BBC poll names 10 Greatest Britons

[John Carter]

The BBC is having a poll and a vote to arrive at the Greatest Briton of All Time. Ten famed Britons have been chosen via a phone and internet poll of 30,000 less-famed Britons.

Ten Greatest Britons Selected by Poll


The ten are:

Queen Elizabeth I, whose reign had a significant impact on economic, social, religious and political life in England;


Winston Churchill, Britain's prime minister during World War II.


Naturalist Charles Darwin, famous for his theory on evolution put forward in his book "The Origin of Species."


Naval hero Horatio Nelson, who led the British fleet to victory over the larger joint fleets of Spain and France at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. This decisive victory led to the erection of Nelson's column and the creation of Trafalgar Square in central London. (which is clearly considered of greater importance than prevention of the French conquest of England, for some reason. --editor)


Oliver Cromwell, a prime mover in the execution of King Charles I and later Lord Protector during the short British republic in the seventeenth century.


Isaac Newton, whose work in mathematics and physics laid the foundation for modern science.


Dramatist and poet William Shakespeare.

Engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who designed the Clifton Bridge in Bristol, western England.

Princess Diana, hailed for her charity work but best known for her failed marriage to heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles.

John Lennon, singer and songwriter for the legendary pop band, the Beatles.

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OK, I can see six of them, maybe seven, if Brunel's bridge work was better than the ambitious but failed steel ship Great Eastern.

Cromwell, hm, he did kick over a corrupt monarchial regime, but only to replace it with a repressive theocratic dictatorship of brief duration.

But John Lennon and Princess Di? Music that 7 out of ten people find variably nice, a pretty face and the brilliant observation that land mines are bad, hardly qualify for greatness, IMO.

Sir John Fleming's multi-million life-saving invention of penicillin was less important than that? ens, Wells, the guys who invented radar, had less lasting effect than John Lennon? Wellington's *ular campaign, Waterloo, and thus his contribution to the prevention of a snail-eating planet-wide Gallic empire is of no importance? That snooty, unpleasant old so-and-so Montgomery stopping Hitler from gaining unlimited supplies of mid-eastern oil in WW2 is of less import than the mass emotions associated with poor Diana's unhappy life and it's over-exposure to world media?

(edit-Oh geez louise- read "The guy who wrote "A Christmas Carol" and "Iberian campaign" for the censor-bot edits up there.)

Hmmmmmmm....


But these are minor faults. What I want to know, is why the heck isn't DaveJ on the danged list?!?

[staticon]

Poet, lyricist, composer, artist, creator of sig pics and all-round nice guy - It seems that I, too, was missed out yet again.

EDIT BTW JC - I believe that the creator of penicillin was Sir Alexander Fleming.

[DaveJ]

Originally posted by John Carter
What I want to know, is why the heck isn't DaveJ on the danged list?!?

Probably because I work for the "Opposition".

[blondie]

After yesterdays footie results I should like to put Martin 'Tiny' Taylor's name forward to the great Briton list.


If you dont like or have any interest in footie, then dont bother trying to find out who he is, the effort wouldn't equate with the time spent searching

[CatSuit&Ponytail]

No, no, Mars and Staticon, you are both wrong...it was Ian Fleming.

And why aren't Bond or Holmes on the list? Hmmmmm?

[John Carter]

Originally posted by CatSuit&Ponytail
No, no, Mars and Staticon, you are both wrong...it was Ian Fleming.

And why aren't Bond or Holmes on the list? Hmmmmm?

Yeah! Ian Fleming! And how about Ian-the-guy-did-flute-for-Jethro-Tull-and-now-sells-high-quality-fish? And how about Ian Nottingham-the-Witchblade-antihero/semi-villian?

And ya know, Catsuit has a point, what about famed fictional Britons? Bond, Holmes, Croft, Capp, the list goes on...

(Staticon was right about Thomas, Sir John Fleming invented marmite, I think. And why Staticon isn't on the list, well, that's just wrong )

I also imagine Earnest Bevin, Labour party foriegn secretary in the late 40's, ought to be up there. He did invent NATO, which might count for something, unless you're an Uncle Joe Stalin fan.

[moose562]

ahem! what about me too!?

what have i done? well, uh, ummm, oh poo.

[andrew133]

1winsten church hill
2alexander the great
3welington
4jhon logy beard
5alexander grame bell
6roberd the bruce
7williom walace
8robbert burns
9henry the 6th
10williom smith

[staticon]

Originally posted by andrew133
1winsten church hill
2alexander the great
3welington
4jhon logy beard
5alexander grame bell
6roberd the bruce
7williom walace
8robbert burns
9henry the 6th
10williom smith

A minor technicality - I do believe that some of the above listed people would not qualify for a list of great Britons by not actually being British. For example:
Robert the Bruce, William Wallace, Robert Burns, Alexander Graham Bell and John Logie Baird were Scots. (They would have qualified in the days of the United Kingdom but, as we all have a seperate identity these days, they do not).
Alexander the Great was king of Macedonia.
William Smith (the actor, I presume) was American.

And just for the record :
Sir Alexander Fleming invented penicillin.
Ian Fleming wrote the James Bond books.
Sir John Ambrose Fleming was an English engineer who made numerous contributions to electronics, photometry, electric measurements, and wireless telegraphy.
The only other John Fleming I can find is John Fleming & The Voices of Inspiration, a Neo-Traditional Gospel Ensemble, spreading God's Word through song, based in Des Moines, Iowa. But it is indeed possible that there was a John Fleming who invented marmite.
Also, fictional characters don't count, so there

[DaveJ]

Originally posted by staticon

A minor technicality - I do believe that some of the above listed people would not qualify for a list of great Britons by not actually being British.

Britons include Scots, Welsh, English & Irish etc....
Take a look at the top 100 list here

John Logie Baird is in there, Bono too....all Britons.

[staticon]

Originally posted by DaveJ
Britons include Scots, Welsh, English & Irish etc....
Take a look at the top 100 list here

John Logie Baird is in there, Bono too....all Britons.

It's not my fault if the beeb can't get it right.
I rather suspect there would be a great outcry if people like I.K.Brunell or Henry Cooper were to appear on a list of greatest Scotsmen, Irishmen or Welshmen, so why not the other way round? :P

[LARAMANIAC]

tut tut tut staticon!!!! We fought long and hard for our independence which, incidentally, we still have not been given!!!! The pure thought of prima nocta (excuse the spelling Latin is most definitely not my subject!) - just makes my skin crawl!!!! Sassenachs!!!!!!!!!!! My vote would have course been with my hero - William Wallace!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DaveJ]

Originally posted by staticon

I rather suspect there would be a great outcry if people like I.K.Brunell or Henry Cooper were to appear on a list of greatest Scotsmen, Irishmen or Welshmen, so why not the other way round? :P

I've been saying that for years, especially in these forums.

Its most noticeable on the news....If a Scot wins a gold at the Olympics, she's British....if she loses she's a Scot.

But I always say I'm English, not a Brit.

[staticon]

LARAMANIAC : William Wallace was a truly admirable character who died for his beliefs. But was he a Briton or a Scot?

DaveJ said:
But I always say I'm English, not a Brit.

As I inhabit the land mass that has been known as Britain since before the Roman occupation, I can claim to be either a Brit or English.

[LARAMANIAC]

Exactly my point staticon, although I am much prouder to consider myself Scottish than British!

[staticon]

My good Scottish friend at work displayed considerable umbrage at being called a Briton. I, therefore, rest my case.

[DaveJ]

Your good Scottish friend would return that umbrage unopened had they found themsleves in the top 10 list, however.

My samsonite is relaxed, too.

[LARAMANIAC]

Originally posted by DaveJ
Your good Scottish friend would return that umbrage unopened had they found themsleves in the top 10 list, however.

My samsonite is relaxed, too.

DaveJ you crease me, you really do!!!!!

And (sorry about the grammar dear staticon, but I feel in this it is needed - honest ), have got to agree with Mr DaveJ again here, if he had found himself in the top 10, I'm sure he would have found a shelf on which to place his umbrage!!!!!!!

My samsonite is in the same position as the aboved named DaveJ's!!!!!

[John Carter]

DaveJ vs. Staticon in the titatic eXtreme RealTV network battle to see who will be hailed King of the Britons!

(while without opposition, Laramaniac becomes LARAMANIAC, Queen of Scots)

I see the Welsh haven't weighed in with any nomination of Owain Glyn Dwr yet, whassup wit dat?

[PtTe2]

Thomas Paine - insurectionist of the American Revolution! Good Boy, Thom!

[staticon]

John Carter wrote:
DaveJ vs. Staticon in the titatic eXtreme RealTV network battle to see who will be hailed King of the Britons!

No contest!
Some of us are born to greatness, some of us rise to greatness and some of us have greatness heaped upon us.
I could never beat DaveJ in that area.

BTW - There is a competition for great Welshmen at the BBC Wales site, but I can't find equivalents for Scotts or Irish. I will keep looking though.

Welsh Heroes

[LARAMANIAC]

Originally posted by John Carter
DaveJ vs. Staticon in the titatic eXtreme RealTV network battle to see who will be hailed King of the Britons!

(while without opposition, Laramaniac becomes LARAMANIAC, Queen of Scots)

I see the Welsh haven't weighed in with any nomination of Owain Glyn Dwr yet, whassup wit dat?

Kneel John Carter, I dub thee my first knight!!!!