Famous Residents of The Park Estate The following is a list of famous people who have at one time lived in The Park Estate. I shall be expanding this list as and when I get time and would welcome your additions and corrections. Send them to webmaster@theparknottingham.co.uk The criteria for inclusion in this list is that you need to be dead or to have moved away from The Park. This is to protect the privacy of those famous people who still live here.

Eleanor of Aquitane - Queen of England and France - The Castle Eleanor was born in 1122, heiress to the vast Duchy of Aquitane which she inherited at the tender age of 15, leaving her vulnerable to the greed of powerful men. She quickly married Louis the 7th, heir to the throne of France but the marriage was annulled on a technicality after Eleanor failed to produce a son and she married Henry, Duke of Normandy within eight weeks. Henry became Henry II, King of England and was routinely unfaithful to his Queen, even parading his mistress "Fair Rosemund" at court. After Henry's knights had murdered Thomas Becket, she turned against her husband and in league with her five sons she plotted against him. The plot was discovered and Eleanor became a prisoner of her husband for the next 15 years. It was during this period that she was held at Nottingham Castle which at the time was an impregnable fortress. Women in World History - Eleanor of Aquitane

Albert Ball VC - Fighter Pilot - Sedgely House, 43 Lenton Road “To look at Albert Ball he appeared still a boy, short, hair unkempt and shy-looking. It was only when those dark piercing eyes would turn and rest on yours did you realise that some strange power was there - some power that made him in some way different to other men” - A fellow airman Ball was born in Lenton, Nottingham on 21 August 1896, the son of a master plumber who later became the Lord Mayor of Nottingham. As Albert Senior’s business prospered he moved his family into Sedgely House in The Park. Young Albert had a strong sense of duty from an early age and he enlisted in the army upon the outbreak of WW1. Having transferred to the Royal Flying Corps he rapidly proved himself the quintessential fighter pilot - he was fearless to the point of recklessness and cut a dashing figure. He emerged victorious in 44 dogfights but was killed in action shortly before his 21st birthday. Awarded the Military Cross, the DSO and the Victoria Cross (posthumously) his statue stands in the grounds of Nottingham Castle. Captain Albert Ball VC DSO MC - Very detailed site. Albert Ball - Air Ace - site has annoying music. FirstWorldWar.com - Who's Who: Albert Ball

Sir Jesse Boot - Pharmacist - St Helier, Park Drive Jesse Boot was born in poverty in the Hockley area of Nottingham in 1850. His father died when Jesse was only ten and at the age of 13 he left school to help his mother in the family shop selling herbal remedies. At the age of 21 he became a full partner in 'Mary and Jesse Boot Herbalists' and they opened a second shop in Sheffield. A vast pharmaceutical empire was born. Today Boots employs 75,000 people in 130 countries. Jesse Boot was knighted in 1909 and died in 1931. His enormous mansion on Park Drive was sold for £7 in the 1930's and demolished. BBC - Great Nottinghamians : Sir Jesse Boot Boots Group PLC

Samuel Bourne - Pioneer Photographer - Clumber Road East Samuel Bourne was born near Market Drayton in 1834. He got his first camera at the age of 17 and eventually left his banking job to become a photographer. In 1858 he helped to found Nottingham Photographic Society and in 1862 he set sail for India. In Calcutta he founded a studio "Bourne & Shepherd" which is still in business to this day and for the next seven years devoted himself to the photography of India. He made epic journeys through the Himalayas and Kashmir as well as in southern India and his work was collected in a book, "Samuel Bourne: Images of India". He is regarded as the greatest photographer of the Raj. He died in Nottingham in 1912 and "Bourne & Shepherd" passed into Indian ownership at independance in 1947. Samuel Bourne: Search for the Sublime Samuel Bourne: 1834 - 1912

Sir Frank Bowden - Raleigh Bicycles - 2 The Ropewalk Frank Bowden was born in 1848 in Devon. By the age of 24 he had amassed a considerable fortune through speculation in the stock market but fate turned against him while abroad and he became seriously ill. His doctor, who expected him to live no more than 6 months advised him to take up cycling and he purchased a bike from a tiny shop on Raleigh St. The advice was sound and Frank rapidly recovered his strength and bought the company. In December 1888 the Raleigh Cycle Company was founded and by 1896 it was the largest bicycle manufacturer in the world. In 1918, the 2000 men and women employed by Raleigh celebrated Sir Frank's 70th birthday in the Victoria Hall. He died in 1921. In 1987, while a Nottingham University student, I worked in the Raleigh factory - filing burrs off die-cast metal gears. Looking around that vast enterprise you would not have guessed that only 15 years later it would all be gone. Production was transferred to the far east in 2002 with the loss of the few remaining jobs. All the parts had been manufactured abroad for years. The factory was demolished and the land sold to Nottingham University for a new campus. Raleigh Bikes UK BBC Nottingham - Raleigh Past and Present

Justin Fashanu - Footballer - Tennis Mews “A bloody poof” as Brian Clough called him; Fashanu was the first £1million pound black soccer player in the country when he was signed to Nottingham Forest in 1980 aged 19. He suffered endless racist and homophobic abuse both on and off the pitch and his behaviour became increasingly erratic. His professional career ended after he chose to come out in The Sun newspaper and he moved to America. In 1998 he was accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old boy and he fled back to England where he killed himself. In his suicide note he claimed to have been a victim of blackmail. Peter Tatchell tribute to Justin Fashanu Mail on Sunday - Justin Fashanu - END GAME

Steven Frears - Film Director, 14 Park Terrace Steven Frears was born in 1941 in Leicester but lived for several years in The Park where his father, a doctor, had a house at 14 Park Terrace. He read law at Cambridge but was drawn to the theatre. He worked with the great Czech film director Karel Reisz in the 60's and collaborated with Alan Bennet on a number of television dramas. In the 1980's he shot to fame as the director of My Beautiful Launderette, a controversial film dealing with racial and sexual issues in Thatcher's Britain which introduced Daniel Day Lewis to the wider public. He went on to direct an outrageous John Malkovich in Dangerous Liasons which earned him an Oscar nomination and made Uma Thurman famous. He is widely respected for his committment to down-to-earth stories despite lavish offers from Hollywood. Steven Frears on Desert Island Discs Steven Frears - Filmography

WE Gladstone - Prime Minister - Park Valley "You return me to Parliament not merely because I am the Duke of Newcastle's man; but because the man whom the Duke has sent, and the Duke himself, are your men." - WE Gladstone, acceptance speech 1833 In actual fact it seems that Gladstone never lived in his house in Park Valley but he was well connected in the area. He was a trustee of the Newcastle Estate (see the quote above) and along with Lloyd George was a guest of the leather manufacturer Thomas Baley at Peveril House on Cavendish Crescent North. AJ Mundella, a member of his cabinet lived at Amelia House on Cavendish Crescent South. Partly to amuse his starry-eyed daughter, Gladstone also invited the dashing young Capt. Albert Ball (see above) to tea, an occasion which the ever reticent Ball described as "very nice".

Hugh Grant - Actor - Park Terrace Hugh John Mungo Grant was born in 1960. His father was an artist and his mother a teacher but both parents had a military background. He won a scholarship to Oxford but abandoned thoughts of a career as an art historian to become an actor. He lived in The Park for a year while working at Nottingham Playhouse and soon broke into films. He became somewhat typecast as an upper-class English twit but scored some huge successes. In 1995 he was arrested for "lewd conduct in a public place" with the prostitute Divine Brown, sparking a media frenzy and sending his career and relationship with Elizabeth Hurley into a tailspin. He has since rebounded with some major hits in a familiar vein such as "Notting Hill" and "Bridget Jones's Diary".

Rev. Rudolph Baron von Hube - Vicar of Greasely - Cavendish House In 1827 Baron von Hube was born into an aristocratic Polish family in Warsaw. He fought in the January Insurrection of 1863 against the Prussians and then fled to South Africa as a missionary. He was ordained into the Anglican Church and eventually came to England, still innocent of the language, to serve as a curate in Eastwood. He became vicar of Greasley in October 1866 where he remained until 1907 and his retirement to The Park. He is variously remembered as a genial old buffer or an irritable, whisky-drinking rascal - the truth remains obscure for now. Von Hube appears, thinly disguised, as Baron Skrebensky in DH Lawrence's, "The Rainbow". Life in Cossal, Greasley Church Notts History - von Hube's book - GRISELEIA IN SNOTINGHSCIRE

Prof Frederick Kipping - Chemist - Park Hall, Clumber Crescent South Frederick Kipping was born in 1863 in Manchester. His father, James, was an official of the Bank of England and a member of the Manchester Chemical Society but Frederick graduated with a degree in Zoology. He then studied closed carbon chains at Munich University, received his PhD in 1887 and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society at the very young age of 34. He was appointed to the Chair of Chemistry at Nottingham University and held this position until his retirement in 1936. At Nottingham Kipping made the discovery of Silicon Polymers, the commercial significance of which was not to become apparent until the end of his life. In 1943, the Dow-Corning Corporation was formed to exploit the new technology which today has become a multi-billion dollar industry. Professor Kipping died in 1949. People & Polymers: Frederick Stanley Kipping The Dow-Corning Corporation School of Chemistry - University of Nottingham

Dame Laura Knight - Artist - Lenton Road Born in Derbyshire in 1877, Laura Johnson was encouraged to paint by her artistic mother and first went to study at Nottingham School of Art at the age of thirteen. There she met her future husband, Harold Knight and after a spell in a Yorkshire fishing village, they moved to Cornwall. Laura's work combined landscapes and figures, sometimes nude, which was the cause of some excitement amongst her neighbours. Harold was a conscientious objector during WWI and was forced to work the land. After the war they moved to London. She was made a Dame in 1929 for her services to art and in 1936 became the first woman to be elected to the Royal Academy. She died in 1970, aged 93, as one of Britain’s best loved artists. Artcyclopaedia: Dame Laura Knight The Tate: Dame Laura Knight

Richard Lionheart - King of England, The Castle Born in 1157 in Oxford to the indomitable Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard Coeur-de-Lion was to become one of the greatest English warrior kings. Such was his passion for warfare that he spent barely 6 months of his 10 year reign in England, preferring to war against the infidel Saladin in the Middle East and against a complex web of enemies in France. Richard’s stronghold was Nottingham Castle and the deer park where we now live. Upon returning from the crusades, he was obliged to lay siege to the castle for three days in order to recover it from the forces loyal to his traitorous brother John. Many legends link Richard with the outlaw Robin Hood and the Castle art gallery still has a famous painting of Robin feasting the King in the Sherwood Forest. BBC Nottingham - Did Richard the Lionheart meet Robin Hood Sherwood Times - King Attacks Nottingham Castle

Sir Jonathan Miller - Medical Doctor, Author, TV Presenter, Theatre Director, Film Director, Lecturer, Operatic Director, Satirist, Sculptor, Neurological Consultant, Polymath - Park Terrace Jonathan Miller was born in London and read natural sciences at Cambridge. He qualified as a doctor of medicine but went on to pursue a preposterous number of different careers at the highest level. Along with Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Alan Bennet he was responsible for the 1960's "satire boom". He lived in The Park while directing plays at Nottingham Playhouse. In the 1980's he was satirised himself by Spitting Image which depicted him simultaneously directing an opera and performing open heart surgery, while commenting that he couldn't understand why so many people were unemployed. He was knighted in 2002.

AJ Mundella MP - President of the Board of Trade - Amelia House, 19 Cavendish Crescent South Mundella was born in 1823 in Leicester to an Italian father and an English mother. He entered the hosiery trade at the age of 11 but became successful in business. He was a partner in the Nottingham firm of Hine & Mundella before entering local politics. He was Sheriff of Nottingham in 1853 and was returned to Parliament for Sheffield as a Liberal. He was a minister under Gladstone and President of the Board of Trade in 1886 and again in 1892 where he remained until a minor conflict of interests forced his resignation in 1894. He was a powerful advocate for liberal causes such as compulsory education for all and workplace health and safety and he was one of the signatories to the letter which suggested that Charles Darwin be buried in Westminster Abbey. In recognition of his work for the poor a marble bust was commissioned and paid for by 80,000 factory workers, mainly women and children. It was presented to Mrs Mundella upon his death in 1897. Sheffield University - The Mundella Papers The 1911 Edition Encyclopedia: Anthony John Mundella

John Player - Tobacconist - 9 Park Valley The son of a solicitor from Essex, John Player arrived in Nottingham in 1877 to take up a position as a draper’s assistant but soon began to show his entrepreneurial flair. He began by selling loose wads of tobacco from a shop on Beastmarket Hill and soon saw the potential for a pre-packed and branded product. The first John Player cigarettes featured a drawing of Nottingham Castle but it was the image of the Sailor of Player’s Navy Cut that really established the brand. He established several large factories in Broad Marsh and Radford and was an enlightened employer for the age. He died at the age of 45, well before his company reached its zenith. This is Nottingham - John Player

Athelstan Popkess OBE CBE - Police Officer - 35 Newcastle Drive Born in 1893, the splendidly named Athelstan Popkess became the youngest Chief Constable ever at the age of 37. His appointment was not without controversy; he had been a member of the "Black and Tans" and was photographed giving the Nazi salute in a Stuttgart boxing ring in 1936. But he was a visionary policeman. He founded the first forensic laboratory in the country, was the first to introduce police dogs and an advanced driving school. He conceived the idea of traffic wardens, and was the first to exploit wirelesses in the "Uniform Cruisers" of the Mechanised Division which grew to a force of 39 vehicles and 70 officers travelling in white Standard Ensigns and astride white Triumph Thunderbirds. He lived for many years at 35 Newcastle Drive from where he observed and then prohibited boys using Tattershall Drive as a sledge run. He led the Nottingham force until 1960 and died at the age of 75 in Torquay. History & Policy - Britain's police forces: forever removed from democratic control?

Sir Paul Smith - Fashion Designer - Tattershall Drive Paul Smith was born in Beeston in 1946. He left school at 15 with no qualifications and took a job sweeping the stairs in a Nottingham warehouse with dreams of becoming a professional cyclist. He began mixing with a fashionable crowd and met his wife to be, fashion graduate Pauline Denyer. Pauline gave him the confidence to produce his own designs and supported him with some meagre savings as he opened his first shop in Byard Lane in 1970. Six years later he showed his first collection in Paris and the rest is history. The company has become a global empire representing the best of British fashion. Tony Blair is said to favour Paul Smith suits. Paul Smith

Archie Stinchcombe - Ice Hockey Player - 5 Newcastle Circus Archibald Stinchcombe was born in 1912 near Barnsley in South Yorkshire. He lost the sight in one eye in a boyhood accident but subsequently went on to have a very successful career in Ice Hockey. He joined the British team in 1936, a year in which they won the European and World Championships and the Olympic Gold medal, a feat never since repeated. He was captain in the 1948 Olympics after which he joined the Nottingham Panthers as a coach. He lived for many years at 5 Newcastle Circus where he died aged 82 in 1994. Ice Hockey Hall of Fame Nottingham Panthers