100 Greatest Britons was broadcast in
2002 by the
BBC.
The programme was the result of a vote conducted to determine whom the United Kingdom
public considers the greatest British people have been in history.
The series,
Great Britons, included individual programmes
on the top ten, with viewers having further opportunities to vote
after each programme. It concluded with a debate. All of the top 10
were deceased by the year of broadcast.
The poll resulted in candidates including
Guy
Fawkes, who was executed for trying to blow up the
Parliament of England;
Oliver Cromwell who created a republican
England;
King Richard III,
suspected of murdering his nephews;
James Connolly, an
Irish nationalist and
socialist who was executed by the Crown in 1916;
and a surprisingly high ranking for former
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em star
Michael Crawford in 17th.
In
addition to the Britons, some notable non-British entrants were
listed, including two Irish
nationals, the philanthropic musicians Bono and Bob Geldof.
Furthermore, many candidates were from an era in which
Britishness did not exist. The top 19 entries
were people of English origin (though
Sir Ernest Shackleton and
Arthur Wellesley, 1st
Duke of Wellington, were both born into Anglo-Irish families
when what is now the Republic of Ireland was part of the United
Kingdom.
The highest-placed Scottish
entry was
Alexander Fleming in 20th place,
with the highest Welsh
entry,
Owain Glyndŵr, at number
23. Sixty had lived in the twentieth century. The
highest-ranked living person was
Margaret Thatcher, who placed 16th.
Ringo Starr is the only member of
The Beatles not on the list.
List
Due to the nature of the poll used to select and rank the Britons,
the results do not pretend to be an objective assessment. They are
as follows:(People marked (*) also appeared on the
100 Worst Britons list compiled by Channel
4.)
- Winston Churchill,
(1874-1965), Prime Minister (1940-1945, 1951–1955)
- Isambard Kingdom Brunel,
(1806–1859), engineer, creator of Great Western Railway and other
significant works
- Diana,
Princess of Wales (1961–1997), first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales
(1981–1996), and mother of Princes William and Harry of Wales

- Charles Darwin (1809–1882),
naturalist, originator of the theory
of evolution through natural
selection and author of On the Origin of Species.
- William
Shakespeare (1564–1616), English
poet and playwright, thought
of by many as the greatest of all writers.
- Sir Isaac Newton (1643–1727),
physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural
philosopher, and alchemist.
- Queen Elizabeth I of
England (1533-1603), monarch (reigned 1558-1603)
- John Lennon (1940–1980), musician with The
Beatles, philanthropist, peace activist, artist
- Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st
Viscount Nelson (1758–1805), naval
commander
- Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658),
Lord Protector
- Sir Ernest Shackleton
(1874–1922), polar explorer
- Captain James Cook (1728–1779),
explorer
- Robert
Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell (1857–1941), founder of
Boy Scouts and Girl Guides
- Alfred the Great (849?–899),
King of Wessex, (reigned
871–899)
- Arthur
Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769–1852), military
commander, statesman and Prime Minister 1828–1830 and 1834
- Margaret
Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (*3) (born 1925), Prime Minister
(1979–1990)
- Michael Crawford (born 1942),
actor and singer
- Queen Victoria of the
United Kingdom (1819–1901), monarch (reigned 1837–1901)
- Sir Paul McCartney (1942),
musician with The Beatles,
philanthropist, activist
- Sir Alexander Fleming
(1881–1955), biologist and pharmacologist, discoverer of penicillin
- Alan Turing (1912–1954), pioneer of
computing
- Michael Faraday (1791–1867),
scientist
- Owain Glyndŵr (1359–1416),
Prince of Wales
- Queen Elizabeth
II of the United Kingdom (*10) (born 1926), reigning monarch
(1952–present)
- Professor Stephen Hawking (born
1942), theoretical physicist
- William Tyndale (1494–1536),
English translator of the
Bible
- Emmeline Pankhurst
(1858–1928), suffragette
- William Wilberforce
(1759–1833), humanitarian
- David Bowie (born 1947),
musician
- Guy Fawkes (1570–1606), English
revolutionary.
- Leonard Cheshire, Baron
Cheshire (1917–1992), aviator and
charity organiser
- Eric Morecambe (1926–1984),
comedian
- David Beckham (*91) (born 1975),
footballer
- Thomas Paine (1737–1809), political philosopher
- Boudica (died c.60), leader of Celtic resistance to the Roman
Empire
- Sir Steve Redgrave (born 1962),
Olympic rower
- Saint Thomas More (1478–1535),
English saint, lawyer
and politician
- William Blake (1757–1827),
author/poet, painter and printer
- John Harrison (1693–1776),
clock designer
- King Henry VIII of England
(1491–1547), monarch (reigned 1509–1547)
- Charles Dickens (1812–1870),
author
- Sir Frank Whittle (1907–1996),
jet engine inventor
- John Peel (1939–2004), broadcaster
- John Logie Baird (1888–1946),
television pioneer
- Aneurin Bevan (1897–1960), Labour
politician who oversaw the formation of the National Health Service
- Boy George (born 1961), musician with
Culture Club
- Sir Douglas Bader (1910–1982),
aviator and charity campaigner
- Sir William Wallace
(c.1270–1305), Guardian of Scotland
- Sir Francis Drake (c.1540–1596),
English naval commander
- John Wesley (1703–1791), founder of
Methodism
- King Arthur, legendary Celtic
monarch
- Florence Nightingale
(1820–1910), nurse and charity campaigner
- T. E. Lawrence
(Lawrence of Arabia) (1888–1935), Arabist
and soldier
- Robert Falcon Scott
(1868–1912), polar explorer
- Enoch Powell (1912–1998),
politician
- Sir Cliff Richard (*29) (born
1940), musician
- Alexander Graham Bell
(1847–1922), telephone pioneer, placed 9th
in the Canadian version
- Freddie Mercury (1946–1991),
musician with Queen
- Dame Julie Andrews (born 1935),
actress and singer
- Sir Edward Elgar (1857–1934),
composer
- Queen Elizabeth, the Queen
Mother (1900–2002), Queen
consort
- George Harrison (1943–2001),
musician with The Beatles
- Sir David Attenborough (born
1926), broadcaster
- James Connolly
(1868–1916), the Scottish born leader of the Irish 1916 rising
- George Stephenson (1781–1848),
railway pioneer
- Sir Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977),
comic actor and film director
- Tony Blair (*1) (born 1953), Prime
Minister (1997–2007)
- William Caxton
(c.1415~1422–c.1492), English printer
- Bobby Moore (1941–1993), footballer
and Captain of England 1966
World Cup winning team
- Jane Austen (1775–1817), author
- William Booth (1829–1912), founder
of Salvation Army
- King Henry V of England
(1387–1422), monarch (reigned 1413–1422)
- Aleister Crowley (1875–1947),
occultist, writer, and social provocateur;
founder of Thelema
- Robert the Bruce (1274–1329),
King of Scots
- Bob Geldof (born 1951), Irish
musician, philanthropist
- The Unknown Warrior
, soldier of the Great
War
- Robbie Williams (*17) (born
1974), musician and former member of Take
That
- Edward Jenner (1749–1823), pioneer
of vaccination
- David Lloyd George, 1st Earl
Lloyd George (1863–1945), Prime Minister (1916–1922)
- Charles Babbage (1791–1871),
mathematician and pioneer of computing
- Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1343–1400),
English author
- King Richard III of
England (1452–1485), monarch (reigned 1483–1485)
- J.K. Rowling (born 1965), author of the Harry Potter Series
- James Watt (1736–1819),
developer of the steam engine
- Sir Richard Branson (*86) (born
1950), businessman and adventurer
- Bono (born 1960), Irish musician - Singer
for Rock Band U2, philanthropist
- John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) (born
1956), musician
- Bernard
Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (1887–1976),
military commander
- Donald Campbell (1921–1967),
water speed world record
challenger
- King Henry II of England
(1133–1189), monarch (reigned 1154–1189)
- James Clerk Maxwell
(1831–1879), physicist
- J.R.R. Tolkien (1892–1973), author and philologist
- Sir Walter Raleigh (1552–1618),
English explorer
- King Edward I of England
(1239–1307), monarch (reigned 1272–1307)
- Sir Barnes Wallis (1887–1979),
aviation technology pioneer
- Richard Burton (1925–1984), actor
1
- Tony Benn (born 1925), politician,
formerly the 2nd Viscount Stangate
- David Livingstone (1813–1873),
missionary and explorer
- Sir Tim Berners-Lee (born 1955),
Internet pioneer and inventor of the
World Wide Web
- Marie Stopes (1880–1958), promoter
of birth control
Several of these also appear in
Channel
4's list of
100 Worst Britons
(a tongue in cheek response to this show), due to strongly
polarised views on their works, lives or legacies - notably this
includes
Margaret Thatcher,
Tony Blair, and the current monarch,
Elizabeth II.
Channel 4 refused to take votes for dead figures, with their
broadcast considerably lighter in tone.
1There was some question as to whether the Richard
Burton listed is the
actor or the
explorer. A
BBC press release makes it clear that they
intended the Burton so honoured to be the actor.
External links