Sir John Hill (1714-1775)
Born in Peterborough, Sir John Hill became one of Georgian Britain’s most colourful botanists, producing a monumental study of plants and one of the earliest medical warnings linking tobacco with cancer.
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William Paley (1743-1805)
Born in Peterborough and baptised at its Cathedral, William Paley became one of Georgian Britain’s most influential philosophers and theologians, famous for the watchmaker argument that later helped shape the thinking of Charles Darwin.
Daphne Frances Jackson OBEÂ (1936-1991)
Born and educated in Peterborough, Daphne Jackson became Britain’s first female Professor of Physics and created a pioneering fellowship scheme that has helped hundreds of researchers return to their careers.
Charles A Hall (1872-1965)
Long before nature writing became a publishing category, a minister from Eastfield was teaching Edwardian Britain how to look at a pond.
Richard V. Reeves
Peterborough-born writer and social scientist Richard V. Reeves has built an international career examining social mobility, class, family life and the changing circumstances of boys and men.
William Speechly (1735-1819)
Born near Peterborough in 1735, William Speechly became one of Georgian Britain’s most important practical horticulturists. As head gardener to the 3rd Duke of Portland, he combined observation, experiment and engineering to improve the cultivation of pineapples, grapes and other tender fruits in the English climate.
Frank Close OBE
Peterborough-born physicist Professor Frank Close OBE FRS has spent his career investigating the fundamental structure of matter and helping millions of readers, viewers and listeners understand some of science’s most challenging ideas.
Alfred Nicholson Leeds (1847–1917)
Alfred Nicholson Leeds (1847–1917) was a pioneering British fossil collector whose work transformed our understanding of Jurassic marine life.
Dr Thomas James Walker (1835-1916)
A pioneering surgeon at Peterborough Infirmary, now the Museum, from 1862 to 1906.
George Alcock (1912–2000)
Born and raised in Peterborough, George Alcock was one of Britain’s most remarkable amateur astronomers, celebrated for discovering five comets and several bright novae with nothing more than patient observation and an extraordinary memory for the night sky.