The Sheffield Not All That Famous

[Titian]

I came across a thread listing the Sheffield Famous people.

 

I'd like to ask the following:

 

Has any king in history come from Sheffield?

 

Has Sheffield ever spawned a Prime Minister?

 

Has Sheffield ever birthed an Archbishop of Canterbury?

 

Has Sheffield ever fathered a world dictator?

 

Has Sheffield bred a world-famous general?

 

Was Sheffield the birthplace of any household name novelist, poet, or writer?

 

Did any Sheffield scientist find the cure for any disease, discover a force of nature, or have a scientific theory named after them?

 

Has any Sheffielder assassinated a famous historic figure?

 

Did any Sheffielder design a famous cathedral or the world's tallest building?

 

Was any Sheffield-born person the first to discover any continent, pole, highest, or deepest place on earth?

 

It seems the best we can come up with is a hair band that pretends to be American, a few average actors, and a comedian not even known outside Yorkshire.

 

Can you name any Sheffield person who is not just a celebrity, but has made a) made a major impact on the world and b) is world-renowned for it?

 

I'm afraid I can't.

 

Didn't we invent football??

[Gone4good]

My tone was not acrimonious. I am just interested that a City so big can only quote a few celebs as its famous children. I'll grant you the bloke who invented Stainless, but I bet even 8 out of 10 Sheffielders don't know his name.

 

As I originally said..."Can you name any Sheffield person who is not just a celebrity, but has made a) made a major impact on the world and b) is world-renowned for it?"

 

Can't think of anyone myself. There is no Shakespeare, Churchill, Nelson, Fleming, Lloyd Wright, Scott, Nightingale, etc. that hails from here. The Star loves to mention Michael Palin and Sean Bean (they referred to him as a "Hollywood superstar" - Ha!). It's not that I care really, but lets's face it, we don't breed history makers.

[clocker]

Arthur Lismer of the Group of Seven

1885-1969

 

Arthur Lismer was born in Sheffield, England. At the age of 26, he immigrated to Canada seeking work as a commercial illustrator. It was at the Grip Engraving Company in Toronto that he met a group of other talented young artists and formed the Group of Seven. Together, they organized trips to explore and sketch the wilderness - capturing the spirit of Canada in their work, and setting Canadian art on a bold and original new course.

[Vague_Boy]

Nottingham fares better in the literary stakes however

 

Nottinghamshire for D.H. Laurence, he wasn't actually born in Nottingham (8 miles away in Eastwood according to Wikipedia, perhaps Eastwood has now been swallowed up by Nottingham in the intervening years?).

 

Byron was born in London and only moved to Newstead Abbey at the age of 10.

 

Was Michael Palin on that list of famous Sheffielders? Or how about Sean Bean? Gordon Banks?

 

We do seem to produce a below average number of famous figures though. But let's not forget the first Brit in space, Helen Sharman.

[Gone4good]

I'm only asking for one name, but you aren't going to be able to quote one. Just about everyone in the world has heard of Margaret Thatcher. That's the kind of major figure I mean.

 

As there are no major giants of history that spring to mind in coming from Sheffield, who would you give the banner to hold as the famous ambassador for Sheffield? I'm inclined to give Gordon Banks the most famous Sheffielder award, since at least he took part in England winning the world cup, which is the most popular sporting event in the world.

[Gone4good]

Here is the original thread:

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/archive/index.php/t-81143.html

[Lady Star]

Nottinghamshire for D.H. Laurence, he wasn't actually born in Nottingham (8 miles away in Eastwood according to Wikipedia, perhaps Eastwood has now been swallowed up by Nottingham in the intervening years?).

 

Byron was born in London and only moved to Newstead Abbey at the age of 10.

 

Was Michael Palin on that list of famous Sheffielders? Or how about Sean Bean? Gordon Banks?

 

We do seem to produce a below average number of famous figures though. But let's not forget the first Brit in space, Helen Sharman.

 

Eastwood is a suburb of Nottingham, rather like Hillsborough in Sheffield... Never heard anyone question Eastwood as being Nottingham...

[Lady Star]

I'm only asking for one name, but you aren't going to be able to quote one. Just about everyone in the world has heard of Margaret Thatcher. That's the kind of major figure I mean.

 

As there are no major giants of history that spring to mind in coming from Sheffield, who would you give the banner to hold as the famous ambassador for Sheffield? I'm inclined to give Gordon Banks the most famous Sheffielder award, since at least he took part in England winning the world cup, which is the most popular sporting event in the world.

 

Thomas Firth, Bessemer and Sharman not enough for you then? I would say that Firth has touched as many if not more than Thatcher... When you list individual names such as Shakespeare and Churchill, you have to remember that these people only originated from one place too, and they didn't all come from the same one... Sheff has more than it's fair share world renowned people, just because you have never heard of them, or don't know what they did doesn't mean that most people in the UK and beyond don't...

[tonyem]

The doctor who introduced Queen Victoria to painkilling/ anaesthesia in childbirth came from Sheffield. He was a pioneer.

would we actually be proud of there being a dictator from this fair and friendly city?

 

The doctor who introduced Queen Victoria to painkilling/ anaesthesia in childbirth came from YORK. He was John Snow, b. 1813 (in YORK), d. 1858.(in London). It's possible he may have passed through Sheffield on the way...

He was and is known as the "Father of Modern Epidemiology", and he personally administered chloroform to Queen Victoria during the births of her eighth and ninth children, in 1853 and 1857. Look up http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/snow_john.shtml.

 

While we're at it, allow me to reply to one of your earlier quotes to me, which went:

The cenotaph for the British and UK allied forces is in Whitehall, London.

 

Sheffield's war memorial isn't a cenotaph.

 

You should look up http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-cenotaph.htm, as I would take this chance to remind you that SOME people do a little research before posting to forums, and KNOW what ...A... cenotaph is (As opposed to ...THE... cenotaph). It's an incorrect assumption that "THE" cenotaph in Whitehall is the (only) one for "the British and UK allied forces"

 

Kim Schofield wrote a paper in 1986 on the Sheffield War Memorial "This monument is seen as Sheffield's Cenotaph..", see http://public-art.shu.ac.uk/sheffield/alex1.html.

 

The word derives from the Greek κενοτάϕιον (kenos, one meaning being "empty", and taphos, "tomb").

 

Get thee facts raight, pal!

[Gone4good]

Thomas Firth, Bessemer and Sharman not enough for you then? I would say that Firth has touched as many if not more than Thatcher... When you list individual names such as Shakespeare and Churchill, you have to remember that these people only originated from one place too, and they didn't all come from the same one... Sheff has more than it's fair share world renowned people, just because you have never heard of them, or don't know what they did doesn't mean that most people in the UK and beyond don't...

 

 

Mmm. Let's see. When I think of Henry Ford or Thomas Edison, do I have to put in brackets after their names what they did before people remember who they are? No, I don't. You are talking about fine inventors and industrialists. They are not world-renowned figures. And I am not sure that Bessemer was even from Sheffield. Plus, you'd expect innovators in steel production to come from here as Sheffield is a steel town.

 

Let's face it, Sheffield has never been the home town of any leader or historic figure whose name is instantly recognisable by the masses, like Ghandi, The Beatles, Martin Luther, Stalin, Oppenheimer - to list a few names at random. I am surprised that throughout history there has never been one man or woman who comes from Sheffield who has attained the status of icon.