100 Greatest Britons

BAYLOR said:

I have to admit ive often wonder why they called him Lawrence of Arabia and yet he's not from there. It must be because of the David Lean film.

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Of that i have read about him, it was because he lead bedouins, in the Great War, Arab Revol, intelligence officer, leader. He connected the leader of those Arab warriors to the allies.

On January 3, 1917, Lawrence went off on his first desert raid with 35 armed tribesmen. Under cover of darkness, they rode their camels out of camp, dismounted and scrambled up a steep hill overlooking a Turkish encampment, which they peppered with rifle fire until driven off. Returning, they came across two Turks relieving themselves, and took them back to camp for questioning. That minor triumph was later counterbalanced by a small tragedy when, to prevent a crippling blood feud from breaking out, Lawrence had to personally execute a member of his own band, a deed that would haunt him for the rest of his life.[21]At the end of March, Lawrence set off on his first raid against the railway, a Turkish station at Abu el-Naam. After carefully reconnoitering it, Lawrence crept down to the lines at nightfall and laid a Garland mine under the tracks, cutting the telegraph wires as he left.

Sure his good looks helped get him better media, fame long before the film but he did actual dangerous works for many years in the real world outside any Hollywood film. He is also a pretty important writer that is still famous, importan over here in Sweden too.

Sure he might not be the greateast Briton ever but he did important ,dangerous real world work to his own country, to other peoples eyes too. Lets not dismiss the guy because of a Peter O'Toole classic heroic Hollywood looks, film

Connavar said:

Of that i have read about him, it was because he lead bedouins, in the Great War, Arab Revol, intelligence officer, leader. He connected the leader of those Arab warriors to the allies.

On January 3, 1917, Lawrence went off on his first desert raid with 35 armed tribesmen. Under cover of darkness, they rode their camels out of camp, dismounted and scrambled up a steep hill overlooking a Turkish encampment, which they peppered with rifle fire until driven off. Returning, they came across two Turks relieving themselves, and took them back to camp for questioning. That minor triumph was later counterbalanced by a small tragedy when, to prevent a crippling blood feud from breaking out, Lawrence had to personally execute a member of his own band, a deed that would haunt him for the rest of his life.[21]At the end of March, Lawrence set off on his first raid against the railway, a Turkish station at Abu el-Naam. After carefully reconnoitering it, Lawrence crept down to the lines at nightfall and laid a Garland mine under the tracks, cutting the telegraph wires as he left.

Sure his good looks helped get him better media, fame long before the film but he did actual dangerous works for many years in the real world outside any Hollywood film. He is also a pretty important writer that is still famous, importan over here in Sweden too.

Sure he might not be the greateast Briton ever but he did important ,dangerous real world work to his own country, to other peoples eyes too. Lets not dismiss the guy because of a Peter O'Toole classic heroic Hollywood looks, film

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He was a very fascinating man. Larger then life.

I agree, a few of these are not-so-great. I, poisonally, am diseligible for this list since I am only half Brit.
That makes me either a "Br' or an 'It' and I though I can fake an accent rawther well, it's a non-paying position as far as I can discern. Where are some Pythons? And ... Boy George and Geldof? I am returning my MBE in a huff. *

J Riff said:

Boy George and Geldof

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Boy George (George Alan O'Dowd) has Irish Parents. Since he was actually born in UK I suppose he's a Brit. [Edit: I see the name of the Band "Culture Club" was because the others regarded him as Irish]
Geldof was born and brought up in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland, a son of Robert and Evelyn Geldof.

They are both a tad "Western British" type of Irish. We tend to think of Greater Dublin and surrounds as Western Britian, AKA "The Pale."

Technically if your parents or Grandparents born ANYWHERE in Island of Ireland before 1922, you're a "Brit", if you want to be. Most Irish people prefer not.

I'm as Irish or as British as I want to be on any given day.

Charles Babbage
Alan Turing
Ada Lovelace

Three people important in the field of computer history.

Ray McCarthy said:

Boy George (George Alan O'Dowd) has Irish Parents. Since he was actually born in UK I suppose he's a Brit. [Edit: I see the name of the Band "Culture Club" was because the others regarded him as Irish]
Geldof was born and brought up in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland, a son of Robert and Evelyn Geldof.

They are both a tad "Western British" type of Irish. We tend to think of Greater Dublin and surrounds as Western Britian, AKA "The Pale."

Technically if your parents or Grandparents born ANYWHERE in Island of Ireland before 1922, you're a "Brit", if you want to be. Most Irish people prefer not.

I'm as Irish or as British as I want to be on any given day.

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The thread is "100 Greatest Britons" not "100 Greatest British People".

Ireland is part of the (geographical) British Isles so anyone born in Ireland (or any of the other British Isles) is a 'Briton'.

I speak as someone with English ancestors, born in England living in Scotland and proudly Scottish - not a Scot but Scottish. ...and a Briton.

Defining nationality in these crowded, history-stuffed islands is fun isn't it?

JunkMonkey said:

Ireland is part of the (geographical) British Isles so anyone born in Ireland (or any of the other British Isles) is a 'Briton'.

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No, sorry, that won't wash with most people on the western side of the Irish Sea. Most people in the Country of Ireland and even on the Island of Ireland do not call themselves "Britons". The Welsh of course sometimes claim to be the remaining Britons, so they can't object as Irish do.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles_naming_dispute

In documents drawn up jointly between the British and Irish governments, the archipelago is referred to simply as "these islands".

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"100 Greatest Britons" is synonym for "100 Greatest British People".

No Ringo, he must be fuming.***

No drummers. 3, 4 lousy guitar players but not a single drummer Tolkien is great, sure, but Bono? I like Ringo's singing just as better nor him. Really, it's not fair. Without the drums the rest of them sound like folky yodelers.

Others unlisted and as of yet, unmentioned... Jonathan Swift, Robert Burns, Bede, St. Patrick, Columba, John Wesley, David Hume, John Stuart Mill, George Bernard Shaw, James Joyce, Gladstone, John Wycliffe, Thomas a'Becket, or even Samuel Beckett.... I'd put Bill Slim ahead of Monty.

Columba, Samuel Beckett and James Joyce were both Irish. Bede was a Anglo-Saxon and hated the Britons...pedantically slips away...

svalbard said:

Columba, Samuel Beckett and James Joyce were both Irish. Bede was a Anglo-Saxon and hated the Britons...pedantically slips away...

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I would. Apparently 'Briton' on this thread means 'British' not just that small group of Welsh people (if any) still living in furs and throwing pointed sticks at invading Romans, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Normans and Uncle Tom Cobley and all.

Whether those people of the British overseas territories who are British by origins or naturalization or those who have immigrated to these shores and chosen to become British citizens are eligible for inclusion is another question.

Hugh Dowding
Sir Keith Park without these two men the Battle of Britain has different outcome

As I understand it, until the reign of Elizabeth 1st, the terms Briton and British Language specifically referred to the Welsh & Cornish and their languages.

There is a well known letter from a French Ambassador writing home to his King - the King wanted to know what peoples inhabit the Island of Britain, so the Ambassador did the easiest thing and asked his English buddies at Court.

IIRC, the reason this changed was due to a Welsh legend. We had the myth (or indeed half remembered reality) that a Prince Madog of Gwynedd (either in 12th century or 6th) sailed, possibly from Porthmadog with a load of people and dsicovered a new land far to the west. One of the claims made these days is he possibly landed i Mobile, Alabama and his people intergrated with the Mandan Tribe (lots of claims, esp during the US war of independence that the Mandans spoke a language similar to Welsh, enough that Welsh speaking British Officers could understand them, and lived in medieval european style stone fortified buildings, rather than traditional teepee's, but those stories could very well be and likely are British Propoganda)

Everyone in Europe at Liz 1's time was in a race to grab chunks of the new World. Liz 1 of course was a Tudor, and the Tudor's were descended at least in part from the Kings of the Welsh Kingdom of Deheubarth. And John Dee or someone pointed out to her that, that, thertefore gave her a claim on the new world. Even though of course, descent ffrom Deheubarth did not give any claim on Gwynedd's "posessions" . So the English became British too, well, anything to trump the evil Spaniards I suppose

BAYLOR said:

Sir Edmund Hillary

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...was a Kiwi.