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Any Famous Sandgrounders?

By John Turner - 02 August 2006

Dr R. Minnitt, inventor of 'Gas and and Air'

The New Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (nDNB) was published on 23rd September 2004, as a 60-volume printed edition and in an electronic form available on-line. The latter is available at Formby’s Public Library (Duke Street) and the librarian will help you to log-on if you wish to consult it. 

The Oxford DNB contains biographical notes on over 50,000 people. Since 2005, the electronic version has been added-to and revised constantly and this will continue indefinitely. As a matter of interest I recently searched the DNB for the name Formby. There was only thirty or so references and almost all of these were to either George Formby himself (George Hoy Booth, born Wigan, 1904) or people associated with him! Sir John Moores (1896-1993) and Father James Nugent (1822-1905) both died in Formby but only Sir Charles Kingston Webster (1886-1961), a historian, was born in Formby (at Ryeground Lane). 

I find it difficult to believe that he was the only person of distinction or interest, born in Formby, worthy of inclusion in the Oxford DNB. Perhaps Civic Society members can suggest people with Formby roots, dead or alive, who they think are worthy of inclusion in the regularly updated version. The standard lengths for biographical entries are 300 words and (exceptionally) 700 words. The Editor of the Website (Dr Reg Yorke) would be happy to receive suggested entries or even just names for consideration.