing last in the ...

, ski jumper *

Gail Emms Gail Elizabeth Emms Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 23 July 1977) is a retired English badminton player who has achieved international success in doubles tournaments. A badminton player since the age of four, Emms was first chosen to rep ...

badminton doubles 2004 Olympic silver medallist * Tim Foster, men's Olympic

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

list in rowing *

Lil Fuccillo Pasquale "Lil" Fuccillo (born 2 May 1956) is a former Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager. He is currently the chief scout at Crawley Town F.C., Crawley Town. Biography Playing career Fuccillo was born ...

, former footballer and manager, technical director for Luton Town F.C. * Barry Fry, former manager of

Peterborough United F.C. Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

Phelan Hill Phelan Hill (born 21 July 1979) is a British rowing coxswain. He is a three-time world champion and an Olympic gold medallist. He competed in the Men's eight event at the 2012 Summer Olympics, winning a bronze medal. In 2016, he competed in t ...

, men's eight rowing Olympic bronze medalist * Andy Johnson, England and Queens Park Rangers F.C. footballer *

Lance Painter Lance Telford Painter (born July 21, 1967) is an English former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher who played for the Colorado Rockies (-), St. Louis Cardinals (-, ), Toronto Blue Jays (-), and Milwaukee Brewers (). Although he started 28 g ...

, MLB player with the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, and the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

* Arthur Poole, cricketer * Paula Radcliffe, the United Kingdom's top female long-distance runner and world record holder for the women's marathon since 2002 *

Basil Rogers Basil Leonard Rogers (20 June 1896 – 9 October 1975) was an English cricketer. Rogers was a right-handed batsman. Born in Bedford, Bedfordshire, he was the son of Richard Rogers and Julia Marsh. His father was head groundsman at Bedford Mo ...

(1896–1975), cricketer * Etienne Stott, canoe slalom 2012 Olympic gold medalist *

Matt Skelton Matt Skelton (born 23 January 1967) is a British former professional boxer, kickboxer, and mixed martial artist. In boxing he competed from 2002 to 2014. He challenged once for the WBA heavyweight title in 2008. At regional level, he held the ...

, heavyweight boxer * Greg Taylor, professional footballer playing for Cambridge United * Nick Tandy, racing driver, winner of the

2015 24 Hours of Le Mans The 83rd 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 83e 24 Heures du Mans) was an 24-hour automobile endurance event for Le Mans Prototype and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars held from 10 to 14 June 2015 at the Circuit de la Sarthe, close ...

* Tim Thomas, kickboxer * Ian Thompson, runner

Businesspeople

Steve Mattin Steve Mattin (born 29 October 1964) is a British automobile designer. He is known as the chief designer of AvtoVAZ Lada, as well as the designer of Mercedes ML-Class and GL-Class E vehicles. Personal background Steve Mattin was born in Bedfor ...

, automobile designer * Charles Wells, founder of Charles Wells Brewery Ltd

Entertainers

Matt Berry Matthew Charles Berry (born 2 May 1974) is an English actor, comedian, musician, and writer. He is best known for his roles in comedy series such as '' The IT Crowd'', ''Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'', ''The Mighty Boosh'', ''Snuff Box'', ''What ...

, comedian and actor * Ronnie Barker, the late comedian * Howard Bentham, broadcaster *

Jacqueline Boatswain Jacqueline Boatswain (sometimes credited as Jacqui Boatswain) is an English actress. Career She is best known for playing headmistress Mrs Bassinger in the long-running BBC school drama, ''Grange Hill'', from 2003–2006. The character's fir ...

, actress *

Don Broco Don Broco are a British rock band formed in Bedford, England, in 2008. The band consists of Rob Damiani (lead vocals), Simon Delaney (guitar), Tom Doyle (bass and programming) and Matt Donnelly (drums, lead and backing vocals). The band have rel ...

, an alternative rock band formed in Bedford in 2008 * Adiescar Chase, multi-instrumentalist and composer *

Garry Cobain Garry Cobain (sometimes styled as Gaz Cobain) (born 16 May 1967) is a British electronic musician, and one half of the Future Sound of London. Background Cobain was born on 16 May 1967 in Bedford. He left Bedford for Manchester in his late teens ...

, one half of the electronic music pioneers, The Future Sound of London * Tom Grennan, singer * John Le Mesurier, actor and comedian *

Ian Midlane Ian Midlane (born 2 February 1976) is an English actor, known for portraying the role of Al Haskey on the BBC soap opera '' Doctors''. For his performance as Al, he won the award for Best Comedy Performance at the 2018 British Soap Awards. Ca ...

, actor *

Rachel Nicholls Rachel Nicholls is an English soprano in opera and concert. Career Born in Bedford, England, Nicholls studied French at the University of York, and from 1998 voice at the Royal College of Music with Kathleen Livingstone. In 2001, she won se ...

, soprano in opera and concert *

John Oliver John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British-American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. Oliver started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom. He came to wider attention ...

, comedian, host of HBO's ''

Last Week Tonight A last is a mechanical form shaped like a human foot. It is used by Shoemaking, shoemakers and cordwainers in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts typically come in pairs and have been made from various materials, including hardwoods, cas ...

'' *

Carolyn Sampson Carolyn Sampson (born 18 May 1974) is an English soprano in opera and concert. Specialising in historically informed performance, she has sung in Masaaki Suzuki's recording project of Bach cantatas and has appeared at the English National Opera. ...

, soprano * Carol Vorderman, television personality, co-host of Channel 4 game show ''Countdown'' *

Esme Young Esme Young (born 1948 or 1949) is an English fashion designer and television presenter. Since 2016, she has been a judge on the BBC reality series ''The Great British Sewing Bee''. Early life and education Young attended the Convent of the Holy ...

, fashion designer and judge of the BBC reality show

The Great British Sewing Bee ''The Great British Sewing Bee'' is a BBC reality show that began airing on BBC Two on 2 April 2013. In the show, talented amateur sewers compete to be named "Britain's best home sewer". A spin-off of the format of ''The Great British Bake Off ...

Alfie Templeman Alfie George Templeman (born 26 January 2003) is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. In 2016, he began recording and releasing demos at the age of 13. Templeman made his professional solo debut in 2018 and has relea ...

, singer-songwriter

Politicians

* William Robert Bousfield, lawyer, politician and scientist * Frank Branston, first directly elected mayor of Bedford and former owner of the ''

Bedfordshire on Sunday ''Bedfordshire on Sunday'' (BoS) was a free local newspaper published in Bedfordshire, England. It was distributed as two editions, one covering the Borough of Bedford, the other edition serves Central Bedfordshire. The gross distribution was aro ...

'' newspaper * William Fitzhugh, also known as ''William the Immigrant'', American politician * Richard Fuller, Member of Parliament for Bedford and Kempston 2010-2017 * Patrick Hall, Member of Parliament for Bedford and Kempston from 1997 to 2010 * Sir William Harpur, Lord Mayor of London in 1561 *

Dave Hodgson David Stuart Hodgson MBE (born 21 October 1959) is the directly elected mayor of the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England. Hodgson is the second elected mayor to represent the Liberal Democrats in the United Kingdom. Hodgson was electe ...

, former directly elected mayor of Bedford * Alfred Mitchell-Innes, diplomat, who also served on Bedford Town Council for 23 years * Mohammad Yasin, current Member of Parliament for Bedford and Kempston.

Writers

John Akass John Ewart Akass (16 July 1933 – 4 June 1990), known as Jon Akass, was a British Fleet Street journalist.Obituary in ''The Guardian'', ''Write after lunch'', by Keith Waterhouse, Tuesday 5 June 1990 He entered Fleet street as a journalist ...

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

journalist * Charlotte Eliza Bousfield, diarist * John Bunyan, Puritan preacher and author of '' The Pilgrim's Progress'' *

Norah Burke Norah Burke (2 August 1907 – 1 March 1976) was a British novelist, non-fiction and travel writer famous for her descriptions of life in India during the early 20th century. She also wrote romances under the pseudonyms Andre Lamour and Paul ...

, novelist and non-fiction writer *

Edward Grierson Edward Grierson (9 March 1914 - 24 May 1975) was a Northumberland barrister and a writer of crime novels. His debut crime novel is the outstanding ''Reputation for a Song'', a classic inverted detective story. Grierson also wrote five novels, six ...

, barrister and crime writer * Trevor Huddleston,

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

bishop and

anti-apartheid activist The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid, apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-White population who were persecuted by ...

* Toby Litt, writer, went to Bedford Modern School and lived in nearby Ampthill * Jonathan Stroud, fantasy novelist * Laura Wade, playwright * William Hale White, a minor Victorian novelist who wrote under the pseudonym Mark Rutherford

Other notables

* Apsley Cherry-Garrard, Antarctic explorer * John Howard, prison reformer and philanthropist *

Charles Edward Mallows Charles Edward Mallows FRIBA (5 May 1864 – 2 June 1915), often known as C. E. Mallows, was an English architect and landscape architect. He is considered to be part of the Arts and Craft movement in British art. Biography Mallows was born ...

, architect of the Arts and Crafts movement *

Phoebe Prince The suicide of Phoebe Nora Mary Prince, on January 14, 2010, led to the criminal prosecution of six teenagers for charges including civil rights violations, as well as to the enactment of stricter anti-bullying legislation by the Massachusetts s ...

(1994–2010), teenager who became a '' cause célèbre'' after bullying drove her to suicide *

Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott (23 October 1865 – 10 February 1945) was a British architect and artist. Through his long career, he designed in a variety of styles, including a style derived from the Tudor, an Arts and Crafts style reminisc ...

, architect of the Arts and Crafts movement *

Captain Tom Captain Sir Thomas Moore (30 April 1920 – 2 February 2021), more popularly known as Captain Tom, was a British Army officer and fundraiser who made international headlines in 2020 when he raised money for charity in the run-up to his 100th bir ...

(1920-2021) World War 2 veteran and fund-raiser. * Julian Hector (1958 - ) Former Head BBC Natural History Unit,

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on ...

Falklands War veteran and attended Bedford Modern School

References

{{Reflist Bedford *