Famous Dorset Characters

As Dorset is such a beautiful place, it is no surprise that is has been home to a number of famous characters. Below are a list of names that all have walks/runs/rides running alongside estates, properties and landscapes linked to the different personalities (without invading privacy!).

Saint Juthwara (died c.6th-8th century) – 15th Century Saint from Halstock

Saint Wite (c810-c831) – Holy girl who lived in isolation on the Jurassic Coast, dedicating her life to saving others. Patron Saint (or Goddess) of Dorset.

Ela Longspee, Countess of Warwick (died 9 February 1298) – Founder of Salisbury Cathedral and owner of Canford manor, turning it into a nunnery.

Richard ‘Dick’ Whittington (1354-1423) – From rags to riches! Married into the family of Stourton Caundle.

Lady Margaret Beaufort (1443-1509) – Countess of Richmond, mother of King Henry VII, grandmother to King Henry VIII.

Dame Elizabeth Zouche (pre 1496-1517) – Abbas of Shaftesbury Abbey, signed the surrender to King Henry VIII.

Sir Walter Raleigh (c.1554-1618) – A once favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, owned Sherborne castles

Mary Sydenham (1593-1644) – Fiercely defended Wynford Eagle against the Royalists during the Civil War. Murdered on her own doorstep.

Lady Mary Bankes (c1598-1661) – Fiercely defended Corfe Castle against the Parliamentarians during the Civil War, but betrayed by her own maid.

James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth (1649-1685) – Led the Monmouth Rebellion to depose of James II.

Benjamin (1736-1816) and Elizabeth Jesty (1740-1824) – First to be vaccinated against Small Pox, trusting Benjamin’s own theory. Buried in Worth Matravers.

Vice Admiral Hardy (1769-1839) – ‘Kiss me Hardy’. Monument on Blackdown

William Wordsworth (1770-1850) – Poet. Spent holidays with his sister in West Dorset.

John Constable (1776-1837) – Painter. Often stayed with friends in Gillingham and honeymooned in Osmington.

Mary Anning (1799-1847) – Lyme Regis Fossil collector

William Barnes (1801-1886) – Victorian poet, famous for using Dorset dialect. Born in Bagber, died in Winterborne Came.

Martha Brown (1811-1856) – Last woman to be publicly hanged in Dorset.

Augustus Lane Fox Pitt Rivers (1827-1900) – owned Rushmore and swathes of land on Cranborne Chase. Archaeologist with his own museum at Farnham.

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) – Victorian poet and author, his novels based in the county.

Detective Inspector Frederick George Abberline (1843-1929) – Born in Blandford he was the lead detetective in the search for Jack the Ripper.

Thomas Edward Lawrence aka. Lawrence of Arabia (1888-1935) – Soldier, adventurer and author. His little sanctuary near Bovington Camp.

Sylvia Townsend (1893 – 1978) – Writer and poet, lived in Chaldon Herring and Maiden Newton. Statue currently in planning to be erected in Dorchester.

Enid Blyton (1897 – 1968) – Frequently spent her holidays in Dorset and owned a farm in Stourton Caundle. Many of her novels were inspired by the Dorset landscape.

Salvador Dali (1904-1989) – Painter, spent time at Ashcombe sketching and painting scenes of the Wiltshire and Dorset countryside.

Ian Fleming (1908-1964) – Writer of the James Bond novels. Went to school in Langton Matravers.

David Niven (1910-1983) – Actor. Went to school in Langton Matravers.

Alan Turing (1912 – 1954) – Codebreaker, attended Sherborne School

Buster Merryfield (1920-1999) – Uncle Albert in Only Fools and Horses, lived in Blandford and Verwood.

Elisabeth Frink (1930-1993) – British sculptor and graphic artist, lived in Woolland. 

Jane Goodall (1934-2025) – Conservationist

Edward Fox (1837) – Actor, father of Emilia Fox. Lived in Kimmeridge.

John Quinlan Terry (1938) – Architect, educated at Bryanston School.

Brian May (1947) – Queen guitarist, owns woodland near Bere Regis

Jeremy Irons (1948) – Actor, attended Sherborne School

Charlie Waite (1949) – Photographer. Lives in Eccliffe.

Lord Julian Fellowes (1949) – Director and Oscar winner, writer of Downton Abbey. Lives in West Stafford.

Billy Bragg (1957) – Musician. Lives in Lulworth.

Richard Drax (1958) – Ex Conservative MP and largest individual landowner of Dorset

Jasper Conran (1959) – Designer. Went to school at Bryanston. Lived in Venn House, Wardour Castle and now Bettiscombe Manor.

Kevin Wheatcroft (1959) – Owner of The Wheatcroft Collection, the largest private collection of military vehicles. Lives in Chantmarle Manor.

Sir Mark Rylance (1960)- Actor, played Thomas Cromwell in the BBC Series Wolf Hall (filmed in Montecute). Lives in the Purbecks and is patron of Planet Purbeck.

Kristin Scott Thomas (1960) – Actress, grew up near Nether Compton, Sherborne.

Jonathan Ross (1960) – Presenter. Owns a seaside bolthole in Swanage and has adopted a monkey at Monkey World

Martin Clunes (1961) – Actor, famous for the grumpy Doc Martin. Owns a farm near Beaminster.

Johnnie Boden (1961) – Fashion designer and founder of fashion brand Boden Bought and redeveloped Wytheston Farm.

Mark Hix (1962) – Chef, owner of The Oyster and Fish House in Lyme Regis. Once ran The Fox in Corscombe.

Emma Chambers (1964-2018) – Actress, most famous for ‘The Vicar of Dibley’. Ancestors from Stalbridge.

Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall (1965) – Chef and founder of The River Cottage near Waytown.

Guy Ritchie (1968) – Film Director. Owner of Ashcombe House and Compton Abbas airfield

Cally Beaton (1969) – Comedian. Attended school at Port Regis, where her parents taught.

PJ Harvey (1969) – Musician, Mercury Prize winner in 2001 & 2011 (only person to have ever won it twice), grew up in Corscombe.

Kirstie Allsopp (1971) – Property developer, family owned the old mill near Kings Stag.

Nigel Barker (1972) – Photographer and judge on America’s Next Top Model. Attended Bryanston School.

Bear Grylls (1974) – Explorer, grew up in Winterborne Zelston.

Emila Fox (1974) – Actor, daughter of Edward Fox. Attended Bryanston School. Grew up in Kimmeridge.

Chris Martin (1977) – Musician, attended Sherborne School for boys.

Duncan James (1978) – From the boyband ‘Blue’. Grew up in Blandford.

Pete Doherty – (1979) – Musician, attended school in Blandford.

Katherine Ryan (1984) – Canadian comedian, traced her ancestors back to Corfe Castle on the BBC series ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’

Max Irons (1985) – Actor, son of Jeremy, attended Bryanston School

Chris Ramsey (1986) – Comedian traced his Great Grandfather back to Blandford Camp on the BBC series ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’

Perry Edwards (1993) Member of the girlband ‘Girls Aloud’. Grew up in Bournemouth.

Jensen Button (b.1980) Lewis Hamilton (b.1985)and Lando Norris (b.1999) – Trained at the Clay Pigeon trackway to become world champions.