BIOGRAPHIES B

 

Badly Drawn Boy                                                                   See under Damon Gough

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Capt Edward Albert Ashton Bagley (1877-1961)                        MP Farnworth 1918-1922 (Conservative Unionist).                     Born 1877 Islington, London                                                     Died 5 November 1961 Bournemouth, Hampshire.  

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Robert Lever Bailey (c.1817-1865)

Died 31 Mar 1865 aged 48 years

He was Secretary of the Bolton District branch of the Order of Druids.                                                                              He is buried in Bolton (Tonge) Cemetery.

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Amadou Bakayoko (1996-)

Professional footballer                                                          Born January 1996 Kenema, Sierra Leone.

Bolton Wanderers forward 2021-

    

Hylda Baker (1905-1986)                                                        Comedienne, Actress, Music Hall and TV Star                             Born 4 February 1905 23 Ashworth Street, Farnworth, Bolton         Died 1 May 1986  Surrey                                                       Educated Ridgeways Endowed School; Plodder Lane Council School, Farnworth; St Hilary's College, Eastbourne First professional appearance at age 10, Tunbridge Wells Opera House - 'She Knows Y' Know' music hall act with silent foil 'Cynthia' (actually a very long sequence of tall men in drag.)                                       TV series Nearest and Dearest, Not On Your Nellie - had hit single parody version of 'You're the One That I Want' in 1979 with Arthur Mullard.                                                                               While recovering from illness bought and ran her grandmother's chip shop in Plodder Lane for a while in the 1950s.

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Sydney (Syd) Baker (1918-2000)                                             Body builder and Weightlifter - 'The Man In Bronze'                    Born 31 December 1918 Bolton                                                Died 2000 Bolton.               

Brother of Hylda Baker - did muscle control Variety stage act while covered in gold paint.

 

Alan James Ball (1945-2007)                                                    Professional Footballer                                                            Born 12 May 1945 Farnworth, Bolton                                       Died 24 April 2007 Warsash, Hampshire                                   Educated Farnworth Grammar School.                                      Forward / Midfielder - played for Bolton Wanderers, Blackpool, Everton, Arsenal, Southampton, Bristol Rovers and England. Managed Blackpool, Portsmouth (twice), Stoke, Exeter, Southampton and Manchester City. Had less successful career as a manager.                                                                               The youngest member of the England's victorious squad in the 1966 World Cup final against West Germany. Awarded MBE in 2000.                                                                                   Son of footballer and manager James Alan Ball qv.

 

Graham Thorben (Johnny) Ball (1938-)                                        Broadcaster                                                                            Born 23 May 1938 Bristol                                                      Educated Bolton County Grammar School.                                  Veteran presenter of children's TV programmes particularly popular science and maths. Family moved to Bolton when he was 11. Took his teenage nickname and later professional name from contemporary Bolton Wanderers player John Ball.                         Did 3 years national Service in RAF. Worked as Red Coat at Butlin's Holiday Camps. Appeared in BBC Playschool show for pre-school children for 17 years.                                                               Father of DJ / broadcaster Zoë Ball.

 

James Alan Ball (1924-1982)                                                   Professional Footballer                                                              Born 26 September 1924 Bolton                                              Died 2 January 1982 Cyprus.                                                Inside-forward - played for Southport, Birmingham City, Oldham Athletic and Rochdale. Manager of Halifax Town and Preston.         Killed in a car crash while working as football coach in Cyprus. Father of 1966 World Cup hero Alan James Ball qv.

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Fred Balshaw (1860-1936)                                                      Artist                                                                                     Born 1860 in Bolton, Lancashire, the son of Joseph and Sarah, nee Haslam.                                                                          Died 6 Oct 1936   Preston Royal Infirmary                                  A prolific and versatile genre painter of landscapes, figures and portraits.                                                                              In the 1881 census he is living in Little Bolton and was a   general clerk in the county court. In the 1891, 1901 and 1911 censuses he was still in Bolton but was an artist.                                       He died as a result of injuries received when knocked down by a motor cattle wagon on the Preston to Blackpool Road at Lea.           Bolton Council owns a number of his works.

 

David Bamber (1954-)                                                             Actor                                                                                    Born 19 September 1954 Walkden, Lancashire.                  Educated Farnworth Grammar School; RADA                              Starred as Cicero in epic TV mini-series 'Rome' and as Adolf Hitler in film 'Valkyrie'. Has made many other distinguished stage, TV and film appearances including TV series 'Pride and Prejudice' and 'Chalk'.

 

Thomas Bancroft (1756–1811)

Vicar of Bolton-le-Moors in Lancashire, England. (1793-1811)

Born 1756 Deansgate, Manchester, Lancashire, England

Died   5 Feb 1811 Great Bolton, Lancashire, England aged 54-55

While at the King's School in Chester, Bancroft married Miss Bennett, of Willaston Hall, against the wishes of her father, a wine merchant in Chester. Her father prevented an attempted elopement by stabbing his sword into Bancroft's leg, and he had to pay Bancroft £1,000 compensation. The marriage took place in defiance of the father, who was never reconciled to his daughter. He bequeathed, however, £1,000 each to her two daughters.   

In 1793 Bancroft was presented by William Cleaver, Bishop of Chester, to the living of Bolton-le-Moors, then worth about £250 a year.                                                                                   In 1798 Bancroft was made chaplain to the Bolton volunteers by royal warrant.                                                                        He remained as vicar of Bolton until his death on 5 February 1811. There was a tablet to his memory in the parish church.

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Ralph Banks (1920-1993)                       

Professional Footballer                                                             Born 28 June 1920 Farnworth, Bolton.                                     Died October 1993 Bolton                                                      He played for Bolton Wanderers 1940-54 and Aldershot.             Brother of Tommy Banks qv.

 

Tommy Banks (1929-)                                                           Professional footballer.       

Born 10 November 1929 New Bury, Farnworth, Bolton.         

Educated Harper Green Central School, Farnworth.                       Bolton Wanderers full back 1947-61 - Played in Bolton's last FA cup win - 2-0 against Manchester United 1958 - 6 England Caps.   A physical player - 'Tha'd better not try to get past me unless tha' wants gravel rash' was a famous remark to an opponent.               Brother of Ralph Banks qv.

 

Alan Bannister (1967-)                                                            Professional Basketball Player                                                     Born 1967                                                                            Educated Rivington and Blackrod School.                                   Played in the US NBA for Utah Jazz. Also played for Manchester Giants and for various teams around Europe.                               At 7 feet 4 inches almost certainly the tallest Boltonian.

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Michael Peter Banton (1978-)

Born Sep 1978

Managing Director of Artez Limited.

 

Alfred Barlow (1915-1983)                                                     Cricketer                                                                                Born 31 August 1915 Little Lever, Bolton                                     Died 9 May 1983 Middleton, Lancashire.                        

Batsman and wicket-keeper - played for Lancashire 1947-1951.

 

Annie Elizabeth Finney Barlow (1863-1941)                                Born 21 December 1863 Edgworth, Lancashire.                          Died 24 June 1941.                                                                Youngest daughter of James Barlow, Mayor of Bolton qv and sister of Sir Thomas Barlow, Royal Physician qv.                                    Honorary Secretary of the Bolton branch of the Egypt Exploration Society and was responsible for the donation of the core Egyptology collection now housed in Bolton Museum.                   She famously entertained Mahatma Ghandi in Edgworth when her house, Greenthorne, was used as a conference centre during his tour of the Lancashire cotton towns in September 1931.

 

Edward Barlow (1821-1868)                                                   Industrialist                                                                            Born 1821 Bolton                                                                   Died 10 November 1868 Snow Hill, Darcy Lever, Bolton.

Educated Wakefield              

1851 went into partnership with Benjamin Dobson qv creating Dobson & Barlow textile machinery manufacturers.                      Retired from business in 1866 through ill health. Company continued as Dobson & Barlow after Barlow's death.

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George Clough Barlow (1832-1893)                                       Tea dealer                                                                        Birth 1832 Halliwell, Lancashire, England.                                  Died 14 Mar 1893.                                                                1861 64 Davenport Street, Bolton. Traveller Tea Trade                  1881 23 Chorley Old Road, Bolton Wholesale Tea Dealer/ Local Methodist Preacher

 

James Barlow (1821-1887)  

Politician, Philanthropist and Industrialist.  

Born 23 April 1821 Tottington, Lancashire.                                  Died 16 August 1887 Greenthorne, Edgworth, Turton, Lancashire.   Mayor of Bolton 1867, 1868. (Liberal).                              Liberal Councillor 1853-1856, 1862-1870 - Alderman 1866. Founder of Barlow & Jones.                                                 Temperance campaigner - Gave estate and £5000 maintenance for Children's Home (opened as Barlow Memorial Home 1889) at Crowthorn, Edgworth. A founder of Bolton Institute for the Blind.

 

Richard Gorton (Dick) Barlow (1851-1919)                              England and County Cricketer                                                Born 28 May 1851 Barrow Bridge, Bolton.                              Died 31 July 1919 Stanley Park, Blackpool, Lancashire                 Educated St. George's School, Bolton.                                        Batsman and Bowler - played 249 matches for Lancashire between 1871 and 1891 - 17 Test matches - 3 tours of Australia.  

Worked as a moulder at Dobson & Barlow's, Bolton and later at the Iron Works, Stavele, Derbyshire. Published an autobiography - 'Forty seasons of first-class cricket' - in 1908.

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Jim Barnard                                                                          Retired geologist who worked in the oil industry                        From Bolton, Lancashire                                                          A contestant from series 23 of the UK version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? on 15th and 22nd January 2008. He won £10,000.

 

Charles Ronald (Ron) Barnes (1936-1991)                    

 Professional Footballer                                                              Born 21 February 1936 Bolton                                                  Died 7 December 1991                                                          Bolton Right Winger - played for Blackpool, Rochdale, Wrexham, Norwich City, Peterborough United and Torquay United.                Moved to play in South Africa in 1969.

 

Thomas Barnes (1812-1897)                                                    MP Bolton 1852-1857 (Liberal)                                               Born 1812 Gladstone Cottage, Gladstone Road, Farnworth, Bolton

 Died 24 April 1897 Oswestry, Shropshire.                 

 Mill owner and philanthropist. Founded Farnworth Old Band (brass band), gifted Farnworth Park to the town. High Sheriff of Denbighshire.                                                                      Son of Farnworth industrialist James Rothwell Barnes.                      Foot amputated after being thrown from a gig on Moor Lane, Bolton 10 February 1851.

 

John Barrett (1842-1908)     

Politician                                                                                9 February 1842 Heaton Mersey, Lancashire                               2 March 1908 Bolton.                                                          Mayor of Bolton 1888, 1889 (Conservative).                              Cleaning waste manufacturer.

 

Carly Bateman (c.1984-2001)                                                  Carly Bateman was just 17 when she was strangled, stripped naked and hidden beneath undergrowth in a back alley off Crawford Avenue, The Haulgh, on November 11, 2001.              She was a prostitute, forced to sell her body to feed a crippling addiction to heroin.                                                             The murder took place on the edge of a red-light district, which sprawled from its heart in Shiffnall Street, out to The Haulgh and parts of Great Lever.                                                                 It was the wake-up call which led to a crackdown on the vice trade, which reached its peak in 2007 with the introduction of Operation Zero.                                                                                     Up until then Bolton remained blighted by onstreet prostitution, with more than 140 women and children operating day and night in red light and residential areas.

 

William Harold Bateson (1897-1967)                                        Politician.                                                                              Born 1897 Grant Street, off Belmont Road, Bolton     

Died 26 July 1967 Astley Bridge, Bolton.                                  

Mayor of Bolton 1961 (Conservative).                                        Master butcher of 650 Blackburn Road, Bolton.

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Joe Battersby 

Furniture shop.

 

John Bauldie (1949-1996).                                                       Music Journalist and Author.                     

Born 23 August 1949 Farnworth, Bolton                                  Died 22 October 1996 Cheshire.                                            Educated Farnworth Grammar School; Leeds University.      

Author of several books about Bob Dylan, including "The Ghost of Electricity" - an account of the infamous 1966 tour. Editor of The Telegraph, a Dylan quarterly journal. He met Dylan only once, and was told that his work was "pretty interesting."                                Originally an English lecturer at Bury Technical College, he later moved to London and worked as a sub-editor on Q magazine. A devoted Bolton Wanderers fan - when asked which of his two passions he would give up if he had to choose, he replied: "Dylan."  Killed in a helcopter crash along with his friend, Chelsea Director Matthew Harding, while on his way home from a Wanderers match where they had defeated Chelsea 2-1.

 

Sir Thomas Bazley (1797-1885)                              

 Industrialist and Politician                                                        Born 27 May 1797 Gilnow, Bolton.                   

Died 18 March 1885 'Riversleigh', Lytham, Lancashire       

 Educated Bolton Grammar School                                            Proprietor Dean Mills, Barrow Bridge with Robert Gardner and created village there. Built schools for 400 pupils, lecture hall, steam kitchen. First cotton spinner to pay wages on Fridays. Sold business in 1862.                                                                   Founder member of Anti-Corn Law League 1839. Liberal MP for Manchester 1858?-1880. Baronet 1869. Helped to obtain Saturday Half Day Holiday for factory workers. President of Manchester Chamber of Commerce 1844-58.                             Died of heart failure.

 

Harold William (Harry) Beech (1946-)                               

Professional Footballer                                                             Born 7 January 1946 Kearsley, Bolton.                               

 Midfielder - played for Bolton Wanderers 1964-67 and Southport.

 

Philip Ingress Bell (1900-1986)                                               Born 10 January 1900 Kingston, Surrey                           

 Died 12 September 1986.                       

 Educated Stoneyhurst College; Queen's College, Oxford               MP Bolton East 1951-1960 (Conservative).              

 Midshipman in the Royal Navy 1918-20. Officer in East Lancashire Regiment at Dunkirk 1940. Joined Judge Advocate General's staff and served Normandy to Belsen 1944-45 - QC.   Lawyer. QC. County Court and Circuit Judge.

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