Henry Hopwood (1813-1869)                                                      Australian Pioneer                                                                          Born 1813 Bolton                                                                    Died 1 Jan 1869 Echuca, Victoria, Australia of typhoid.                 Transported to Australia in 1834 for receiving stolen silk - but by 1835 had become a police constable there.                                               1853 founded town of Echuca in Victoria. 

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John Horrocks (1768-1804)  

British cotton manufacturer and Member of Parliament for Preston.          Born 27 Mar 1768 Edgworth, Lancashire, England                          Died 1 Mar 1804 London.                                                         His father  was a manufacturer of high-quality stone printing tables for textiles in Edgworth.

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William Horrocks (-1796)

Murdered in the parish of Deane by being struck on the head with a large stick on 27 Oct 1796.                                                      Samuel Longworth executed in 1797 for the crime.

 

Sir William Heaton Horrocks (1859-1941)                                        Physician and Soldier                                                                     Born 25 August 1859 Bolton                                                           Died 26 January 1941 Owens College, Manchester.                        Became military Surgeon, rising to the rank of Brigadier General by the end of the First old War. First person to be appointed Director of Hygiene at the War Office in 1919.                                                 Responsible for confirming the theory that Malta fever was spread through goat's milk. Developed the 'Horrocks Box' a portable device for making safe contaminated water supplies.                                   Honorary Surgeon to King George V 1914-17. Companion of the Bath 1917. Knighted 1918. He was the father of Sir Brian Horrocks, a leading corps commander in the Second World War.

 

Harry Houdini (1874-1926).                                                          Hungarian-born American illusionist and stunt performer.                     Born 24 Mar 1874 Erik Weisz, later known as Ehrich Weiss or Harry Weiss                                                                                    Died 31 October 1926.                                                           Noted for his escape acts.                                                              Played Grand Theatre, Bolton 21-26 December 1908                 Played Hippodrome Bolton 2-7 January 1911

 

The Housemartins                                                                          In 1986, fresh on the success of monster hits Happy Hour and Caravan of Love, The Housemartins performed at the club City Lites. [formerly Blighty’s Chapel Street Farnworth]                                                 The performance was for a special edition of ITV programme Hold Tight and host Peter Simon stood in front of a packed out crowd at the club as he introduced the indie band for a short 20-minute set.

 

Neil Howarth (1971-)                                                                    Professional Footballer.                                                              Born 15 November 1971 Bolton                                           Defender - played for Macclesfield, Cheltenham and Telford

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Prentice Howarth (1936-)                                                                Politician                                                                                      Born 1936 London                                                                Mayor of Bolton 2004 (Labour).                                                 Born Prentice Tomney. Union official. Secretary of Bolton Branch of Dyers and Bleachers Union. Secretary of Bolton Branch of the Transport and General Workers Union 1965-74.                                  Resigned as Deputy Mayor of Bolton in 2005 after allegedly scratching a neighbour's car in the street.

 

Richard Howarth                                                                          The Mere Hall estate was sold to a local speculative builder, Mr Richard Howarth who was interested in the estate for building land. As a result, the open space around the house diminished. He was known locally as 'Stocking Dick' because of his pastime of knitting stockings as presents for his relatives and friends -

 

Robert Lever Howarth (1927-)                                                       Born 31 July 1927 Bolton.                                                              Educated Bolton County Grammar School; Bolton Technical College   MP Bolton East 1964-1970 (Labour).                                                Councillor. Made Freeman of Bolton 2001.

 

Walter (Walt) Howarth (1928-2008)                                               Illustrator and Comic Book Artist                                                      Born 1 January 1928 Bolton                                                           Died 3 March 2008 Royal Bolton Hospital, Farnworth                  Tonge Fold School, Bolton; Bolton School of Art & Design.                    Illustrated many comic book, film and TV series children's annuals, producing his best-loved work during the 1960s and 70s.                     Was landlord of pub 'The House with No Name' in Harwood, Bolton.

 

John Thomas Howcroft (1875-1963)                                    International Football Referee.                                                     Born 1875 Daubhill Bolton.                                                            Died 1963 Southport, Lancashire.                                                    Refereed FA cup in 1920 - Founded Howcroft's sports outfitters on Fold Street.

 

George William Howson (1900-)                                                     Professional Footballer                                                                   Born 1900 Bolton                                                                      Educated  Oxford Grove Council School, Bolton                              He played for Bristol City 1925-27.

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Henry Edward Hubbick (1910-1992)                                      English footballer                                                                     Born 12 November 1910   Jarrow, England                                     Died  18 March 1992      Preston, England aged 81                          He played professional football for Burnley, Bolton Wanderers, Port Vale, and Rochdale.                                                                            In February 1937, he left Burnley and joined Bolton Wanderers, moving up from the Second Division to the First Division.                                 With the outbreak of World War II football was cancelled and Hubbick went back to work in the pits, also guesting for Blackpool, Bury and Blackburn Rovers. Immediately after the war, Bolton manager Walter Rowley made him club captain. He led the club to an 18th-place finish in 1946–47.                                                                      Between 1937–1947 he made 128 appearances for Bolton Wanderers.                              

 

Warrant Officer Norman Thomas Huckle (c.1924-1945)                   February 2nd, 1945. Two 21-year-old Hurricane pilots with orders to undertake flying exercises within the vicinity of their base at RAF Calverley in Cheshire, immediately flew North in formation. 20 minutes later, Flight Sergeant Thomas Stanley Taylor and Warrant Officer Norman Thomas Huckle crashed into each other at about 6,000 feet in cloud and dived to the ground north of Bolton in Lancashire. Both men were killed. Warrant Officer Huckle’s Hurricane came down close by, at Horrocks Fold Farm, while Flt. Sgt Thomas Stanley Taylor ‘s Hurricane crashed here on the moor.

 

William Hulton (1787-1864)                                                           Industrialist and Politician                                                           Born 27 October 1787                                                                 Died 30 March 1864 Hulton Park, Westhoughton, Bolton        Educated Brasenose College, Cambridge                                    Hard-line Tory and High Sheriff of Lancashire at 24 in 1810. A mine owner passionately opposed to Trades Unions and Parliamentary reform.                                                                                   One of the magistrates who ordered troops to break up a reformist public meeting In St Peter's Field, Manchester on 16 August 1819 resulting in 11 deaths and 400 injuries - the Peterloo Massacre - which he called "the proudest day in my life."                                                Involved in the planning and construction of the Bolton & Leigh Railway.

 

Nicholas Brett (Nicky) Hunt (1983-)                                                   Professional Footballer                                                                   Born 3 September 1983 Westhoughton, Bolton                                 Defender - played for Bolton Wanderers from 2000.

 

Barbara Annette Hurst (1919-2001)                                              Politician                                                                                     Born 20 August 1919 Bolton                                                    Died September 2001 Bolton                                                Educated Mount St Joseph Grammar School for Girls, Bolton          Mayor of Bolton 1984 (Conservative)                                           Born Barbara Annette Mulliner. Trained as a domestic science teacher and taught at local schools - later became an examiner.

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Erica Hurst   (c.1992-)                                                                   From Kearsley near Bolton, worked from time to time as a lap dancer at Diamonds Lap Dancing Club for two years before going on to Castaway.

 

Jack Hurst (1914-2002)                                                                  Professional Footballer                                                                   Born 27 October 1914 Lever Bridge, Bolton                                Died February 2002 Harrow, Middlesex                                            Midfielder - played for Bolton Wanderers 1933-1947 and later Oldham Athletic.                                                                                   The only Bolton-born member of the famous 'Wartime Wanderers' - the 1939 Bolton Wanderers team who joined the 53rd Field Regiment - the Bolton Artillery - en masse at the outbreak of the Second World War, led by their Captain, Harry Goslin.                                                        He took part in the evacuation of Dunkirk and saw active war service under fire in north Africa and Italy, where his officer, then Lt Harry Goslin, was killed.

 

Jack Hylton  (1892-1965)                                                            Band Leader, Impresario and TV Pioneer                                      Born 2 July 1892 75 Boundary Street, Little Lever, Bolton                 Died 29 January 1965 London                                                   Educated Little Lever Wesleyan School .                                            Real name John Greenhalgh Hilton. Began career as 'The Singing Mill Boy' - had a double act with Tommy Handley - Queens Hall Roof Orchestra 1920 - Later Jack Hylton and his Orchestra - disbanded in 1940.                                                                                         Awarded Legion d'Honneur in 1932.                                      Became producer of shows for stage and for early commercial TV - advisor to Associated Rediffusion - discovered Shirley Bassey - Had long association with the Crazy Gang.

 

BIOGRAPHIES I

 

Dr Brian Iddon (1940-)                                                                   Born 5 July 1940 Tarleton, Lancashire.                                             Educated Christ Church Boys' School, Southport; Southport Technical College; University of Hull.                                                          MP Bolton South East 1997- 2010 (Labour).                              Bolton MBC Councillor 1977-1998, Elected Honorary Alderman 1998 for services to Bolton.                                                              Retired 2010.

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William Inglis (1835-1890)                                                            Civil engineer                                                                          Born 10 May 1835 Ottawa,  Canada of Scottish parentage               Died 22 Apr 1890 his residence Wilton Grange, Bolton.                     In December, 1867, he was appointed the engineering manager of, and ultimately a partner in, the Soho Iron-Works, Bolton, Messrs. Hick, Hargreaves and Co.                                                                      1881 Living at 47 Seymour Road, Bolton

 

Ronald Charles (Ronnie) Irani (1971-)                                       Cricketer                                                                                     Born 26 October 1971 Leigh, Lancashire.                                         Educated Church Road Primary School, Bolton; Smithills School, Bolton.  Batsman and Bowler - played for Lancashire 1990-1993, England and Essex from 1994 (Captain).

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Sir Henry Irving (1838-1905)                                                    English stage actor                                                                   Born 6 February 1838  John Henry Brodribb                                    Died 13 October 1905                                                                  The foundation stone the Theatre Royal and Opera House, in Bolton, was laid by the actor Henry Irving on 17 October 1888, a month before its opening.                                                                         In 1895 he became the first actor to be awarded a knighthood.

 

Dr Susan Sutherland Isaacs (1885-1948)                                    Child Psychologist and Psychoanalyst                                               Born 1885 Bradshaw Brow, Bradshaw, Lancashire                          Died 1948 Hampstead, London                                              Bolton Central Higher Grade School; University of Manchester; Cambridge University Child Psychologist and Psychoanalyst                Born Susan Fairhurst. Her own hard childhood shaped her views about unsympathetic education - removed from school at 14 she continued to teach herself.                                                                      Founded experimental Malting House School, Cambridge 1924 on 'child-centred' principles with Geoffrey Pyke.                                       Sister of Enoch Fairhurst qv.

 

Shirley Isherwood                                                                    Author                                                                        Middlesbrough, Yorkshire                                                             Educated Clarendon Street CP School; Emmanuel School; Derby Street County Secondary School for Girls                                                  Writer of over 40 books for children - published work includes 'The Brollys' series (also made into an animated TV series), 'The Stealing of Queen Victoria', 'Flora the Frog' and 'The Band Over the Hill'. Brought up in Bolton from three weeks old.