Brother John Somer
Brother John Somer, one of the Friarn Street Grey Friars, was an amazing astronomer who wrote an astronomical calendar for Joan, Princess of Wales, wife of the Black Prince. Geoffrey Chaucer, the first English poet, in writing a poem for his son, mad...
Denis Heron
Denis Heron, who lived in Salmon Parade and is buried in the Bristol Road Cemetery, fought in the Charge of the Light Brigade. His story is fully told in The Forgotten Heroes of Bridgwater.Text Copyright © 2008 Roger Evans
Fanny Talbot
Fanny Browne was born in Bridgwater in 1824, the daughter of Mary and John Browne. Fanny was to marry George Talbot but it is by her remarkable donation to the National Trust that we remember her. In married life, Fanny owned a property at Tyn-yffynon, high...
Frances Barkley
In the 1780s, Bridgwater born Frances Barkley was the first woman to circumnavigate the world twice. She was also the first European woman to set foot on Hawaii, British Columbia and Vietnam. Her story is told in Somerset ‘s Forgotten Heroes.Tex...
John Clark, Inventor of the Mackintosh
John Clark (1785-1853) was a local Quaker who moved to Bridgwater with his parents in 1809. In later life, by now married and living in Monmouth Street, Clark worked on the idea of making waterproof clothing. He developed a technique for treating fabr...
The Battle of Trafalgar
Captain George Lewis Browne was a member of the Unitarian Chapel in Dampiet Street and is now buried in the old Wembdon Road cemetery. He fought alongside Nelson on the Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar and was present at his funeral. Another Bridgw...