Hamilton E Bland (1943-) Sports Broadcaster and Entrepreneur Born 1943 Bolton Educated Folds Road School, Bolton; Hayward Grammar School, Bolton; Loughborough College. Trained as a swimmer and became Master-in-Charge of Physical Education at Rugby School at the age of 21. Became swimming commentator for the BBC in 1975. Was dismissed from both the Amateur Swimming Association and his position with the BBC in 1998 and was found to have brought the sport into disrepute when allegations of bribery were investigated.
James Bleakley (1893-1993) Politician Born 14 August 1893 Bolton. Died January 1993 Grange over Sands, Cumbria Educated Miss Dearden's Private School, Morris Green; Bolton Grammar School; Denstone College, Staffordshire Mayor of Bolton 1942. Director of family firm of Greenhalgh & Bleakley, Advertising Contractors of 62-64 Victoria Square, Bolton. Became Managing Director of Bolton Theatre and Entertainments Co Ltd on his father's death in 1945, thus gaining control of the Theatre Royal, The Grand Theatre, The Hippodrome and the Regent Cinema.
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Ernest Blewitt (1925-2004) Teacher Born : 9 May 1925 Died: 3 Aug 2004 age 79 Cemetery Lowton (Saint Luke) Churchyard Slag Lane Wigan, Greater Manchester, England Epitaph: AN INSPIRITATION TO ALL.. A founding member of staff at Hayward Grammar School and head of science between 1955 and 1969. He also ran a rambling club.
Florence Mary Blincoe (nee Bennett) (1874-1932) Political Activist, Peace Campaigner and Suffragist Born 18 Jan 1874 Tutbury, Staffordshire. Born 27 Jul 1932 Great Orme, Llandudno, Wales.
She married Edward Harold Blincoe (1867-1914) in 1895. He died April 1914 in Cheshire Lunatic Asylum, Macclesfield, Cheshire, England from 'paralysis of the insane', aged 43.
She arrived Bolton 1913 to organise Bolton Women's Suffrage Association - later active in Bolton Council for Peace and Progress which sent 40,000 signatures to a Disarmament Conference.
Had a nervous breakdown as a result of overwork and took her own life by hanging herself from a telegraph pole on the Great Orme, Llandudno.
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William Blinkhorn (1801-1865) Chemical manufacturer Born 22 Nov 1801 Great Bolton, Lancashire, England Died 7 Jul 1865 Lancashire, England. There were concerns about the acid type pollution discharged at William Blinkhorn’s chimney at his Bolton factory. William Blinkhorn’s Monster Chimney ‘Little John’ built in 1842 by John Ashton of Blakeley Near Manchester. The giant octagonal chimney towered to 367 feet and 6″ high Later manager of the London and Manchester Plate Glass Company.
Jean Boardman (c.1945-) Born c.1945 Scotland Former Church Road Primary School teacher. Author of the book “Who lived in a house like this?” about the houses on Chorley New Road, Bolton
Luke Boardman (1809-1882) Philanthropist Born January 1809 Shaw Street, Bolton Died 13 June 1882. A disciple and sometime servant of Canon James Slade, Vicar of Bolton qv, he founded 'Luke Boardman's Ragged School' in Bark Street, Bolton to rescue and educate the town's destitute children who would otherwise have been homeless and criminalized. Collector of Water Rates for 36 years.
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George Bodmer (1786-1864) Engineer Born in Zurich. He partnered to build a mill at Egerton near Bolton.
William Bolling (1785-1848) Born 1785 Bolton Died 30 August 1848 at his residence of Darcy Lever, Bolton Educated Bolton Grammar School MP Bolton 1832-1841, 1847-1848 (Tory) Hard line anti-reformist.
John David (Jack) Bond (1932-) Cricketer Born 6 May 1932 Kearsley, Bolton Educated Bolton School.
Batsman and Bowler - played for Lancashire 1955-1972, Nottinghamshire 1974 and MCC.
Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1971.
Alfred Booth (1893-1965) Born 24 February 1893 Bolton Died 19 December 1965 Farnworth MP Bolton East 1950-1951 (Labour) Mayor of Bolton 1941 (Labour). Enlisted in the Lancashire Fusiliers 1915. He was wounded and taken prisoner by the Germans in early 1918, spending the rest of the War in a POW camp in Saxony. Alderman. Vice President of the Cremation Society. Radio broadcaster - appeared in dialect sketches as a 'typical Lancastrian' with Wilfred Pickles - and was a popular after dinner speaker.
James Booth James Booth established Booth's Music on Hotel Street in 1832. The store was later moved to Churchgate. It is one of the oldest family businesses in the Bolton area, and among the oldest music retail shops in the world.
Booth's has remained in the same family, with Mr. James Booth being the great, great, great, great grandfather of the present owners. Booth's Music were at one time sponsors of the Wanderers Premier League football team.
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Paul Booth (1965-) Professional Footballer. Born 7 December 1965 Bolton He played for Bolton Wanderers 1983-85 (1 appearance) and Crewe Alexander.
Dr Mary Winefride Bousted (1959-) Trade Unionist and Educator Born 15 September 1959 Farnworth, Bolton. Educated Mount St Joseph Grammar School, Bolton; Hull University; London University; York University Elected as first female General Secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers 2003. Began career as an English teacher before becoming a lecturer in education, including head of the School of Education at Kingston University. Born Mary Winefride Bleasdale. Her father, Edward Bleasdale, was Headmaster of St Osmund's RC Primary School in Breightmet, Bolton, while her mother, Winefride, was also a primary school teacher. Married to avant-garde composer and installation artist, Donald Bousted.
David Bowles (1952-) Actor Born 6 December 1952 Farnworth, Bolton
Sir John Bowring (1792-1872) Born 17 October 1792 Exeter, Devon Died 23 November 1872 Claremont, Exeter, Devon. MP Bolton 1841-1849 (Liberal). Resigned seat to become Consul General in Canton - Knighted 1854 - Governor of Hong Kong 1854-1859 - Involved in Anti Corn Law League. Seen as extreme radical. Introduced Britain's first 'Decimal' coin - the Florin (2 shillings ie one tenth of a Pound.) Was also MP for Kilmarnock 1835-37. A gifted linguist. Corresponded with (but never met) Lord Byron who he encouraged on his Greek adventure. On his death Byron had his body consigned to Bowring in a cask of rum. A leading Unitarian he wrote many hymns including 'In the Cross of Christ I Glory'.
Daniel F (Danny) Boyle (1956-)
Film and TV Director. Born 20 October 1956 Radcliffe, Lancashire. Educated Thornleigh Salesian College, Bolton; Bangor University. Work includes 'Shallow Grave', 'Trainspotting', 'A Life Less ordinary' and '28 Days Later'. Won 2008 Best Director Oscar for 'Slumdog Millionaire'.
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Walter Bradley (1883-1961)
Politician. Born 1883 Tonge Moor, Bolton. Died 13 October 1961 Greenacres, Regent Road, Lostock, Bolton Educated Haulgh Board School; Clarence Street Grade School; Bolton Technical College. Mayor of Bolton 1944 (Conservative). Engineer.
Ellis Bradshaw (1641-1678)
Puritan Essayist Born 1641 Bolton Died 1678
Jonas James Bradshaw (1837-1912) Architect Born 1837 Bolton Died 28 April 1912 Greenmount, Heaton, Bolton.
Founder of firm of architects that became Bradshaw, Gass & Hope after his death - the surviving partners being his nephew John Bradshaw Gass qv and the Atherton born architect Andrew John Hope.
Bradshaw's designs in Bolton included Eden's Orphanage, the Spinners Hall and Watermillock. JP 1906. Liberal councillor for West ward.
Daniel Braham (1910-1999) Founded and ran the firm of Joan Barrie, fashionable outfitters for women, with its first shop in Knowsley St, Bolton.
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David Bramwell See under Dave Spikey
Ritchie Peter Branagan (1991-) Professional Footballer Born 20 October 1991 Gravesend, Kent. Educated Bolton School. Goalkeeper - Bury FC and Republic of Ireland. Son of former Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper Keith Graham Branagan.
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John Brandwood (c1812 -1878) Licensee Died Feb 1878 aged 66 Landlord of the Commercial, Bolton. The president of the Bolton Licensed Victuallers Association. He became a local councillor: a Liberal representing Derby Ward from 1858 to 1867. In the 1867 election he stood as an Independent candidate and was defeated by two Liberals. He later jumped to the Conservatives but was defeated in 1873 when he came fourth out of four candidates in Exchange ward, two Liberals defeating the two Tories. His name lives on in Brandwood Street and its eponymous primary school situated off Willows Lane. The Commercial was taken over by Brandwood’s daughter, Sarah Ann and her husband, John Priestley, who married just a few months after John Brandwood’s death.
Angela Brazil (1868-1947) Author of stories for girls Born 30 November 1868 Preston, Lancashire Died 13 March 1947. Educated Coventry, Warwickshire Manchester High School; Ellerslie College, Manchester; Heatherly Studio, London. Lived in Bolton c.1883 to keep house for her brother, a doctor in Astley Bridge before moving to Coventry. Believed to have written her first book in Bolton. Called Bolton "a penance to the artistic mind" although she loved the surrounding moors and countryside.
Walter Brearley (1876-1937) Cricketer Born 11 March 1876 Bolton. Died 13 January 1937 Marylebone, London Bowler and Batsman - played for Lancashire 1902-1911, MCC and London County. Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1909.
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Col Hon Francis Charles Bridgeman (1846-1917) Born 4 July 1846 London Died 14 September 1917. Educated Harrow MP Bolton 1885-1895 (Conservative). Soldier - fought in Egyptian War under General Graham - awarded Khedive's Star. 2nd Son of 3rd Earl of Bradford.
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John Bridgeman The Bridgeman family were originally from Devonshire but in the late 16th century John Bridgeman, Bishop of Chester, sold the family’s ancestral properties and purchased the Great Lever Estate at Bolton in Lancashire.
Orlando George Charles Bridgeman, 3rd Earl of Bradford, PC, DL (1819-1898) British courtier and Conservative politician. Born 24 Apr 1819 Died 12 Mar 1898. Queen's Park is a roughly circular 22 acres (8.9 ha) Victorian park lying on sloping ground to the north-west of Bolton town centre, in Greater Manchester, England. The park was created as part of the works included in the Bolton Improvement Act of 1864 on pasture land purchased from the Earl of Bradford and designed by William Henderson. Opened as Bolton Park on 24 May 1866 by Lord Bradford it was renamed in 1897 in honour of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.
Thomas Ridgeway Bridson (1795-1863) Politician and Industrialist Born 1795 Horwich, Bolton. Died 24 January 1863 Mornington House, Southport, Lancashire Mayor of Bolton 1847. Owner of Bolton Bleachworks. Great-great-great-grandfather of Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1997-2007.
Nellie Briercliffe (1889 -1966) Singer and Actress. Born 1889 Bolton Died 12 December 1966. Mezzo-soprano with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company at the Savoy, London. Starred in many Gilbert and Sullivan productions.
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William Brimelow (1837-1913) Newspaper editor
Born 17 Sep 1837 in Warrington, Lancashire, England. Died 11 Jun 1913 in 96 Chorley House, Chorley New Road, Bolton, Lancashire, England.
In 1871 he was appointed the first official editor of the Bolton Evening News, and in 1889 he took on general management with Mary Tillotson and William Lever.
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Mary Ann Britland (née Hague) (1847 – 1886)
English serial killer,
Born 1847 Bolton, Lancashire The second eldest daughter of Joseph and Hannah (née Lees) Hague The first woman to be executed by hanging at Strangeways Prison in Manchester by James Berry 9 Aug 1886. An Ashton under Lyne resident, she had murdered by poisoning her eldest daughter, her husband and the wife of her lover.
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Sharon Brittan (1967?/1969?-) Born 27 Feb 1967?/1969?
Chairperson of Bolton Wanderers football club.
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Alec Ernest Bromley (1950-)
Businessman
Born January 1950
Managing Director of Alec's 3Piece Suites Limited
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Ken Bromley (1921-) Born 1921 in Bolton He studied fine art at Bolton Art College. With the outbreak of World War II, he found himself serving in the Royal Corps of Signals of the British Army. During this time, he continued to paint as a way to supplement his army pay. It was also during this period that he built the first model of the Perfect Paper Stretcher. Following the war, Ken moved to London and worked on commercial art projects but returned to Bolton around 1948. Through the 50s and 60s, he specialised in sketches for schools, churches and universities. Through the Bromley Art company, Ken produced sketches and watercolours depicting local views from around the country between 1975-1990
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Walter Brooks
Walter Brooks was killed by an unfenced crank and crank-shaft on the works of Messrs. Bamber & Co., Limited, Cotton Spinners, Mount. Pleasant Mill, Bolton-le-Moors Lancashire. Messrs. Bamber & Co. were fined £5, the costs being £2 1s. 6d. The inspector remarks: "The defendants had compensated the widow with an amount to her satisfaction. The justices fined defendants £5, out of which they recommended £4 to the widow, in addition to the settlement, which they considered handsome."
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