Naval genius Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758 – 1805), the hero of Trafalgar, was born on the Norfolk coast and learned to sail on the Norfolk Broads. He was a pupil at the Norwich School next to the Cathedral and there is a statue of this great local naval leader in the Cathedral Close.
Also commemorated with a statue outside the Cathedral gates is Edith Cavell (1865-1915) – “Nurse, Patriot and Martyr”. She was executed for helping hundreds of Allied soldiers to escape from occupied Brussels during World War I. She was born in the South Norfolk village of Swardeston and is buried next to Norwich Cathedral.
Social reformer Elizabeth Fry (1780-1845) was born in Norwich. Most famous for her work improving conditions for women prisoners, her portrait has been featured on the Bank of England £5 note. She was a member of the Quaker Gurney family and in her early years she lived in Gurney Court, off Magdalen Street, and later at Earlham Hall, now part of the University of East Anglia. Also from Norwich, and living at the same time as Elizabeth Fry were the author Amelia Opie (1769-1853) and the writer and liberal thinker Harriet Martineau (1802-1876). Another contemporary was George Borrow (1803-1881), the novelist and travel writer, who was born locally and wrote about Norwich in his partly autobiographical work “Lavengro”.
Norwich has always had a very strong literary tradition. The “Revelations of Divine Love” written by the medieval Christian mystic Julian of Norwich (1342 – 1413) is believed to be the first book in English written by a woman. The influential and highly original writer Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682) spent much of his life in Norwich, and a statue of him can be found in the Haymarket, near the Forum. Anna Sewell (1820 – 1878) was born in Great Yarmouth and wrote “Black Beauty” at her house in Old Catton on the outskirts of Norwich. More recently, Philip Pullman, author of the award-winning “His Dark Materials” trilogy was born in Norwich in 1946 and the Creative Writing course at the University of East Anglia (UEA) has produced novelists such as Kazuo Ishiguro and Ian McEwan.
The city of Norwich and its surrounding countryside has been a source of inspiration to writers and artists through the ages. The area was the home of the first British art movement based outside London – the Norwich School of painters. The artists most associated with this movement were John Crome (1768-1821), John Sell Cotman (1782-1842) and Joseph Stannard (1797-1830). Other artists born in Norwich have been the Pre-Raphaelite painter Frederick Sandys (1829-1904) and Pop artist Colin Self. The Norwich School of Art and Design was also where Sir Alfred Munnings (1878-1959) learnt his art.
In 1549, Robert Kett from Wymondham put his name down in history with a spirited but unsuccessful peasants’ revolt. Rebelling against the hardships of agricultural workers, he raised a small army, seized the city of Norwich and set up a base on Mousehold Heath. Within six months, however, the uprising was crushed and Robert Kett was put to death at Norwich Castle.
Back to the present, in the world of popular culture, singers Cathy Dennis, Beth Orton and rising star Lisa Redford are all from Norwich, as is snooker star Barry Pinches. Comedians Charlie Higson, Paul Whitehouse, Eddie Izzard and Arthur Smith all studied in Norwich at the University of East Anglia. Yet another famous name connected with the city is celebrity cook Delia Smith, the majority shareholder in Norwich City Football Club. Her enthusiastic support for the Canaries has made her Norwich’s favourite adopted daughter!