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Cornelius Vermudian (1595-1683)
Cornelius Vermuyden was commissioned by the Earl of Bedford to drain over 40000 acres of
fenland. He was responsible for redirecting most of the fen waters to flow via the River
Ouse via King's Lynn instead of the Well Stream via Wisbech.
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James Rennie (1761-1821)
James Rennie made improvements
on what
Cornelius Vermuyden had planed, he was responsible for the new outfalls for the
River Nene and River Ouse.
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Thomas Clarkson (28 Mar
1760-1846)
Was born at Wisbech and would become the leading abolitionist in the
fight to end slavery. He was educated at Cambridge, it is was while he was a student
there, that he realised his life work.
Octavia Hill
(1838-1912)
Would become a social reformer concerned with the housing conditions of the
poor. Was also one of the co founders of the National Trust.
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Hereward the Wake
(11th Century)
He has the honour of being the last Saxon leader to hold out against William the
Conqueror and the Normans. He made his last stand against the Normans at the
Isle of Ely in 1071, before fleeing the Norman forces.
Please see the
Famous
Cambridgeshire Man and Woman
page on the Cambridgeshire Genealogy site for more details.
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Joseph Ostler (1827?-1908)
Left his home, probably at Walsoken by at least 1851 and married his first wife
in Halifax in 1851. Emigrated to Victoria in 1857. Married his second wife in
1862 and in 1863 was
elected to Moorabbin District Road Board (near Melbourne). In 1868 he
embezzled money from this District Road Board and fled to America. He published his first mathematic textbook
in San Francisco in 1872. He married again in New Orleans, it being a bigamist
marriage. Later he would travel through part of Asia and Europe and Great
Britain, before returning to
Victoria.
Please see the
Joseph
Ostler page on My Ancestry and Family History site for more details.
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Samuel Pepys (1633-1703)
Was the son of
John Pepys and Margaret Perkins. His uncle and aunty (surname Perkins) lived
near Wisbech. In 1661 while staying with other relatives with his uncle in
Parson Drove, his uncle's horse was stolen and due to this incident, he
described Parson Drove as "a heathen place." In 1672 he was promoted to the
Secretaryship of the Admiralty serving until 1680 and again from 1684 to 1689.
In 1680 he was imprison in The Tower on charges of being a Papist. He served in
parliament for the seat of Castle Rising in 1675 and later Harwich. In 1684 he
was elected president of the Royal Society. He lost his position as
Secretaryship of the Admiralty and his parliamentary seat in 1690 due to his
loyalty to James II. He was also an English diarist who wrote about historical events
(especially the court of Charles II) in
cipher, his dairy was only deciphered in 1825..
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- Highways and Byways in Cambridge and Ely - By the Rev. Edward Conybeare, Illustrated by
Frederick L. Griggs, Published by Macmillan and Co. Ltd., London, 1923. (originally
published 1910)
- Pears Cyclopedia 2002-2003 - Edited by Dr. Chris Cook, Published by the
Penguin Group, 2002. (111th edition)
- Book of British Villages - Edited by Reader Digest Ass. Ltd., Published by
Drive Publications Ltd., 1980.
- The Encyclopeadia Britannica - Published by Adam and Charles Black,
Edinburgh, 1875. (Ninth Edition) and 1887 (Tenth Edition)
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