Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton is an industrial, commercial and university city and metropolitan borough in the English West Midlands, traditionally part of the county of Staffordshire. In 2002 the city had a population of 239,358.

People

The following people were born in Wolverhampton (source: The Book of British Birthplaces, A.J. & Marilyn Mullay, 2002):

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• Frances Barber
• Sir William Maddock Bayliss
• Stephen Byers, former Cabinet Minister, Labour Party politician.
• Katie Fletcher - adult actress, later became a well read novelist .
• Sir Jack Hayward, OBE - Son of Wolverhampton factory owners. Self made millionaire. Great benefactor of many charities. Fighter pilot in the Second World War. President of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC
• Rachael Heyhoe-Flint - Captain of the England Women's World Cup for Cricket team 1973.
• Dave Holland - Jazz bassist.
• Alfred Noyes
• Hugh Porter - Olympic cyclist, broadcaster and media personality.
• Tessa Sanderson - Gold medallist, javelin, 1984 Olympic Games
• Meera Syal - Actress, novelist and comedian
• Percy Stallard - Racing cyclist, founder of the British League of Racing Cyclists and the father of massed start cycle racing on public roads in Britain
• Sir Charles Pelham Villiers - Member of Parliament for sixty three years, Charles Pelham Villiers holds the record for being the longest serving MP in Parliamentary history. A statue of him stands in West Park in Wolverhampton.
• Sir Charles Wheeler - sculptor and former president of the Royal Academy
• Jonathan Wild - Self-penned Chief Thieftaker General of Great Britain and Ireland
• Billy Wright - the Northern Irish "loyalist" terrorist leader (not the Wolves footballer of the same name!)
• David Wright - Former UK Ambassador to Japan

The following were closely associated with Wolverhampton:

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• Oscar Gustave Rejlander - 'the father of art photography'
• Enoch Powell - politician (Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton South West 1950 - 1974, poet, scholar and soldier.
• Eric Idle - actor and comedian.
• Sir Richard Leveson - Vice Admiral of the Fleet for Life, hero of the Battle of Cadiz, 1596
• Button Gwinnett - signer of the US Declaration of Independence
• Edward Elgar - despite living in Worcester he was an ardent Wolverhampton Wanderers fan and may have travelled to home games on his bicycle. Elgar bought two Wolverhampton-produced Royal Sunbeam bicycles in 1903, which he named Mr Phoebus, and visited the Sunbeam Works in Upper Villiers Street for 'tuning' .