Pioneers

Discover more about our famous pioneers, such as great architects and mathematicians. From Watson Fothergill (the architect famous for having a positive effect on Nottingham's cityscape) to Ada Lovelace the mathematician who was the daughter of Lord Byron.

William Booth, Founder

Sneinton born William Booth (1829 - 1912) worked as an apprentice in a pawnbroker's shop in Nottingham from the age of 13. He became increasingly aware of the poverty in which people lived. He and his wife founded the East London Christian Mission in 1865. Their aim was to help meet the spiritual and material needs of the poor. The Mission became known as The Salvation Army in 1878. Further details about William Booth, including the Birthplace Museum and Trail can be found here.

Ada Lovelace, Mathematician

Described as an analyst, metaphysician, and founder of scientific computing, Ada Lovelace became a lifelong friend of Charles Babbage, the computer pioneer. She wrote about his "Analytical Engine" with such clarity and insight that her work became the defining text explaining the process now known as computer programming. Her father was the poet Lord Byron. She never knew him as a week after she was born, he left for Italy and died in Greece when Ada was eight years old. Both Byron and Ada are buried in St Mary Magdelene Church in Hucknall where you can find a small exhibition about their lives.

Helen Watts, Suffragette

Activist Helen Watts was born in 1881 in Durham, and moved with her family to Nottingham in 1893 when her father became the Vicar of Holy Trinity in Lenton. Inspired to join the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) after hearing Christabel Pankhurst speak at a meeting in December 1907, Helen dedicated herself to the suffragette cause and became a key figure in establishing the Nottingham branch. She was imprisoned twice for her activism in 1909, first in Holloway following her involvement with a demonstration outside the House of Commons and subsequently was arrested in Leicester for demonstrating outside a meeting at which MP Winston Churchill was due to speak.

Following her release she became a highly sought after speaker at meetings and events. Using her lively and practical mind to present a balanced and thoughtful view of the suffragette cause, she reminded audiences that most suffragettes were ordinary women with everyday concerns, and raised debates on many other issues including low wages, insurance and pension rights, and wider gender politics. 

George Green, Mathematician

George Green was one of the most remarkable of nineteenth century physicists, a self-taught mathematician whose work has contributed greatly to modern physics. Born in Nottingham in 1793, the only son of semi-literate baker, he showed `an intense application to mathematics'. Having completed just four terms at school, he started an apprenticeship in his father's mill at the age of 14. After much self-study at Bromley House Library he began to impress his peer with his self-taught genius, and within just seven years he published the first of many books. In 1830 he met his patron Sir Edward Bromhead at Cambridge University. Although he died in 1841, his theories in electricity and magnetism, and wave theory in sound and light, were rediscovered and developed from 1845. He gained posthumous reputation amongst 19th and 20th century mathematicians and scientists.

Today, Green's Windmill, in Sneinton, is a working Mill which is a popular museum and science centre. It teaches new generations of children about the valuable work of George Green and is still fully functional.

William Lee, Inventor

William Lee, the inventor of the knitting frame was born around 1563-64 in Calverton. After a Cambridge education, he returned to Nottinghamshire to become curate at the parish church of St. Wilfrid's. He produced his first frame in 1589. When he failed to secure a patent from Queen Elizabeth I, he took his invention to France. Sadly he died in relative obscurity around 1612. William's brother, James, brought the frames back from France and started the manufacture of silk and woollen stockings. Even though William Lee wasn't there to see it, his invention was destined to welcome in the modern hosiery industry.

Thomas Hawksley, Engineer

Thomas Hawksley (1807 - 1893) was born at Arnot Hill House in Arnold and is considered to be one of the greatest water engineers of the 19th century, as well as being a social reformer. In his lifetime he achieved international recognition for developing the first pressurised clean water supply available at the turn of a tap. At his first waterworks, near Trent Bridge, he pioneered a pressurised water system which meant that for the first time people could have running water at any time of the day.

Hawksley was also responsible for much of the planning and design work at Papplewick Pumping Station. Over his life-time Hawksley designed 150 water works for major towns in Britain and countries such as Sweden, Germany and Barbados in the West Indies. You can also see one of his steam-powered pumps at Nottingham Industrial Museum.