Skip to content
Curated category

English people of French descent

  • George OrwellEric Arthur Blair arrived in the world on the 25th of June 1903 within a house in Motihari, Bengal Presidency. His family belonged to what he called the…
  • Richard III of EnglandOn the 2nd of October 1452, a boy named Richard was born inside the stone walls of Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire.
  • Edward IIIOn the 25th of January 1327, a fourteen-year-old boy named Edward was proclaimed king in London. His father, King Edward II, had been forced to relinquish…
  • John, King of EnglandJohn was born in England around Christmastide in 1166 or 1167. His father, King Henry II of England, had inherited significant territories along the Atlantic…
  • Laurence OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier was born on the 22nd of May 1907 in Dorking, Surrey. He entered the world as the youngest child of Reverend Gerard Kerr Olivier and…
  • House of PlantagenetIn 1133, a boy named Henry was born in Le Mans to Geoffrey of Anjou and Empress Matilda. His father had spent years trying to secure an alliance with the…
  • Henry Edward ManningHenry Edward Manning entered the world on the 15th of July 1808 at his grandfather's estate, Copped Hall in Totteridge, Hertfordshire.
  • Daniel DefoeDaniel Defoe was born in Fore Street, London, during the summer or early autumn of 1660. His family name was originally Foe, and he later added the…
  • Joseph BazalgetteLouis Bazalgette arrived in London from Ispagnac, France, as an economic migrant. He became a tailor and financier who served the Prince of Wales.
  • Henry FourdrinierHenry Fourdrinier entered the world on the 11th of February 1766. He was born into a family deeply embedded in the paper trade.
  • Paul DiracPaul Adrien Maurice Dirac was born on the 8th of August 1902 at his parents' home in Bristol, England. His father Charles Adrien Ladislas Dirac came from…
  • Peter MolyneuxPeter Molyneux began his career in 1982 by distributing and selling floppy disks which contained video games for Atari and the Commodore 64.
  • Henry BessemerHenry Bessemer entered the world on the 19th of January 1813 in London. His father Anthony was a member of a Huguenot family that had fled Paris during the…
  • Harriet MartineauHarriet Martineau was born on the 12th of June 1802 in Norwich, England. Her mother Elizabeth hired a wet nurse to feed her infant daughter because she could…
  • David GarrickDavid Garrick was born at the Angel Inn on Widemarsh Street in Hereford on the 19th of February 1716. His family traced their roots to French Huguenots who…
  • Simon CallowOn the 15th of June 1949, a boy named Simon Phillip Hugh Callow entered the world in Streatham, South London. His father was Neil Francis Callow, a…