Has Amy Johnson, the aviatrix been done? She was born in Hull. Her grandfather was Danish, so that may count her out. <vbg> Lin PLEASE REMOVE NAMES & email ADDRESSES BEFORE FORWARDING. USE THE Bcc BOX FOR YOUR NAMES & ADDRESSES WHICH WILL HELP ELIMINATE UNWANTED EMAILS On 11/07/2012 11:43, roy.stockdill@btinternet.com wrote: > My sincere thanks to all who have chucked names of some famous Yorkshire folks at me! > There were some excellent suggestions in there. I am posting this to the list since there have > been so many it seems easier than replying to all individually. > > If I might perhaps make a few points in response..... > > 1) I appreciate that some of our overseas friends may not have heard of all the people I > proposed. However, could I respectfully point out that we all have Google at our fingertips > these days, so it isn't difficult to find out precisely who they are? For instance, one respondent > said she'd never heard of Victoria Pendleton but a mere glance at her Wikipedia entry will > reveal that she is one of the most successful sportswomen in history, even if you're not a > cycling fan. She's won NINE world titles in the velodrome and is the reigning World and > Olympic champion in the individual sprint (that's the event where they often stand still on their > bikes on the track, playing a cat and mouse game inviting their opponent to go first, and then > scream for the finishing line at incredible speed over the final lap). She won the gold medal in > Beijing in 2008 and suffered a horrendous crash in the world championships in Melbourne in > February this year in the semi-final against her major Australian rival Anna Meares, ending > up black and blue all over with her lycra suit ripped to shreds, but got back on her bike and > beat Meares and went on to take a record 6th world sprint title. The video is easily found with > Google. OK, I'm obviously a cycling fan having been a cyclist virtually all my life, but it's not > difficult to find out who Victoria Pendleton is. BTW, UK listers will know that she is also a very > glamorous lady who has got her cycling kit off several times for magazines and those > pictures are all over the Internet also!!! > > The same principle applies to Alan Titchmarsh and John Craven. They may not be well > known overseas but they are household names in the UK, both being constantly on > television, and again they are easily found with Google. Alan Titchmarsh, for instance, is a > famous gardener, chat show host and author. I accept that Findmypast is now global but it is > still principally UK-based. > > 2) Several people suggested Dame Judi Dench, one of the world's great actresses, who was > born in York. Excellent suggestion, but the problem is that I did her family tree a few years > ago for the former magazine Practical Family History. I try not to repeat myself, since that > would be too easy. I discovered that her great-grandfather, George Joseph Dench, a > customs officer from Weymouth, was a bigamist, and you can find a YouTube video posted > by Findmypast of me talking about that with Google at: > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHZtHlqdemM Dame Judi was lovely about it, like the > great lady she is! She sent me a very nice e-mail saying she was intrigued and even amused > by my findings. > > 3) One lister suggested Mary Bateman, the Yorkshire Witch, who was hanged at York in > 1809 for murder by poisoning. Again, I have written reams about her and also do a talk about > her, having researched the case at length. I may even be a (very) distant relative of hers by > marriage myself!!! As part of my researches I looked into her ancestry but was only able to > get back as far as her grandfather who came from a fairly remote place called Scugdale in > the North York Moors. > > 4) There were numerous other good suggestion and I shall be considering all of them. One > person I would love to do is Michael Palin, always my favourite Python, who is surely well > known everywhere for his superb TV travel documentaries, and another is the playwright alan > Bennett, and probably the artist David Hockney as well. > > Again, many thanks, folks, for your ideas! > > -- > Roy Stockdill > Genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer > Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html > > > "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, > and that is not being talked about." > OSCAR WILDE > > > ..... > Ancestors in Yorkshire? http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/index.html; > www.ryedalefamilyhistory.org; www.wharfedalefhg.org.uk; > www.yorkshireparishregisters.com; www.yorkshireroots.org.uk; > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to YORKSGEN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >