Richard Neville was the son of the Earl of Salisbury, but through his marriage inherited most of the estates of Henry Beauchamp, the Duke of Warwick who died in 1447, and the title of Earl of Warwick. He became the most powerful man in England, and was instrumental in replacing Henry VI with the Yorkist Edward IV in 1461 during the Wars of the Roses. Some years later, having fallen out with Edward, he plotted the successful Lancastrian rising that temporarily restored Henry VI, but was killed at the battle of Barnet in 1471 when Edward fought his way back to the throne. Neville's main residence and power base was Warwick Castle.

Probably the most famous Warwickshire person of all, William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, (Shakespeare's Birthplace), the descendant of an ancient Warwickshire family, and moved to London in the late 1580s to become an actor. It was there that he wrote some of the most famous plays of all time, such as 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', 'As You Like It', 'Macbeth', and 'Hamlet'. A prolific writer of poetry, Shakespeare retired to Stratford where he died in 1616. He is buried in the parish church of the Holy Trinity where he had been baptised 52 years before. He is now regarded as a literary genius whose creative achievement has never been surpassed in any age.

The Nobleman Robert Catesby was born in Lapworth, by Rugby, and was the charismatic leader and planner of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. A devout Catholic and tired of the persecution against his faith, he along with a small group of fellow conspirators including Guy Fawkes, hatched a plot to blow up the new king and overthrow the government of James I, thus returning England to Catholic rule. The dramatic last-minute discovery of the plot had the opposite result. Catholics were ever more persecuted in England and by means of a number of conveniently written confessions, a number of leading Jesuits of the time were further incriminated and linked to the plot.

Born at Shustoke, by Coleshill in North Warwickshire, the son of a local gentleman, Sir William Dugdale was one of a group of 17th century people who laid the foundations of modern historical methodology, and in the course of a long and industrious life published many books which are still used as important sources. Outstanding amongst these works is his 'Antiquities of Warwickshire', first published in 1656, which was the earliest detailed county history based on close study of original archives.

Sir William also worked as a Herald and rose to become Garter King-of Arms. During the Civil War he served on the Royalist side and was present at the Battle of Edgehill in October 1642. His tomb can be seen in St Cuthbert's Church, Shustoke.

Born in Atherstone, Nehemiah began observations on the anatomy of plants and published his first important work in 1672 when he published An Idea of a Philosophical History of Plants. He was secretary of the Royal Society from 1677, and published his second great work on the Anatomy of Plants (1682), in which he described the function of flowers and announced the sexual reproduction of plants.

Born in Wiltshire, Sir Christopher Wren went up to Wadham College, Oxford, and was Savilian Professor of astronomy at the university from 1661 to 1673. Increasingly drawn to the profession of architecture, his great opportunity came with the Great Fire of London in 1666, following which he designed the new St Paul's Cathedral, 36 companies' halls and more than 50 parish churches.

His connection with Warwickshire dates from 1713 when he bought the Wroxall Abbey estate, just north west of Warwick. It is unlikely that he spent much time on the estate, but his son lived there until his death in 1747, and descendants of Sir Christopher owned the estate until 1861.

William Croft was born at Ettington, near Stratford-upon-Avon, and at the age of four his family moved to nearby Tredington. He became a Chorister and later Master of the Children at the Chapel Royal, composer to Queen Anne and Organist at Westminster Abbey. He was recognised as the foremost church musician of his time and several of his hymns are still frequently sung - one of the best known being 'O God our help in Ages Past' set to Croft's St Anne melody.

Lancelot Brown designed over 170 parks surrounding the finest country houses and estates in Britain. Known as capability because he would tell his landed clients their estates had great "capability" for landscape improvement. His landscapes were at the forefront of fashion and they were fundamentally different to what they replaced. His style of smooth undulating grass which would run straight up to the house, clumps, belts, scattering of trees and his serpentine lakes was a new style within the English landscape and had its fair share of both praise and criticism. Amongst his most famous creations are Bleinheim Palace, and he designed many parks in Warwickshire including Warwick Castle, Charlecote Park, and Ragley Hall.

John Barber was born in Nottinghamshire, but came to Warwickshire in the 1760s to manage collieries in the Nuneaton area. For a time he lived in Camp Hill House, between Hartshill and Nuneaton, and later lived in Attleborough. He patented several inventions between 1766 and 1792, of which the most remarkable was one for a gas turbine. Unfortunately nothing practical came out of this patent, but Barber was the first man to describe in detail the principle of the gas turbine, and in recent years a working model based on Barber's specification has been built.

Royal Leamington Spa Physician who helped to make the Spa at Leamington famous by treating patients with its spring waters. Jephson Gardens, close to the Royal Pump Rooms and next to the River Leam, is named after him and has been a winner in the Britain in Bloom competition. Queen Victoria was fond of Leamington's spa waters and the town gets it's 'Royal' prefix from her visit in 1838.

Joseph Russell farmed at Cubbington, by Royal Leamington Spa, and was very innovative and forward thinking. He introduced Leicester sheep into Warwickshire and experimented with cross breeding. He imported a new strain of wheat, Talevera, into the country for the first time. He improved the sub-soil plough and invented a new machine for gathering clover heads. For this he was honoured by the Society of Arts and Sciences in London. After writing about his ideas he published A Treatise on the Practice of Chemical Agriculture, a revolutionary document of the time

William Webb Ellis was born in Manchester, but moved to Rugby in 1812 and attended Rugby School from 1816 to 1825.

In 1823, while playing in a game of football at the school, he caught the ball and, disregarding the rules of the game, ran forward with it in his hands towards the opposite goal with his fellow peers in hot pursuit.

The game of Rugby was to develop from this famous event, and the rules were first written down in 1845. Ellis later went to Oxford, became a Church of England clergyman and died in France in 1872.

Sir Henry Parkes was born in Stoneleigh by Kenilworth, the son of a small tenant farmer. He began work at the age of 8 and as a young man became apprenticed as an ivory turner in Birmingham. There he met and married Clarinda Varney in 1836. Soon after this they moved to London and in March 1839 sailed as ‘bounty emigrants’ to Sydney.

Parkes worked first as a farm labourer, then in an ironmonger’s store and an iron foundry before setting up his own shop as an ivory and bone turner. Here his career as a public man began. His first public oration came at a large demonstration to meet the convict ship, Hashemy, at Port Jackson, on 8 June 1848. Parkes spoke from the view of a working-class colonist and was soon recognised as a leader of the anti-transportation movement.

He was elected to the legislative council for Sydney and played an important role in the development of a responsible government for New South Wales. This was established in 1858 and Parkes was elected for East Sydney. He served as an elected representative for most years until 1895, serving as colonial secretary in 1866 and then from 1872 as Prime Minister for New South Wales. During this period he also visited England twice, once while holding office as Prime Minister, addressing large public meetings on emigration and spending much time with political and literary society.

As Prime Minister in 1890 the pressing question of Australian Federation rose in importance. He presided over the Sydney convention of 1891, which practically laid the foundations of the Australian commonwealth. When the commonwealth was inaugurated in January 1901 his invaluable life-work was specially marked at the state banquet in Sydney by the entire company rising and drinking to his honoured memory in solemn silence. During his life Parkes was awarded the KCMG, 1877, and the GCMG, 1888.

Mary Anne Evans was born at Arbury Farm, near Nuneaton, the daughter of Robert Evans, who managed the Arbury Estates of the Newdigate family. At the age of 29 she moved to London to become an Assistant Editor on the Westminster Review and found success as a novelist, writing under the name of George Eliot. Several of her books, including 'Adam Bede' and 'Middlemarch', are distilled from her early life in Warwickshire and include references to many locations in the north of the county.

Born in Birmingham where he practised as a solicitor, Gem moved to Royal Leamington Spa in 1872 where, in the summer of that year, he and three local friends founded the world's first Lawn Tennis Club. They played on the lawns of the Manor House Hotel in Avenue Road, Royal Leamington Spa.

Gem died in Leamington in November 1881 after falling ill while leading the Birmingham Rifle Volunteers to their annual camp at Sutton Coldfield.

Joseph Arch was born in the village of Barford, near Warwick, the son of an agricultural labourer. He himself worked as a labourer for many years, but because of his strength of character and his role as a Methodist lay-preacher became a leading figure in the area. He spoke out against the poor conditions of the working classes, and following an Act of Parliament in 1871 which legalised Trade Unions, he formed the Warwickshire Agricultural Labourers' Union. After a successful strike to raise pay, a National Union of Agricultural Labourers was formed, with Arch as President and its headquarters in Royal Leamington Spa. In 1885 he became Liberal MP for North West Norfolk, the first agricultural labourer ever to attain such a position.

His connection to Warwickshire is that he went to Rugby School, before then going onto Christ Church, Oxford. He was mathematically gifted and won a double first degree which could have been the prelude to a brilliant academic career. Instead he married his first cousin in 1827 and retired into obscurity as a country parson and later his writing career.

Scott narrowly failed to be the first to reach the South Pole, beaten by Roald Amundsen and his party in 1912. Scott and his party tragically died on the Ross Ice Shelf whilst trying to return to the safety of their base, which was only 11 miles from where they were found. Scott has become the most famous hero of the "heroic age" of Antarctic exploration. One of his party, Captain Oates, famously left the party’s tent saying "I am just going outside and may be some time". One of his old war wounds was holding him and the party up. He hoped that by sacrificing himself the others would get to safety.

The connection to Warwickshire is that he spent his last few days in England in the little village of Binton, just west of Stratford-upon-Avon. They often came to this peaceful spot as his wife, Kathleen, was the sister of the resident Rector, Rev Hervey Bruce. It was here they said farewell before he set off aboard his ship, the Terra Nova.

The church of St Peter within the village features the treasure of the Scott window, unveiled in 1915 and paid for by public subscription. This has 4 panes that describe the mission along with a photograph underneath the window of the whole group, taken in Antarctica on 18th January 1911.

Neville Chamberlain was born in Birmingham, the son of a successful businessman who became a Liberal MP and Government minister. He attended Rugby School, and spent much of his life in local Birmingham politics, becoming Lord Mayor of the city. In 1918 he became a Conservative MP, and in 1937 Prime Minister, being in charge of the country in the run-up to World War II. Although he has been blamed for not doing enough to stop Hitler, it was largely due to the re-armament programme instigated by him that Britain was able to survive the Nazi onslaught in 1940. He died in November 1940, shortly after handing over office to Churchill.

Rupert Brooke was a high-class British poet best known for his idealistic War Sonnets written during the First World War. Born in Rugby and educated at Rugby school, he became a fellow of King's College, Cambridge, and became friends with the Bloomsbury Group of writers, such as W. B. Yeats. He was also part of the literary group known as the Georgian Poets, and was the most important of the Dymock Poets. During the First World War he saw action in the Antwerp expedition of October 1914, but died of septic pneumonia brought on from an infected mosquito bite. He was buried in an olive grove on the island of Skyros, Greece.

Although born in Durham, Sir Anthony was the local MP for Warwick and Royal Leamington Spa before becoming Foreign Secretary and then Prime Minister in 1955 after Winston Churchill retired. He is primarily remembered for his role in the infamous Suez Crisis fiasco of 1956 in which Sir Anthony's reputation for statesmanship was ruined, and led to a breakdown in his health. In a 2004 poll of 139 political science academics organised by MORI, Eden was unfortunately voted the least successful British Prime Minister of the 20th Century.

Sir Frank Whittle was born in Coventry but moved to Royal Leamington Spa in 1916 where he attended school. He joined the RAF in 1923 and became a pilot, but was always interested in the problems of aircraft propulsion. In 1936 he formed a company called Power Jets to exploit his patent for a jet engine, and over the next five years, hampered greatly by a lack of capital and Government support, he slowly developed a practical jet engine.