13 people you might not realise have Bristol connections

While there are certain Bristolians that people will associate with the city forever more, there are plenty of others who lived here long before they rose to prominence, moved here along the way or have other, more obscure connections. We want full credit if any of these people win you the jackpot in a pub quiz.

Maya Jama

Radio 1’s newest DJ grew up in Bristol with a father in and out of prison, and a boyfriend who was shot dead on Stapleton Road. Maya Jama now hosts Radio 1’s Greatest Hits show on Saturdays, and co-hosts a Friday afternoon show with Scott Mills and Chris Stark. The 23-year-old of Somali and Swedish heritage moved from Bristol to London when she was 16.

Peter Mark Roget

The doctor, writer and inventor is best known for his thesaurus, which since first published in 1852 has never been out of print. Roget (1779-1869) worked in Bristol, Manchester and London and also invented the slide rule common in schools and universities until the age of the calculator.

Bananarama

Childhood friends from Bristol, Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward met the third member of Bananarama Siobhan Fahey while Sara and Siobhan were studying journalism at the London University of Arts. The band went on to release 10 albums and sell 30 million records. Catch them as part of Bristol’s Skyline Series on July 22.

Alfred Fagon

Alfred Fagon lived in Jamaica, Nottingham, Bristol and London. He was a boxing champion, a welder, an actor, poet, and playwright. Following his untimely death in 1986, an award to recognise playwrights from the Caribbean was created in his memory and a bust erected on the corner of Ashley Road and Grosvenor Road in St Paul’s.

Elizabeth Blackwell

Granted that most modern of honours last month with a Google Doodle on the 197th anniversary of her birth in Bristol, the trailblazing Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to ever receive a medical degree in the USA as well as becoming the first woman to be put on the UK Medical Register.

Tony Bullimore

Taking part in the 1997 Vendée Globe single-handed around-the-world race, Tony’s boat capsized and he spent five days in the upturned hull of his yacht surviving on chocolate and water before being rescued by an Australian navy ship. Back on dry land, Tony was the founder of the famous Bamboo Club and also a founder member of St Paul’s Carnival.

Alice Roberts

Alice Roberts went to primary school in Bristol and was briefly a doctor before getting a job in the anatomy department at Bristol University. Her television career started when she was asked by Channel 4’s Time Team to write reports on some human bones they had dug up which led to appearances on screen.

Samuel Plimsoll

Known as ‘the sailor’s friend’, Samuel Plimsoll was a philanthropist whose tireless campaigning saved hundreds of lives and whose work is still remembered today in a safety marker simply called the Plimsoll Line on the hull of ships – introduced by an Act of Parliament in 1874 to ensure they were not overloaded.

Sean Moore

The Manic Street Preachers drummer (and cousin of lead singer James Dean Bradfield) is a classically trained musician who was the youngest-ever trumpet player to play in the South Wales Jazz Orchestra. As a child, he would play on marches organised by the National Union of Miners.

Princess Caraboo

Princess Caraboo appeared in Almondsbury in 1817, speaking a strange language and identifying herself as Princess Caraboo of Javasu, who had escaped from a ship to whose captain she had been sold by pirates. After becoming a national celebrity, she was later exposed as being Mary Willcocks, a cobbler’s daughter from Devon.

Lindsey Russell

University of Bristol drama and French graduate Lindsey became Blue Peter’s 36th presenter in 2013, winning the role just a week after graduating. She credited her success to being involved with UBTV, the student-run television station.

Andy Day

Sticking to children’s television, Andy Day – who lives in Bristol – is a familiar face to CBeebies fans from his shows on the channel including Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures and Andy’s Prehistoric Adventures, made by the Natural History Unit at BBC Bristol and filmed at Hengrove’s Bottle Yard Studios.

Miltos Yerolemou

We can all claim Maisie Williams as being from Bristol (even though she actually grew up in Clutton in Somerset), but Miltos Yerolemou, the sword fighting instructor of her character in Game of Thrones, Syrio Forel, really does live in Bristol – falling in love with the city after playing Bottom in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Bristol Old Vic.