Northampton

This article is about Northampton in England; for other places of the same name see Northampton (disambiguation)

Celebrity associations

Modern

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• Scientist Francis Crick, born in the town in 1916, along with James D. Watson discovered the structure of DNA, and went on to win a Nobel Prize.
• Actress Joan Hickson, famous for playing Miss Marple, comes from Kingsthorpe.
• "Birds of a Feather" actress Lesley Joseph grew up in the town.
• Nearby is Althorp, the country estate where Diana, Princess of Wales is buried. In 1997, her funeral procession passed through the town.
• Journalist and broadcaster Andrew Collins hails from Northampton and wrote about growing up in the town in his memoir Where Did It All Go Right?.
• Des O'Connor lived in Northampton, worked at Church's for some years and played for the Cobblers (Northampton Town Football Club).
• Television presenter Michael Underwood lives in the town.
• Composer Sir Malcolm Arnold was born in the town.
• Actor Robert Llewellyn (Kryten from Red Dwarf) was also born in the town
• British writer Alan Moore, creator of Watchmen, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and Voice of the Fire, a fictionalized history of Northampton, lives in the town.
• Myrea Pettit renowned Fantasy Artist of fairies flowers and butterflies Author of 500 Fairies Motifs book published 2005 learned her craft here in Northamptonshire
• Jo Whiley, the BBC Radio 1 DJ was born in the town in 1965.
• The late Delia Derbyshire, who was behind the original version of the Doctor Who theme tune, spent her final years in the town.
• Blue Peter's Peter Purves lives in the nearby village of Cogenhoe, as did his one time girlfriend Catherine Zeta-Jones.
• BBC radio presenter Anna Murby comes from the county.
• Judy Carne, born Joyce Botterill on April 27, 1939 in the town, is an actress who may be best remembered for her introducing the phrase "Sock it to me!" while a regular on Laugh-In.

Historical

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• Spencer Perceval was a local MP and Prime Minister. He is famous for having been killed in the House of Commons by John Bellingham in 1812.
• John Clare, the poet, was sectioned in the local madhouse, where he remained until his death in 1836.
• Charles Bradlaugh, the famous radical MP, was a member for the town.
• The Victorian cricketer and pioneer missionary Charles ("C.T.") Studd who played in the first Ashes test, was born at Spratton, just outside Northampton.