Search is on for Wycombe’s Number One Legend

That is the question we are putting today to readers of the Bucks Free Press who are invited to vote in a special poll to name the ‘Number One Wycombe Legend’ from the past.

The poll is being run in conjunction with the Rotary Club of High Wycombe to mark its centenary year.

The winner will be announced at the Rotary Club’s gala centenary dinner in July, and a special commemorative plaque will be awarded in the legend’s honour to further etch their name in Wycombe’s history.

High Wycombe legends include: Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli; Victoria Cross medal recipient Frederick Youens; fantasy author Terry Pratchett; Jack Scruton, ‘the man who saved The Rye’; and English Civil War hero John Hampden.

Martin Crook, President of the Rotary Club of High Wycombe, said: “They don’t necessarily have to have lived here – it’s the contribution they made to Wycombe that counts. We have a large list of names so we are grateful to the BFP for helping us to whittle this down to a short list through a poll of readers.

“We look forward to honouring the number one legend at our 100-year celebration gala at High Wycombe Town Hall in the summer, and hope that this initiative will help to enrich the area’s history even further.”

The poll will include names of legends from the area that was formerly part of the Wycombe District Council map, which included Marlow and Princes Risborough. At present, the list is limited to people from the past, but the club also hopes to later run a further ‘Living Legends’ vote if there is a public appetite for it.

Mr Crook added: “It was difficult to set a geographical boundary for this because our members are from all over the south of the county, so we settled on the area formerly known as the Wycombe district. This means that readers can also vote for people such as Mary Shelley and TS Eliot.”

Anyone who wants to attend the Rotary Club gala dinner on July 24 should email centenarydinner@rotaryclubofhighwycombe.co.uk for further details. TV personality Eric Knowles will be guest speaker at the event.

The club is also organising a ‘Community Together’ event at Adams Park on Saturday July 18 when it is hoped 120 charities and community groups will be displaying their activities to an estimated 5,000 residents. Organisations who wish to take part in this should email communityday@rotaryclubofhighwycombe.co.uk for further details.

Katie French, editor of the Bucks Free Press, said: “Wycombe’s history is packed with people who changed the town, the country and even the world. This poll puts that decision where it belongs – in the hands of our readers.

“We can’t wait to see who readers will vote for, and if there’s someone you think is missing, do send your suggestions to me at katie.french@bucksfreepress.co.uk.”

See bucksfreepress.co.uk for the list of names to vote for on our poll. If someone you believe is missing from this, please get in touch. This ‘long list’ will be then whittled down to a shortlist of three before the big night later this summer.

THE LONG LIST

THE Rotary Club has narrowed the list down to 15 names who lived or worked within the old Wycombe District boundaries but you are invited to add your own nominations if your favourite is not here:

John Hampden – c. June 1595 – to 24 June 1643, was a member of the landed gentry from Buckinghamshire, who was killed fighting for Parliament in the First English Civil War. Has a school and other places named after him. Buried at Great Hampden church.

Sir Terry Pratchett - 28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015, worked for the Bucks Free Press - Sir Terence Pratchett, was an English author, humourist, and satirist, best known for the Discworld series of 41 comic fantasy novels published between 1983 and 2015, and for the apocalyptic comedy novel Good Omens, which he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman

Earl Benjamin Disraeli – 21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881, only Jewish Prime Minister. Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, was a British statesman, Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation of the modern Conservative Party, defining its policies and its broad outreach. He lived at Hughenden Manor.

Dame Frances Dove – 27 June 1847 – 21 June 1942 - Dame Jane Frances Dove, DBE, JP was an English women's campaigner, who founded the girls' schools, Wycombe Abbey and Godstowe.

Cilla Black OBE – 27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015, Priscilla White, known professionally as Cilla Black, was an English singer, actress and television presenter. Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her singles "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and "You're My World" both reached number one in the UK in 1964. Lived in Buckinghamshire. Link to Wycombe is through connections to the Scannappeal charity.

Frankie Vaughan CBE DL –3 February 1928 – 17 September 1999, Frank Abelson known professionally as Frankie Vaughan was an English singer and actor who became popular in the 1950s and 60s, recording more than 80 easy listening and traditional pop singles in his lifetime. He was known as "Mr. Moonlight" after his signature song "Give Me the Moonlight, Give Me the Girl". He lived in High Wycombe for many years.

Jack Scruton MBE – died 1991 - a local campaigner who was known as ‘the man who saved The Rye’ in High Wycombe. He led the local community’s efforts to safeguard the parkland from a potential road development in the 1960s.

Ian Dury – 12 May 1942 – 27 March 2000, Ian Dury was an English singer, educated at the Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe, songwriter and actor who rose to fame in the late 1970s, during the punk and new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Kilburn and the High Roads, the Kilburns, Ian Dury and the Blockheads and Ian Dury and the Music Students

Lucian Ercolani - 8 May 1888 – 9 June 1976, Lucian Ercolani was an Italian furniture designer who founded Ercol Furniture in High Wycombe. Born in Sant'Angelo in Vado, Marche, Italy, he later moved to London with his family. He began his career in furniture manufacture with the Salvation Army joinery department, later joining Frederick Parker that later became Parker Knoll. In the late-1940s, Ercolani developed his range of mass-produced Ercol Furniture, which became a household name in post-war Britain, and which continues today.

Geoffrey de Havilland - 27 July 1882 – 21 May 1965, born in High Wycombe, Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, OM, CBE, AFC, RDI, FRAeS was an English aviation pioneer and aerospace engineer who founded the aircraft company de Havilland. The company produced the Mosquito, which has been considered the most versatile warplane ever built, and his Comet was the first jet airliner to go into production.

Fred Youens - 14 August 1892 – 7 July 1917, born in High Wycombe, was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was twenty four years old, and a temporary second lieutenant in the 13th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 7 July 1917 near Hill 60, Belgium, it was reported that the enemy were preparing to raid the British trenches and Second Lieutenant Youens, who had already been wounded, immediately set out to rally a Lewis gun team which had become disorganised. While doing this an enemy bomb fell on the Lewis gun position without exploding. The second lieutenant picked it up and hurled it over the parapet, but soon after another bomb fell near the same place and again he picked it up, but it exploded in his hand, severely wounding him and some of his men. The officer later succumbed to his wounds.

T S Eliot - 26 September 1888 – 4 January 1965, was a poet, essayist and playwright. He was a teacher at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe, and a leading figure in English-language Modernist poetry where he reinvigorated the art through his use of language, writing style, and verse structure. He is also noted for his critical essays, which often re-evaluated long-held cultural beliefs. Lived in West Street, Marlow.

Hannah Ball - 13 March 1734 - 16 August 1792, was an English Wesleyan Methodist and pioneer of the Sunday school. When John Wesley and other Methodist preachers visited High Wycombe, where she lived for most of her life, she was attracted by their teaching. In 1766 she began to keep a diary, some extracts of which have been published. Several of the letters that passed between her and Wesley have also been printed.

Laura Sadler - 25 December 1980 – 19 June 2003, was an English actress. She played pupil Judi Jeffreys in the children's school drama series Grange Hill, and nurse Sandy Harper in the BBC One hospital drama series Holby City for three years from 2000 until her death in 2003. Sadler was born in Ascot, Berkshire, and grew up in High Wycombe. As a young girl she enrolled at the Jackie Palmer Stage School in High Wycombe, before joining the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London. She was spotted as a future talent at the age of six by Dustin Hoffman, who had seen her in a play and asked to meet her. Before joining the cast of Holby City, she had played Judi Jeffreys in the children's television series Grange Hill from 1997 to 1999. Her Grange Hill character died after slipping and falling out of a burning building.

Mary Shelley – 30 August 1797- 1 February 1851 - was an English novelist who wrote Frankenstein. Was married to the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Lived at Albion House in Marlow.

VOTE NOW - HAVE YOUR SAY!

Who have we missed? Let us know in the comments below or email katie.french@newsquest.co.uk

Poll closes March 31.