I got the idea for this after reading an article in the 2008 QI Annual concerning Essex written by Alan Davies. It referred to an author from Braintree who previously I had not heard of. It suddenly occurred to me that there must be more famous people from Braintree that I could write about.
Admittedly most of these people are not household names but they have all had their fifteen minutes and some a fair bit longer.
Unfortunately I cannot be absolutely certain of my sources so some of this information may not be 100% accurate. Much is gathered from the Internet and we all know how unerringly accurate Wikipedia can be. Those of you who have looked at the Wikipedia page will have noticed that there is now a ‘Notable Residents’ section. I’m sure that this section was not there when I started writing this article.
Perhaps the most famous export Braintree has had in recent times and arguably ever. There is nothing that I can write here that has not already been written including Liam’s comments on the town in Q magazine.
Obviously part of the above Prodigy but deserves a special mention for two reasons:
There are of number of references to people he almost ran over in his Peugeot 309 on the
zebra crossing outside the college. Either it was the same person who has liberally posted
this story all over the Internet or he almost ran over a number of people at this location. He
once lived on Bocking Church Street along from the college so I guess either is possible.
Also, as a sad almost claim to fame – my Dad once sold Keith a Carnival Programme.
However, at the time, neither of them had a clue who the other one was.
Born in Black Notley. Sorry, but I fell asleep reading about him and he died over 300 years ago him but his statue was once in the town outside Barclays Bank. If it still exists, I guess it is now at the museum.
Boy Band which is about as much information as I could find. I think they almost had one hit single.
Holiday Reps (1998) – although some articles claim she is from Braintree she is actually from Witham but she did marry John Webb who happens to be Gary Newman’s brother in 2001.
From the ‘celebrated‘ indie band the ‘insane picnic‘ and experimental duo Frenzid Melon, Never heard of the, no neither had I. He allegedly lived in Braintree during the late 80s and early 90s.
Was best known for his role as Peter Craven in the hit TV series Please Sir! He actually died in Braintree.
Of Cockney Rebel fame lived in Bradford Street, from 1969 to 1971. He worked as a reporter for the Braintree and Witham Times under his real name Stephen Nice.
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