Famous people from your town

[happy daze john in oz]

Sunday at 39 degrees was a little cooler so we visited the Melbourne Botanical Gardens, then on to the Shrine of Rememberance in St. KIlda road.
The Shrine is undergoing renovations, in preparation next year, for the Centenary celebrations of the 1915 landing in Gallipoli by the ANZACS.
On leaving I stopped once again to pay respect at the statue of Simpson and his Donkey.

Simpson was an English soldier with the Australian army at Gallipoli. He had obtained a local donkey and for 15 days and nights transported wounded soldiers, both friend and foe, to the field hospital for treatment. On the 16th day he was killed by a sniper.

In the Moama RSL club, situated on the River Murray at the junction of Victoria and New South Wales, there is a small War museum. In this museum, set in a glass case, the bell from around the neck of the donkey. Made from the cone of a shell, it was held for many years by a local, who on the opening of the club in 1991 donated the bell to the museum.

Simpson was an English man who had gone to live in Australia, but where was he born?

One for you Cappy, born in Shields.

Anyone else know of anyone with merit from their town?

[cappy]

#1 yes john we have a statue to him in shields ....by all accounts was doing a great job until the green man got him regards cappy ...just of for a beer now withan old port line engineer regards cappy

[Jim Brady]

Enjoy your beer Cappy I'm off out myself to meet up with Stan Carter from Ottowa.It's a miserable day but i suppose once we get into the Pen & Wig it should be fine.
Regards.
Jim.

[alf corbyn]

depends what you want john?. disrali went to school in enfield(now the railway station) raliegh put his cloak down for queen liz in baker street, queen liz spent her school days in enfield, henry v111 used to hunt in enfield chase,he also started the small arms and gunpowder factory, bruce forsyth used to live in enfield as did a few other personalities, reg varney was one

[Keith at Tregenna]

John 'Jack' Charles Petersen (1911-1990)

One of the most successful British boxers of the inter-war years.

He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1957 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the Memorial Hall in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan.

Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Petersen

[John Pruden]

Enjoy your beer Cappy I'm off out myself to meet up with Stan Carter from Ottowa.It's a miserable day but i suppose once we get into the Pen & Wig it should be fine.
Regards.
Jim.

jim give my regards to the little blonde sliding the pole?jp

[Neil Morton]

Just an in joke for us Victorians John. We have got Jeff Shore here in Frankston he's on tele every night. Ha Ha. Best **** stirrer this side of the Black Stump !

[j.sabourn]

#2... Managed to get some money out of the machine then Cappy, did you ask whats left in Marians account, or did you clear it out. Cheers John S

[Keith at Tregenna]

Celebrating Bob Hope's Barry connections:

The Hollywood star and comic legend Bob Hope had strong family ties to Barry

Showbiz was in Bob Hope's blood through his mother Avis, a concert singer from Barry.

She married stonemason William Hope in April 1891 and they lived at 12 Greenwood Street, Barry.

They later moved to Eltham, south east London, where their son christened Leslie was born in May 1903.
When he was three the family moved to Bristol as his father searched for work.

They emigrated to the USA a year later where William’s uncles lived in Cleveland, Ohio.

In 1929 he changed his first name to "Bob". In one version of the story, he named himself after racecar driver Bob Burman.

In another version, he said he chose Bob because he wanted a name with a friendly "Hiya, fellas!" sound to it.

Bob Hope never forgot his Welsh roots, briefly visiting an air base at nearby Sully during the war to entertain the troops.

He later returned to Barry in October 1984 to unveil a plaque outside his parents' former home at 12 Greenwood Street, Barry. During his flying visit he also opened a new club house at Brynhill Golf Club and even performed a concert in Cardiff as part of a UK tour.

He lived to the ripe age of 100 dying in July 2003.

Hope was awarded over two thousand honours and awards, including 54 honorary doctorates.

Several buildings and facilities were renamed after Hope, including Bob Hope Airport, in Burbank, California.

[John Adamson]

I was born in Bishop's Stortford, Herts, also the birthplace of Cecil Rhodes in 1853. His birthplace is now a museum, and as a young school boy, we were dragged there to marvel at this great man's legacy, which today we know was to exploit Africa and the Africans for his own ends. Ended up one of the richest men in the world, and gave his name to a country. In retrospect don't know if I'm really proud of coming from the same town as him.

John