'VENTNOR'

Sir Winston Churchill 1874 - 1965 Statesman / Writer : At the age of four stayed at 'Flint Cottage' Wheelers Bay Road (The home of his nurse's sister) from where he saw the wreck of the Eurodyce which sank with the loss of 300 lives - On another occasion the young Churchill stayed at 'Verona' 26 Mitchell Avenue

Charles Dick'ens 1812 - 1870 Novelist : Stayed at 'Winterbourne' Bonchurch in the summer of 1849 where he wrote six chapters of 'David Copperfield', climbed daily to the top of St Boniface Down, played rounders every afternoon and entertained many of his wide circle of literary friends including Thackeray, Carlyle and Tennyson - At the beginning of his sojourn Dickens was full of praise for the district, likening it to the "Genoese shores of the Mediterranean" but by the end of his stay he was complaining that the climate was producing "Great prostration of strength"

Sir Edward Elgar 1857 - 1934 Organist / Composer : Brought us the 'Pomp and Circumstance' marches and the 'Variations' - Regarded as one of the leading English Composers - Elgar came to Ventnor in 1889 on his honeymoon staying at No 3 Alexandra Gardens - His wife Alice's family had been horrified by her marriage to an unknown Roman Catholic shop assistant with musical aspirations and had promptly disinherited her

Mahatma Gandhi 1869 - 1948 Hindu Nationalist Leader : On holiday from his London law studies in 1890 Gandhi is believed to have lodged at 'Shelton's Vegetarian Hotel' - Osborne House 25 Madeira Road, describing in his autobiography a walk on the Downs with his land-ladies ever chattering sprightly twenty-five year old daughter, who flew like a bird up the hill, and darted like an arrow down the hill, leaving him shamefacedly struggling to get down -

Earl Jellicoe 1859 -1935 Admiral of the Fleet : Having started his married life living in a five bed roomed flat in Harrods, Earl Jellicoe of Jutland fame, spent his official retirement years from 1924 living at 'St. Lawrence Hall', formally his wife Florence's family home.

Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay 1800 - 1859 Historian / Essayist / Abolitionist (member of the Clapham Sect) : Spent some months in 1850 at 'Madeira Hall' Trinity Road where he wrote part of his 'History of England' - "I shall cheerfully bear the reproach of having descended below the dignity of history"

Karl Marx 1818 -1883 Political Philosopher & Founder of Modern Socialism : Spent the winters of 1882 /1883 convalescing at No 1 St Boniface Gardens "One can stroll here for hours enjoying both sea and mountain air at the same time" he said - Marx died within weeks of his final visit to Ventnor.

Alfred Noyes 1880 - 1958 Poet & Novelist : Livid at 'Lislecombe' in the Undercliff from 1929 until his death in 1958 - Buried at Farringdon (kneeling at the shrine of Tennyson)

Edmund Peel - Poet : Lived at 'Under Rock' Bonchurch in the 1860's with his brother Sir Lawrence Peel, former Chief Justice of Calcutta - Wrote 'The Fair Island' and other poems.

Haile Selassie 1891 -1975 Emperor of Ethiopia (Abyssinia) : Holidayed in Ventnor in 1938 staying at the Beach Hotel on the Esplanade, he spent most of his time walking but took time out to take tea with Henry de Vere Stacpoole in Bonchurch also visiting Wootton and Osborne - The Museum holds a photograph of the Emperor clambering out of a boat on to Ventnor beach

Henry De Vere Stacpoole 1863 -1951 Doctor / Novelist : Wrote more than fifty books including 'The Blue Lagoon' - Lived at 'Cliff Dene' Bonchurch from 1930 - Gifted Bonchurch Pond in memory of his first wife Margaret

John Sterling 1806 - 1844 Author / Poet : Founded 'The Literary Club' (Later 'The Sterling Club') who's members included Carlyle and Tennyson - In 1843 in the advanced stages of consumption Sterling purchased and settled at 'Hillside', and for the short time remaining to him became a familiar if gaunt figure in the town - Buried at Bonchurch Old Church - A sad loss at the early age of thirty-eight

Algernon Swin'burne 1837 - 1909 Poet : Spent his child-hood at 'East Dene' Bonchurch (baptised in the Old Church) - Family grave in the ‘new’ Bonchurch Church "Under the shadow of her vast head, the deep division of prodigious breasts, the solemn slope of mighty limbs asleep".

Ivan Turgenev 1818 - 1883 Russian Novelist : Stayed at 'Rock Cottage' in Belgrave Road. (a different house with the same name occupies the site today) where he is reputed to have commenced his great novel 'Fathers and Children' - Evicted by his landlady for excessive smoking, for the rest of his 1860 stay Turgenev moved into 'Belinda House' which stood at the western end of the Esplanade.

Canon Edmund Venables 1819 - 1895 Antiquary ; Divine ; Author ; Authority on Church Architecture : Bonchurch Curate 1853 -1855 Arnold compiled 'A Guide to the Undercliff' 1867. He  Lived at 'Hawthorndene' in Bonchurch Shute (Now “Bonchurch Manor Hotel”) from 1853 until 1864 when he left to take up duties at Lincoln Cathedral where in his own words he became 'The Guardian Angel' - Canon Venables wife Caroline died the day after him - They were buried together in the cloisters of the Cathedral

Dr Thomas Arnold 1795 - 1842 English Educator and Historian : Headmaster of Rugby School ; Professor of History at Oxford ; Strong influence on the development of Public Schools : Much travelled, Arnold declared Ventnor was "The most beautiful place on the sea coast this side of Genoa"

John Morgan Richards 1841 - 1918 American patent medicine entrepreneur who brought us 'Carters little Liver Pills' and is credited with the dubious distinction of introducing cigarette smoking to Britain in 1877 with 'Richmond Gem Cigarettes' : From his first visit in 1872 Richards was captivated by Ventnor describing it as "Almost Fairyland" and writing in later life "We never felt elsewhere the charm and delight that captured our fancy and revealed to us our ideals of Country and Seaside life that instantly claimed our delighted souls and held them captive to this very day" - He stayed and lived at various locations in Ventnor settling in 1900 at 'Steephill Castle' (it's last private owner) where he remained until his death - Laura Richards his eccentric wife was one of Ventnor's more colourful residents. Considering herself a direct emissary of God she would dispatch curt telegrams to world leaders directing them in their affairs of state, often adding fanciful postscripts such as "Aren't the daffodils lovely for this time of year" or "Have faith in Onions" - Laura died in August 1914, A fateful month for the Richards

Pearl Craigie 1867 - 1906 Novelist / Dramatist and eldest daughter of John Morgan Richards : Pearl Craigie wrote under the pseudonym John Oliver Hobbes - She moved in the literary and musical circles of the day, and was very much part of London's fashionable society where it was rumoured that she had hankered after marriage with that most superior personage Lord Curzon the famed Viceroy of India, only to be piped at the post by her close friend  Mary Leiter. Pearl was much travelled though London remained her home throughout her life; she would however spend summer months with her parents in Ventnor and in later years would constantly retire here to work, renting the nearby 'St Lawrence Lodge' (now 'Craigie Lodge') in 1900 - On Sunday the 12th of August 1906 after attending mass at St Wilfred's Church, Pearl Craigie returned to her London home where she died in her sleep aged just 39

Elizabeth Missing Sewell 1815 - 1906 Educationalist / Novelist - Founder of the original 'St Boniface's School' : Lived from 1844 at 'Sea View' Bonchurch (later 'Ashcliff') from where with her sister Ellen she ran a small School for Girls - In 1866 Elizabeth founded 'St Boniface Diocesan School' (Now St Boniface Court) in Ventnor - An accomplished letter writer she wrote many devotional works and schoolbooks and most famously 'Amy Herbert' and 'Ursula' - Small in stature with well marked features and fine brown eyes Elizabeth's influence over young people was attributed to her dry humour - A prayer desk in Bonchurch Church was erected in her memory by pupils and friends -The Church also contains a commemorative tablet

John Leech 1817 - 1864 Humorous Artist / Caricaturist : Leech was one of the chief pictorial pillars of 'Punch' for whom he worked from it's onset in 1841 producing over 3000 drawings - A lifelong friend of Thackeray (buried next to each other at Kensal Green) - Leech was described as a man of singularly handsome presence, being over six feet tall and extremely well built with a considerable distinction of manner and much personal charm, though famed for being particularly sensitive to noise; especially street music - Leech lived for a time at 'Hill Cottage' (now 'Hillside Cottage') in Bonchurch Shute and while there illustrated a special shower bath contraption erected on the beach by Charles Dickens - The illustration appearing in the 8th September 1849 edition

Rev William Adams 1814 - 1848 Author / Divine : Author of the 'Sacred Allegories' of which 'Old Man's Home' (A favourite story of Wordsworth) provides us with a vivid description of the Undercliff in the first half of the 19th century - Catching what ultimately proved to be a fatal chill swimming in 1842, Adams resigned his living at Merton College Oxford and settled at 'Winterbourne' Bonchurch for his remaining years, laying the foundation stone for Bonchurch Church and becoming known locally as 'The good gentleman' - Buried in Bonchurch Old Church

Alice Meynell 1847 - 1922 Poet / Essayist / Journalist  (Younger sister of Elizabeth Meynell the painter of battle-scenes) : Friend of Tennyson, Coventry Patmore and Aubrey de Vere, Alice was a prodigious contributor to the journals of the day including 'The Pen' , 'Merry England', 'Pall Mall Gazette' etc but her main passion was poetry - Her exact use of words and subtle senses gave her it was said, "A rareness of prose and verse that placed her on a ranking with Emily Bronte, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Christina Rossetti"

George Bernard Shaw 1856 - 1950 Playwright / Novelist / Critic / Polemicist - Author of 'Pygmalion', and numerous other well known plays and works - Nobel prize winner : The demise here in 1876 at 'Balmoral House' (bottom of Bath Road) from tuberculosis, of Shaw's elder sister Agnes at the tender age of 21, prompted the Great Man's first ever trip from the shores of his native Ireland when he travelled via London to Ventnor to attend his sisters funeral - Agnes like many others had come to Ventnor in search of good health - Writing in 1869 a Father Bowles complained to his Bishop thus "Ventnor is a most trying mission for a single priest. The Catholics who come here are all invalids; if they get well they go away again and if they don't they die" - Agnes's resting place may be seen in the Newport Road Cemetery at Upper Ventnor - Her epitaph reads 'To be with Christ which is far better'

Edwin Henry Lemare 1865 - 1934 Organist and Composer : Born in Ventnor Lemare was a chorister and organ pupil at Holy Trinity Church where his father was organist - After winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy the young Lemare moved to London when he was thirteen, eventually building a reputation as one of the worlds finest organists - Following tours of Australia and Canada Lemare settled in America where he became particularly associated with the 'Austin Organ company' - Reputed at one time to be the highest paid organist in the world, Lemare eventually declined into poverty - An adaptation of his composition 'Andantino in D (1892) is known today as 'Moonlight and Roses'

Rev James White 1803 - 1862 Writer : The famous fat man in Punch, lived first at 'Uppermount' then 'Woodlynch' and later 'Coombe Wood' (Now 'Peacock Vane Hotel') in Bonchurch

Victor Fleming  1901 - 1991 : Orchestral Conductor / Violinist & Broadcaster : Victor Fleming and his wife Molly came to Ventnor in 1948 making their home at 'Honeythorne' on the Esplanade where they lived until their retirement in 1984 later moving to 'Knights Court' in the High Street - In 1967 Victor Fleming succeeded Vic Oliver as conductor of the British Concert Orchestra giving concerts the length and breadth of the Country; often with Semprini, he also conducted the Midland Symphony Orchestra and helped form the Welsh National Opera Company - In 1958 he received the Freedom of the City of London - While Molly ran 'Honeythorne' as The Hotel with the Personal Touch, Victor served as a member of the Town Council (Mayor 1979/80); Governor of Ventnor Middle School and Sandown High and Vice-chairman of the V & D Local History Society - The Museum holds a section of the musical notes iron railing that for many years adorned the front of 'Honeythorne'

Alexander Herzen  1812 - 1870  Radical Publicist / Writer / Creator of 'Kolokol' (The Bell) : Herzen's strong westernizing views saw him exiled from his native Russia living in London for twelve years where his home became a Mecca for Russian visitors including Tolstoy and Turgenev - In  his memoirs 'Byloye i dumy' (Reflections on Times Past) recounting a meeting in 1855 with Lajos Kossuth the Hungarian revolutionary; Herzen wrote ". . . . . Chance brought us together at one of the most exquisite spots not only in England but in Europe. . . . . I spent a month at Ventnor . . . . ."