GEORGE W. BUSH
THE most powerful man in the world - George W. Bush - the President of the United States of America, has roots in Calderdale. A local historian made the connection between the Fairbanks family of Sowerby Bridge, some of who became important early colonists of America, and the Bush family. It was Jonathon Fayrebanke, born in 1595, who emigrated with his Warley born wife, to Massachussets. Research showed that Jonathon’s granddaughter married one Richard Bush in 1748. The historian traced a direct line of descent through seven generations to George Herbert Walker Bush who served as U.S. President between 1989 and 1993. Now his son, the former Texas Governor George W. Bush has joined the long line of men to lead America, though his roots are in Calderdale.

JOHN NOAKES
During 13 years service on the good ship “Blue Peter” John Noakes built the reputation as a youthful daredevil - willing to try any activity from diving to the bottom of the sea to motor-cycle racing.
Born in Shelf, he was educated at Rishworth School where he excelled in cross-country running and gymnastics. Associated with the catchphrase “Get down, Shep” - aimed at his ever present border collie - John will surely rank as one of the all-time favourite presenters on the children’s programme “Blue Peter”.
He left the show in 1978 although he carried on with a television career for several years with his own series, before moving to Majorca to live with his wife on their repaired boat.

BARRIE INGHAM
The Halifax born actor and former pupil of Heath Grammar School, Mr Ingham last visited Halifax in 1992 when The Playhouse in King Cross Street celebrated its 500th production. He helped build the Playhouse and was a member of the Halifax Thespians between the ages of 14 and 24. "I advise anybody who wants to become a professional actor to join the Halifax Thespians," he said "To work with a first rate amateur company is terrific training. It gives you the chance to play a great variety of roles."

Mr Ingham has played many roles including Robin Hood and an international arms dealer in the television series "Hine" as well as a number of lead roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Mr Ingham and his wife Tarne have four daughters, Catrin, Liane, Francesca and Mali.

SIR BERNARD INGHAM
He started working life as a cub reporter for his home town newspaper, the Hebden B ridge Times, and rose to one of the most influential back-stage men as chief press secretary to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
The son of a weaver, he later became Northern Industrial Correspondent of the Yorkshire Post. During his ten years as Thatcher’s right hand man and unoffical mouthpiece, Sir Bernard was a controversial figure.
His colourful comments to journalists deriding Cabinet ministers brought calls for him to be replaced amid claims that he was Britain’s most powerful non-elected figure.

TED HUGHES (1930-1998)
POET Laureate Ted Hughes, renowned for his powerful and eloquent imagery, was one of the greatest but most controversial figures of English literat ure.
The son of a carpenter, he was born in Mytholmroyd, the youngest of three children and attended Burnley Road Primary School, Mytholmroyd, until his family moved to South Yorkshire.
However, he retained his links with the Calder Valley whose rugged moorland and craggy outcrops often provided inspiration for his poetry. He was awarded the OBE in 1977 and in 1984, was appointed Poet Laureate.
His career was overshadowed by the suicide in 1963 of his first wife, American poet Sylvia Plath, who is buried at Heptonstall Parish Church.
Ted Hughes died in a London hospital after battling against cancer. He left a wife, Carol, and a son and daughter from his first marriage.

BIG DADDY (1930-1997)
LARGER-than-life figure Big Daddy ranked among the country's wrestling legends who appeared in the televised Saturday aft ernoon showcase bouts - and which at their peak attracted more than 10 million enthusiastic viewers. Even the Queen was said to be a fan.
The son of a drayman, Big Daddy was born in the Wilson Street area of Halifax and was named Shirley Crabtree after the Charlotte Bronte book his grandmother loved.
After he became a professional wrestler in 1952, he invariably strode into the ring wearing his trademark spangled top hat and was hugely popular with both grannies and children as he played the "good guy" in bouts against the likes of Giant Haystacks and Mick McManus.
Weighing up to 25 stones, he specialised in "the splash" which involved crashing down on the top of his opponents with his stomach. In 1987, he was deeply shocked when Mal "King Kong" Kirk died during a bout in Great Yarmouth. The coroner ruled Mr Kirk's death was caused by a serious heart condition and exonerated Big Daddy who was nevertheless devastated.
Big Daddy died, aged 67, in Halifax General Hospital in December 1997 after suffering a stroke. His second wife of 31 years, Eunice, was at his bedside. He left six children.

SIR GEOFFREY WILKINSON (1921 - 1996)
To be awarded the 1973 chemistry Nobel prize for finding a sandwich seems s omewhat ridiculous, however, this was no ordinary butty.
Todmorden-born Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson was a brilliant and complicated man who was awarded the prize for his discovery of the “Wilkinson Sandwich”, a process involving organo-metallic sandwich compounds, now used for detecting glucose in the blood.
He was educated at Todmorden Grammar school, after which he went to Imperial College in London where he gained his BSc and PhD. International recognition for the importance of his work came in 1973 when, with Prof Ernst Otto Fischer of Munich, he was awarded the Nobel prize for chemistry. In 1976 Sir Geoffrey was further rewarded with a knighthood.

GEOFF LOVE (1917 - 1991)
A muc h-loved “Music Man”, bandleader, composer and musical arranger Geoff Love enjoyed great popularity from his television work but also from live concerts and in his highly prolific recording career, with a string of hits under his belt.
Love was born in Todmorden the son of a black American dancer and the grandson of a Cherokee Indian. But the man who supplied orchestration for films and led performances at the Royal Albert hall and the London Palladium never forgot his roots.
Geoff frequently returned to his home town to conduct Todmorden Old Brass Band in concerts at the Town Hall, the last in 1989, two years before his death.

HANSON VICTOR TURNER (1907 - 1944)
Sergeant Turner’s last stand on a Burma battlefield was one of supreme sacrifice for the sake of his own unit, and one that earned him the highest honour for valour - the Victoria Cross.
In civilian life he was employed, like his father, as a bus conductor on the Savile Park route, before joining the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment in 1940.
In a letter from his commanding officer, it was said: “His coolness, determination and leadership were unparalleled and were a source of inspiration to all his men.” He was the only son of Halifax to win the medal during the second world war.

WILFRED PICKLES (1904-1978)
THE BBC reversed its strict policy that anyone with a northern accent should be kept off the national airwaves when it appointed Halifax builder's son, Wilfred Pickles, as a news reader in 1941.
With his almost conversational style, Pickles was an instant hit with both listeners and the national press - and it subsequently proved to be a significant milestone in his career.
He was born in October 1904 in Conway Street off Hopwood Lane, Halifax. When he was 13, he became an assistant in a men's outfitter's before joining his father's building firm as an apprentice.
His main interest was amateur dramatics and he was a founder member of the Halifax Thespians. His broadcasting debut was in 1927 on Children's Hour.
After the second world war, Pickles became a cult figure through his quiz show, Have A Go, which at its peak attracted 26 million listeners worldwide each week. He and his wife, Mabel, travelled more than 250,000 miles during the 21 years it was on the air. In the 1970s, he won a new following as a TV character actor.
Pickles, who was awarded the OBE in 1950, died at his Brighton home in 1978, aged 73.

ERIC PORTMAN (1903-1969)
ONE of Britain’s top film stars during the golden age of cinema, Eric Portman appeared in such classics as The Prince and the Pauper, One of Our Aircraft is Missing and We Die at Dawn.
He was born in Chester Road, Akroydon, the third of four children and after leaving Rishworth School, went to work in his father’s outfitters shop in Halifax.
After he made his debut on the professional stage in 1924, he appeared mainly in Shakespearean plays usually with the Old Vic Company at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith. His first screen appearance was in 1934.
The lifelong bachelor died at his cottage in St Veep, Cornwall.

HARRY MORTIMER (1902 - 1992)
Considered a giant in the brass band world, and known as “Mr Man O’ Brass”, Harry Mortimer had along and distinguished career as a player and conductor of some of the country’s top brass bands.
He first joined his home town Hebden Bridge band when his father was conductor and learnt to play the cornet when he was eight. He also conducted the Liverpool Philarmonic Orchestra and his role as the brass and military music supervisor of the BBC earned him the OBE.
In his autobiography he wrote: “There is something about the Pennines which encourages music. The majority of bands of all grades come from the geographical areas surrounding this great line of hills and Hebden Bridge is as typical as any.”

JOHN REGINALD HALLIDAY CHRISTIE (1899-1953)
THIS notorious mass murderer murdered and buried at least seven women at 10 Rillington Place, Notting Hill, while another man, Timothy Evans, was mistakenly hanged for one of the crimes.
Christie was born at Black Boy House, Boothtown, Halifax, the youngest of seven children of a respectable carpet designer.
He moved from Halifax to London in 1923 after he was twice convicted for fraud while working as a postman. He was later joined by his wife, Ethel, and they moved into Rillington Place where Christie embarked on his gruesome crimes.
In 1950, Christie’s evidence helped to convict Timothy Evans for the murder of his wife, Ethel Evans, and their baby daughter whose bodies had been found in the top floor flat at the house.
However, when a new tenant moved into the house in 1953, bodies were discovered under floorboards, walled up in cupboards and buried in the garden.
Christie was tried and on July 15 1953 was hanged while Evans was given a posthumous pardon in 1967.

WILLIAM HOLT (1897-1977)
William Holt, adventurer, author, artist and eccentric extraordinaire, led an eventful life which brought him fame in this country and abroad.
He was perhaps best known for his partnership with Trigger, a white horse bought from a rag-and-bone man in 1956. In 1964, the duo made a 9,000 mile trek across Europe - a remarkable achievement for a 66-year-old man and a horse, well over 10 years old.
Holt, the eldest son of a coal merchant, was born in Joshua Street, Todmorden, in 1897. With the outbreak of the first world war, he volunteered for the Lancashire Fusiliers despite being under age.
Although he returned to Todmorden when the war was over, he did not lead a settled life for long and frequently travelled abroad.
He also became involved in social issues and in 1932 he was jailed for nine months for taking part in a protest march against the means test.
He late wrote his memoirs which he sold himself door to door. During the Spanish Civil War he worked as a correspondent while in 1941 he established himself as a freelance broadcaster with the BBC. After the war, he made weekly reports on British industry for the BBC.

SIR JOHN COCKCROFT (1897 - 1967)
The eldest son of a Todmorden textile family he split the atom and unleashed a potential new source of power for mankind.
Sir John Cockcroft had an exemplary career at Todmorden Secondary school before proceeding to Manchester University, until interrupted by the First World War. He first achieved fame when, working with E. T. S. Walton, he succeeded in splitting the atomic nuclei by artificial means working on a machine patched up with plasticene.
In 1944 he was awarded the CBE, and became a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1948 before winning the Nobel Prize for Physics along with Prof Walton, in 1951. However, some say the accolade he prized above all was the conferrment of the honorary freedom of his home town of Todmorden in 1946.

WALTER WIDDOP - Tenor (1892-1949)
Born: Apri l 19, 1892 - Norland, near Halifax, Yorkshire, England. Died: September 6, 1949 – Hampstead, (London, according to Baker’s), England

Walter Widdop, the great operatic tenor, a Yorkshireman, was one of the best british tenors in the years between the wars.

He began singing in a local church choir, later joining the choir of the St James’s Church, Halifax. Widdop lived in Halifax until he was established as a singer. It was not until early manhood that Widdop had any thought of becoming a professional singer, on one occasion when asked to sing in a church he said ‘Oh I can’t sing.’ A friend replied, ‘Tha can but tha doesn’t know it.’

On another occasion whilst working in a Bradford dyehouse, a burly navy who heard him singing remarked: ‘If I’d thy voice and my brains I’d mak some brass.’

Having once realized his latent talent, Widdop sent every penny he could spare in developing his voice, and began his studies under Arthur Hinchcliffe. His ambition was to become an opera singer, and he used to get up at 3a.m. to study and practice.

After short studies with Dinh Gilly his debut took place as Radames (Aida) in 1923 at the British National Opera in Leeds. The following year he made his debut as Siegfried at Covent Garden.

He soon established himself as one the world’s best-known tenors, and during the Second World War he brought pleasure to thousands of servicemen during tours of South Africa and Canada and on an Ensa tour of the Middle East. Now he became the best English Wagner tenor of his time. Widdop made guest appearances for example in Lissabon and gave concerts in North America. He was also a very successful oratorio singer, namely in roles of G.F. Händel. Widdop's fine, steady voice always showed a lyrical style, also in his Wagner's roles. He made many recordings for HMV. Hear him with Siegmund's love song Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond from Wagner's Walküre, recorded 1928 in London.

His last important engagement in London was in July 1949, when he sang the lead in Parsifal for Sir Adrian Boult at the Royal Albert Hall. The night before he died he sang Lohengrin's Farewell at a London Promenade concert.

Source: The Great Yorkshire Tenors Website; Lauritz Melchior Website

PERCY SHAW (1890-1976)
CA TEYES, once described in the House of Commons as “the most brilliant invention every produced in the interests of road safety”,were the brainwave of Halifax man Percy Shaw.
It was during the 1930s that Mr Shaw perfected and patented the reflecting roadstud which was to prove invaluable in giving night time guidance to motorists.
Despite scepticism from neighbours and friends, he sank his last £7 10s to set up his company.
Although his invention made him a millionaire, Mr Shaw - who was awarded the OBE for services to export in the 1965 Birthday Honours List - continued to live a spartan bachelor life at a Boothtown Mansion, Halifax.

ROMANY (1884-1943)
IN HIS better-known guise as Romany, the Rev G. Bramwell Evens was one of the most popular BBC broadcasters of his time as he enthralled and informed millions of radio listeners about the British countryside and the need to maintain the balance between nature and people.
His broadcasts on Children’s Hour took the form of country rambles with his dog, Raq, and two young friends, Muriel and Doris. Such was the artistry that many listeners were shocked when it was revealed the broadcasts were produced in the studio rather than the outdoors.
Of Romany descent, George Bramwell Evens was born in Hull in 1884. He trained as a Methodist minis ter and for 10 years until his retirement in 1939, he was pastor at King Cross Methodist Church, Halifax.
His ministry in Halifax coincided with the height of his fame and popularity as a broadcaster but he managed to combine both aspects of his work.
He died in November 1943 in Wilmslow, Cheshire, leaving his wife, a son and a daughter.

SIR GEORGE DYSON (1883 - 1964)
Halifax's most famous son was born on May 18, 1883, and died on September 29, 1964, after an illustrious career as an organist, versatile composer, radio lecturer, teacher and author of three books. For 15 years he was director of the Royal College of Music.
Sir George's musical gifts were nurtured during his youth in Halifax. The influence of his father, who was organist and choirmaster at North Parade Baptist Church, Halifax, for many years was great. By the age of 15 he was an Associate of the Royal College of Organists and a Fellow before his 17th birthday.
He was one of the first musicians to laud Northern music and musicians and decrey the concentration of recitals and concerts in London. He wrote 10 major works, the best known of which was "The Canterbury Pilgrims." In 1941 he was knighted and in 1952 received the Knight Commander of the Victorian Order (KCVO)
His autobiography "Fiddling While Rome Burns" revealed an astute all round musician who perhaps lacked the depth of an Elgar or the passion of a Stravinsky, but who erudition and independence were greatly respected by his contemporaries.

JOHN MACKINTOSH (1868 - 1920)
What started as a small shop on a Halifax street grew into a huge sweet-making empire which at its height had factories in Halifax and Norwich, employing more than 6,000 people with an annual turnover of £30 million.
John Mackintosh - “the Toffee King” - formed the business in King Cross Street. The key to the shop’s success was Mrs Mackintosh’s secret new recipe for toffee which blended the qualities of English toffee, which was hard and brittle, with soft caramels being imported from the US.
Despite his enormous success he lived modestly and when he died at the age of 51 he left an estate valued at £54,564 and a business with assets of £350,500.

J.H. WHITLEY (1866-1935)
AS C HAIRMAN of the BBC, John Henry Whitley made the first historic broadcast on the Empire Service which hit the airwaves on December 19 1932. The service he had helped to pioneer later became the highly-respected BBC World Service.
J.H. Whitley, who was born in Halifax, began his working life in his uncle’s cotton spinning business at Hanson Lane Mills.
In 1900, he embarked on a distinguished Parliamentary career as Liberal MP for Halifax and then as Speaker of the Commons. When he retired as Speaker in 1928, he caused a sensation by refusing the customary peerage offered by the monarch - thereby breaking a tradition which had lasted since 1789. Mr Whitley, who regarded himself a man of the people, cited personal reasons.

MICHAEL HOLROYD SMITH (1848 - 1932)
It was short-sighted councillors who robbed Halifax of the distinction of being the first place in the country to have electri c trams.
In 1833 they rebuffed Michael Holroyd Smith’s pioneering innovation and it was to be another 15 years before trams rattled through the district.
However, Blackpool Town Council realised the potential and in 1855 put the town into the history books by commissioning a two-mile service along the promenade.
Holroyd Smith, the younger brother of Sir George Fisher, a former alderman and Mayor of Halifax, was also credited with first suggesting the idea of the helicopter.

LOUIS JOHN CROSSLEY (1842 - 1881)
While Alexander Graham Bell worked day and night to perfect the telephone Louis John Crossley had already rigged up a network in the family mills at Dean Clough, Halifax.
He wa s born a delicate and sickly child to the Crossley family - internationally renowned for carpets rather than inventions. In Halifax at the time Crossley would have probably been better known for his bizarre inventions such as a lighthouse on the roof of his house which people said could cut through the night sky and illuminate objects several miles away.
When Bell finally finished his invention Louis John Crossley bettered it in 1879 by patenting an amplifier to ensure people could hear themselves above the crackle.

COLONEL EDWARD AKROYD (1810 - 1887)
In an era of child labour, appalling housing and grim working conditions a Halifax philanthropist’s Utopian vision set the standard for the town planners of today. He also found time to establish the forerunner of what is now the Yorkshire Bank.
Col Edward Akroyd built the model villages of Copley and Akroydon, in Halifax, providing housing for some of the 7,000 workers in his worsted spinning mills. And this was several years before the more famous village in Saltaire was built.
His Victorian prudence was responsible for setting up the Penny bank, today known as the Yorkshire Bank, which was run from the wages offices at his mills, to encourage workers to put money away for a rainy day. The philanthropist also set about building schools and libraries and commissioned the famous architect Gilbert Scott to design and construct All Soul’s Church, Haley Hill.

JOHN FIELDEN (1784 - 1849)
When it was not unusual for a 10-year old child to work a 12-hour day in squalid conditions, enlightened cotton master - “Honest” John - campaigned for a reform in the law, and succeeded.
John Fielden, the member of Parliament for Oldham, was the catalyst for a number of events with national repercussions. He was a “Tory Paternalist”, and Todmorden mill workers who worked for him were much more fortunate, were paid more and were better looked after than those in other towns.
He operated a model factory in Todmorden and was instrumental in the passage through Parliament of the Ten Hours Act in the 1840s, which limited how long women and children could be forced to work.
Before his death he had constructed three buildings that still dominate Todmorden today - the Town Hall, Dobroyd Castle high on the hill above Shade and the Unitarian Church which borders Fielden Square.

DOROTHY WORDSWORTH (1771 - 1855)
THE sister of the famous poet, William Wordsworth, spent much of her childhood in Halifax which she described as "that dear place which I shall ever consider as my home".
She came to the town when she was six - after her mother's death - to live with her mother's cousin, Elizabeth Threlkeld, daughter of Samuel Threlkeld who was minister of Northgate End Chapel.
She became very much part of the household run by Elizabeth who also looked after her widowed brother-in-law and his five children above his draper's shop in Southgate.
Dorothy spent nine happy and exciting years in Halifax during which time she went to a school run by the Misses Mellin at Blackwall. Subsequently, it was a reluctant 15-year-old Dorothy who was recalled to Penrith by her grandparents.
Nevertheless, she kept in touch with her relatives and many friends in Halifax throughout her life and made occasional visits to the area.
It was during one such visit with her brother that he was inspired to write his tragic poem, "Lucy Gray".

JESSE RAMSDEN (1735 - 1800)
Jesse Ramsden, the son of an innkeeper, was born at the now-demolished Elephant and Castle, Salterhebble, in September, 1735. For a time he was a pupil at heath School before he was sent to live with his uncle in North Yorkshire at the age of 12. His uncle rev Hall gave him tuition in maths.
In 1759 Ramsden gained an apprenticeship with a mathematical instrument maker which gave him the experience to set up his own business as an engraver and instrument maker. His reputation spread and in time he employed as many as 60 employees.
He supplied telescopes to astronomers as well as the Earl of Bute, one-time Prime Minister, and instruments to Joseph Banks when he sailed around the world with Captain James Cook in the Endeavor in 1768 and 69. Banks was later knighted and became president of the Royal Society and the most famous scientist of his day.
Other explorers used Ramsden's inventions as they mapped out the New World. His instruments were also used by the Duke of Wellington during the Napoleonic campaigns. His reputation spread internationally and he even supplied telescopes to the Emperor of Russia.
Despite all this Ramsden's most important achievement was in creating the Precision screw-cutting lathe in 1778. This was Ramsden's last in a number of lathe's. With this machine, Ramsden was able to cut threads as fine as 125 tpi and of any length to an extreme level of accuracy. The Precision screw-cutting lathe made Ramsden the father of the world's Precision Engineering Industry.
Married to Sarah Dolland, who was from a prominent family in the scientific world, he went to live in Brighton towards the end of his life and recuperate from an illness but died there aged 66.

DANIEL DEFOE (1660 - 1731)
WRITER, political activist and industrial commentator Daniel Defoe allegedly started his best-known work, "Robinson Crusoe" while stopping in Halifax.
The son of a London butcher, he first visited the town in 1705 during an extensive journey of England.
Defoe returned again around 1712-13, having been forced to lie low because of the threat of prosecution for treason over his political writings.
He lived at the Rose and Crown in Back Lane - later demolished - and it was thought that while he was here, he started "The Surprising Adventures". Although the book remained unfinished, he was inspired to take up the task of finishing it in 1718 with its publication the following year.
Defoe died penniless in April 1731 in Cripplegate, London, leaving a widow and six children.

DR JOHN TILLOTSON (1630 - 1694)
The son of a Sowerby cloth trader climbed the ecclesiastical ladder to occupy the most im portant religious position in England - the Archbishop of Cantebury.
Born in 1630 at Haugh End he was baptised at Halifax Parish Church on October 3 that same year. His education followed the route of Colne and Heath grammar schools before studying at Cambridge where he received his master of arts degree in 1654.
As a puritan, Dr Tillotson lived during the turbulent times when James II tried to re-establish Roman Catholic ascendancy to the Throne, he vigorously opposed it. He was favoured by William of Orange who was attracted by his strong, but tolerant qualities.

HENRY BRIGGS (1561 - 1631)
IF you, like countless other school children over a 357 year period, have struggled to get to grips with log tables, you can thank Henry Briggs.
For although Lord Napier invented logarithms back in 1614. Briggs discovered and perfected an easier system which is used today by astronomers, navigators and scholars.
Born in 1561 at Daisy Bank, Luddenden Foot, in the Calder Valley, Briggs was a brilliant mathematician. His intricate, complicated lists of numbers are now invaluable in making highly complex calculations as well as being a necessary part of advanced school mathematics.