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100 Greatest Britons Quiz

In 2002, the BBC took a poll to determine the 100 greatest British (and Irish) people of all time. How many can you guess?
This list is everything you'd expect from a public poll
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: December 28, 2019
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First submittedJanuary 31, 2012
Times taken42,992
Average score41.8%
Rating4.36
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#
Who They Were
Briton
1
Prime Minister for most of WWII
Winston Churchill
2
Built steam ships, bridges, tunnels, and the Great Western Railway
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
3
Celebrity princess
Princess Diana
4
Formulated the theory of natural selection
Charles Darwin
5
Greatest of English playwrights
William Shakespeare
6
Invented calculus and the three laws of motion
Isaac Newton
7
Tudor queen
Queen Elizabeth I
8
One of the Beatles
John Lennon
9
Admiral at the Battle of Trafalgar
Horatio Nelson
10
Lord Protector during the Commonwealth Era
Oliver Cromwell
11
Famous for a doomed antarctic expedition that got stuck in sea ice
Ernest Shackleton
12
"Discovered" Hawaii
Captain James Cook
13
Founded the Boy Scouts
Robert Baden-Powell
14
"Great" King of Wessex
Alfred the Great
15
General who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo
Arthur Wellesley
16
First female Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher
17
Actor who starred in "Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em"
Michael Crawford
18
Queen for 63 years
Queen Victoria
19
Another one of the Beatles
Paul McCartney
20
Discovered penicillin
Alexander Fleming
21
Pioneering computer scientist and code breaker who was persecuted
for being gay
Alan Turing
22
Self-taught scientist who made important discoveries in electromagnetism
and chemistry
Michael Faraday
23
Led Wales's unsucessful fight for independence in the early 1400s
Owain Glyndŵr
24
Longest reigning monarch in British history
Queen Elizabeth II
25
Theoretical physicist who had ALS disease
Stephen Hawking
26
Produced the first English translation of the Bible
William Tyndale
27
Radical suffragette who founded the WSPU
Emmeline Pankhurst
28
Campaigned to end the slave trade, and later, to abolish slavery entirely
William Wilberforce
29
Pop musician whose alter ego was "Ziggy Stardust"
David Bowie
30
Plotted to blow up Parliament with gun powder
Guy Fawkes
31
RAF group captain who won the Victoria Cross in 1944
Leonard Cheshire
32
Comedian who partnered with Ernie Wise
Eric Morecambe
33
Famous footballer who married a Spice Girl
David Beckham
34
Born in England, he migrated to the United States where he wrote
"Common Sense" and "The Rights of Man"
Thomas Paine
35
Celtic queen who resisted Roman invasion
Boudica
36
Rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympics
Steve Redgrave
37
Catholic saint who wrote "Utopia", burned heretics at the stake,
and was executed in 1535
Thomas More
38
Painter and poet who came just before the Romantic Era
William Blake
39
Invented the marine clock used to establish longitude
John Harrison
40
King who had six wives
King Henry VIII
41
Wrote "Great Expectations" among other novels
Charles Dickens
42
Invented the jet engine
Frank Whittle
43
DJ on BBC Radio 1 from 1967 until 2004
John Peel
44
Invented the television
John Logie Baird
45
Founded the National Health Service
Aneurin Bevan
46
Lead singer of the band Culture Club
Boy George
47
RAF fighter ace who shot down at least 22 planes from 1939-1941
Douglas Bader
48
Scottish freedom fighter, subject of the movie "Braveheart"
William Wallace
49
Sea captain and privateer who circumnavigated the globe
Francis Drake
50
Founder of the Methodist church
John Wesley
51
King who got a sword from a "moistened bint"
King Arthur
52
She is considered the founder of modern nursing
Florence Nightingale
53
British army officer who fought in the Arab Revolt during WWI
T. E. Lawrence
54
Led the second expedition to reach the South Pole
Robert Falcon Scott
55
His 1968 "Rivers of Blood" speech opposed mass immigration
Enoch Powell
56
Singer with 14 #1 hits in the UK, with at least one in five different decades
Cliff Richard
57
Scotsman who moved to American and invented the telephone
Alexander Graham Bell
58
Lead singer of Queen
Freddie Mercury
59
Actress from "The Sound of Music" and "Mary Poppins"
Julie Andrews
60
"Pomp and Circumstance" composer
Edward Elgar
61
Royal who died in 2002 at age 101
Queen Elizabeth,
the Queen Mother
62
Yet another one of the Beatles
George Harrison
63
"Planet Earth" narrator
David Attenborough
64
De-facto leader of the Easter Rising in Ireland, executed by
firing squad in 1916
James Connolly
65
He built the world's first railway to use steam locomotives
George Stephenson
66
Silent actor whose alter ego was The Tramp
Charlie Chaplin
67
Prime minister, 1997-2007
Tony Blair
68
Introduced the printing press to England in 1476
William Caxton
69
Captain of England's 1966 World Cup winning squad
Bobby Moore
70
"Pride & Prejudice" author
Jane Austen
71
Founded the Salvation Army
William Booth
72
King who won the Battle of Agincourt
King Henry V
73
Occultist who founded a religion called Thelema and is the subject
of a song by Ozzy Osbourne
Aleister Crowley
74
King who led the Scottish to independence in the 1300s
Robert the Bruce
75
No one knows
The Unknown Warrior
76
Band Aid founder who wrote "Do They Know It's Christmas?"
Bob Geldof
77
Member of the band Take That
Robbie Williams
78
Created the vaccine for smallpox
Edward Jenner
79
Prime Minister during the second half of WWI
David Lloyd George
80
Invented the Analytical Engine, a mechanical computer
Charles Babbage
81
"The Canterbury Tales" poet
Geoffrey Chaucer
82
"Hunchbacked" king who died at the Battle of Bosworth Field
King Richard III
83
"Harry Potter" author
J.K. Rowling
84
His improvements to the steam engine ushered in the Industrial Revolution
James Watt
85
Founder of Virgin
Richard Branson
86
U2 lead singer
Bono
87
Lead singer of the Sex Pistols
Johnny Rotten
88
Commander of Allied forces during the Battle of Normandy in WWII
Bernard Montgomery
89
Broke the land speed and water speed records in the same year (1964)
Donald Campbell
90
King who had Thomas Becket offed
King Henry II
91
Created the mathematical framework for the science of electromagnetism
James Clerk Maxwell
92
"Lord of the Rings" author
J.R.R. Tolkien
93
Tudor courtier who tried to colonize Virginia and popularized smoking
Walter Raleigh
94
English king, known as "Longshanks", who conquered Wales
King Edward I
95
Invented the "bouncing bomb" used to attack German dams in WWII
Barnes Wallis
96
Shakespearean and film actor who married Elizabeth Taylor
Richard Burton
97
He renounced his title as Viscount Stansgate to become a left wing politician
in the House of Commons
Tony Benn
98
Explorer who Henry Morton Stanley searched for and found in Africa
David Livingstone
99
Inventor of the World Wide Web
Tim Berners-Lee
100
Founded the first birth control clinic in Britain
Marie Stopes
+4
Level 82
Jun 23, 2013
Sir Francis Bacon loses out to Boy George, David Beckham, Paul McCartney, and two imaginary characters (among others, haven't reviewed the entire list). Pretty sad. Also, Margaret Thatcher > Adam Smith?
+1
Level 82
Jun 23, 2013
re: all the comments above about questionable inclusions/ommissions/rankings.. there are so many so hard to know where to begin.
+2
Level 80
Aug 6, 2013
No Morrissey?? Come on!
+4
Level 77
Aug 8, 2013
Never knew Steven Hawking was British. Perhaps they should give his computer a bit of an accent?
+1
Level 92
Feb 25, 2014
I was going to make a snark about Britain not having enough technical skill to pull it off... but Alan Turing's on the list, so I'll let it slide this time.
+13
Level 31
Jul 26, 2016
What? Just.... What?
+1
Level 22
Apr 15, 2014
And for cripes sake, Mrs. Mills didn't even make the list but dross like Robbie Williams, does?
+3
Level 83
Apr 16, 2014
Fun quiz to take, though the source material is clearly garbage. Morecambe but no Milligan? Diana #3? And for the love of all that's good and holy, where is PG Wodehouse?!?!
+2
Level 48
May 18, 2022
It was a public poll
+3
Level 44
May 3, 2014
Only 4% got Aneurin Bevan! The man gave us free healthcare! Not his fault the rest of Europe wants to come and use it!
+2
Level 54
Nov 14, 2014
I'm a bit embarrassed about missing him, I had Attlee in mind instead
+2
Level 69
Oct 19, 2017
There's no such thing as free healthcare! You pay for it through your taxes. I lived under that healthcare system for a few years and am eternally grateful I never got really sick.
+9
Level 83
Sep 5, 2018
Nobody in the UK ever went bankrupt from healthcare, or had to choose between eating and treatment.
+3
Level 71
May 20, 2021
Everybody is entitled to the free healthcare, whether they pay taxes or not
+1
Level 70
Dec 15, 2019
This comment explains how so many people got Aneurin Bevan. When I saw that he was on the same percentage as William Wilberforce I was extremely surprised.
+3
Level 67
May 4, 2014
OK, this list is a really odd assortment... You get Kings, explorers, scientists, a few great writers and musical artists... and then you got Beckham, Boy George and Lady Di. Uh. Anyway, I managed 32 out of 100, which I thought was pretty meh until I saw I was in the 91st percentile. I'm happy for having gotten some of the lower-guessed answers like Wilberforce and Florence, but somehow I never got to scientists in my mental review of UK history so I missed the really obvious ones like Newton and Darwin and Hawking, and missed lots of writers like Tolkien, Chaucer, Blake and More (I couldn't believe tehBrontes, Wilde or Byron were not there). And of course there's a lot of people I didn't even know were Brits like Watt and Turing. Anyway. I love those kind of quizzes, though, it really stretches your memory.
+1
Level 86
May 10, 2014
Well... a poll is a poll. What a stupid list this is...
+4
Level 66
Jun 5, 2019
exactly, it is a poll, so I really dont get all the comments; the list is wrong etc. It is the outcome of a poll, therefor the answers are valid. Are the things and order people voted for a bit silly, yes, definitely.

But really how can anyone be truly surprised about that. It is not a new thing that some people that have hardly any skill accomplishment or contribution to their name are popular.

( kind of getting tired of this is an outrage comments... yeahyeah we know... move on...)

+3
Level 77
May 15, 2014
Sometimes you wonder about people. This list makes you wonder about a lot of them. A few names missing that really jump out at me: John Stuart Mill, Roger Bannister, Christopher Wren, Benjamin Britten, Henry Purcell, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Lord Byron. And I'm surprised it didn't include any actors such as Lawrence Olivier, Rex Harrison, Richard Burton, Sean Connery.

Very odd definition of great some people have.

Boy George?

+1
Level 82
Dec 16, 2018
Burton is at #96
+1
Level 52
Jul 27, 2014
There should be at least 20 footballers.
+5
Level 75
Aug 3, 2014
Boy George is included but not one Bronte sister? I weep.
+1
Level 45
Aug 10, 2014
3:00 left! Phew!
+1
Level 69
Aug 25, 2014
Surprised to see that the Quizmaster hasn't heard of Brunel
+1
Level 57
Sep 22, 2014
Better without the clues.
+1
Level 44
Oct 5, 2014
Philo T. Farnsworth invented the television. And didn't Nazi Germany invent the jet engine? Or were they the first to use it on a jet?
+1
Level ∞
Dec 28, 2019
Almost no invention can be claimed by a single person, including the television and the jet engine.
+1
Level 19
Oct 5, 2014
What about Henry Hudson?
+1
Level 71
Oct 5, 2014
People voted for this list and for many people pop singers and footballers are more important than people in other fields of endeavour. Ask family and friends who the most important people are today and you may be surprised at their answers........
+1
Level 37
Oct 6, 2014
Id have to argue against the television inventor listed here; much of what I have read over the years have said that Philo Farnsworth, an American, invented television.
+3
Level 62
Apr 2, 2016
No one person invented anything.
+1
Level 15
Oct 7, 2014
I'm glad James Connelly will never see his name on this list. For the record Irish people are not Britons.
+1
Level 26
Sep 3, 2015
Northern Irish people are indeed British.
+1
Level 78
Dec 21, 2018
Officially, I'm pretty sure no, but essentially yes.
+2
Level 72
Feb 24, 2020
Connolly was Scottish though, therefore he was British. Not sure why Brits would vote for him to be on a list of 100 greatest Britons though...
+1
Level 25
Oct 23, 2014
Freddy mercury was not born in the uk I believe he was from Lebanon but may be mistaken
+8
Level 71
Aug 4, 2015
Freddy was born in Tanzania (then Zanzibar) to parents of Indian (Gujarati) extraction. Freddy was a British Citizen at birth and remained so for life.
+2
Level 62
Apr 2, 2016
Zanzibar and India were both British countries at the time.
+1
Level 78
Feb 24, 2020
but he was British
+1
Level 47
Jan 20, 2015
Guy Gibson and/or The Dam Busters
+2
Level 56
Nov 30, 2015
As a Brit, I have seen this list before and am still horrified at the choices some people have made. Taking the political element out (I would be here all day otherwise!) it amazes me that people think Michael Crawford is a greater Briton than Stephen Hawking. I mean, seriously, based on what exactly?!
+1
Level 75
Mar 9, 2016
It's really quite depressing that some of these names are on this list, especially at the expense of certain others
+2
Level 31
Jul 26, 2016
Also Tony Blair/Thatcher over Disraeli?
+1
Level 78
Dec 29, 2016
Most lists of this kind are divisive, but this one is just shameful. It's not a list of the greatest Britons. It's just a popularity contest among not particularly bright individuals.
+2
Level 74
Jan 14, 2017
Ok Time to add sir Terry Pratchett, isnt it? Maybe there are some updates to that source list by now
+2
Level 73
Jul 15, 2017
I'm surprised Alfred Hitchcock wasn't in the top 98.
+6
Level 48
Oct 19, 2017
This list is ridiculous - but don't blame the quiz master, blame the British people - it is based on what they (we) said.

To anyone who thinks referenda (or even democracy) are a good idea, how can you entrust decisions to people who think Princess Diana contributed more to history than Newton or Shakespeare?

+2
Level 71
Oct 19, 2017
I agree with your statement 100%.
+7
Level 79
Dec 21, 2018
Yes, but ...any list like this is going to be skewed by people in the public eye at the moment. This is 16 years old. I very much doubt that Diana would be number 3 now whereas a lot of the truly important historical figures will still be there. Oh, and I'm not sure the British should be sneered at for voting for Diana by people from the country that elected Donald Trump.
+1
Level 89
Feb 25, 2020
I actually read #66 as "Silent actor whose alter ego was The Trump".
+2
Level 90
Oct 19, 2017
Really skewed to current popular celebrities but that's what happens when you ask the general population to list important people. If you're out of sight you're out of mind. Crazy that Attlee, Gladstone, Pitt and Disraeli are not on the list. That would be like Americans excluding Lincoln, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Washington. I would like to think that we (yanks) are better than that but I know that probably isn't true.
+2
Level 39
Mar 30, 2018
Of course they don't mean 'great, in the sense of good' there is Crowley on there, for goodness sake!!!!!
+1
Level 66
Jun 5, 2019
Being an occultist this comment works on its own, but knowing the character named crowley makes this extra funny :)
+3
Level 86
May 23, 2018
Be honest: who here got John Harrison legitimately, and not just as a freebie because you were typing in names of Beatles? (I sure didn't.)
+1
Level 71
May 20, 2021
Myself and quite a few others, I suspect. He is reasonably well known here in the UK and was one of those that I typed in before reading through the clues to see who was left. There were several that, however well known, I would never have expected to appear on this list though
+1
Level 78
Dec 21, 2018
George Best (ignore the alcohol). Also MCB/Methody got me Jon Wesley, only 15%!
+1
Level 75
Dec 29, 2019
Being a Methodist got me John Wesley. I scored 56 - I hope that's not too bad for a Yank.
+1
Level 49
Dec 22, 2018
64 and proud!
+1
Level 49
Jan 5, 2019
I'm surprised to see someone like Thomas Paine on the list.
+2
Level 75
Dec 29, 2019
I'm surprised that he had such a low percentage.
+1
Level 82
Apr 10, 2019
Johnny Rotten on the list, but no Keats or Shelley. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA............The English are crazier than us Americans.
+1
Level 75
Apr 26, 2019
You obviously haven't seen his butter adverts - they changed the world
+1
Level 86
Feb 24, 2020
Yeah, he is almost as influential as his master Peter Hammill ;).
+1
Level 51
Nov 10, 2019
Some of the selections were profoundly disappointing, but Johnny Rotten wasn't one of them. He's like Guy Fawkes without the gunpowder.
+1
Level 57
Dec 15, 2019
Ha I remember TV countdown as a kid! I remember even then it caused controversy for having Diana in the top 10. It was at a time when her death was still relatively recent so the public were still hung up on it. She'd be much lower now. I also like to think Churchill wouldn't be number one anymore - should be Shakespeare (.... and how on earth is Charles Dickens not in the top 10?)
+1
Level 78
Feb 24, 2020
As the UK would not exist had it not been for Churchill his spot at Number 1 is justified. I weep for the ridiculous judgment of my fellow Brits about many of the other choices. There are many good examples in these comments
+4
Level 56
Dec 15, 2019
enoch powell? Over keats, macmillan, smith, burke, crabbe, wilde. God this is a strange old list
+1
Level 67
Dec 29, 2019
Not British, had 40 of the 100, least known i got was Crowley. Pretty pleased with those stats.
+1
Level 81
Jan 31, 2020
'Tim Burners Lee' should be accepted as a correct answer.

I mean, come on! For a hyphen?!?

+3
Level ∞
Jan 31, 2020
Punctuation never matters on JetPunk.
+1
Level 86
Feb 24, 2020
Should Burners be accepted for Berners, that's the real question here.
+4
Level 44
Feb 6, 2020
No Harry Maguire is a disgrace
+1
Level 77
Feb 20, 2020
More, Moore and Morecambe. How many more mores do we need?
+2
Level 76
Feb 24, 2020
I'm not sure, but we definitely need more
+1
Level 73
Feb 24, 2020
Founded the first biRth control clinic in Britain
+1
Level ∞
Feb 24, 2020
Okay
+2
Level 83
Feb 24, 2020
This is a somewhat ludicrous list. I very much doubt if Bono and Geldof would consider themselves as 'Britons'. And Diana and Michael Crawford in the first 20 and thus more significant than, say, Dickens or Cromwell, simply illustrates how pointless the compilation of this list was back in 2002.
+4
Level 47
Feb 24, 2020
Can't believe Boy George, who imprisoned a man in his basement and beat him with a chain, is present and Ada Lovelace isn't!! Or any of the Brontes!
+1
Level 57
Feb 24, 2020
Alexander Bell clearly did MOST of the inventing of the telephone in Canada - specifically in Brantford, Ontario - not America (not the same thing Britons!). Canada should IN THE LEAST get a partial mention. Or maybe change it to "North America". Sheesh.
+1
Level 75
Feb 24, 2020
I tried Stevenson and when that didn't work I didn't think to try a different spelling.
+1
Level 82
Feb 24, 2020
Pop musician whose alter ego was Ziggy Stardust (29), lead singer of Culture Club (46), lead singer of Queen (58), Band Aid founder who wrote "Do They Know It's Christmas?" (76), member of the band Take That (77), U2 lead singer (86), and lead singer of the Sex Pistols (87), but no Mick Jagger.........another dumb subjective list.
+3
Level 69
Feb 24, 2020
I echo the sentiments of many commenters that the likes of Boy George, Robbie Williams, David Beckham, and even Diana seem a bit frivolous to be considered some of the "Greatest Britons".

But Guy Fawkes? Oliver Cromwell? Henry VIII? Enoch Powell?

I don't want to be over simplistic . . . but these were bad people! Murderers and racists.

I get these lists are basically popularity contests, but were some voters just trolling? Or do they think genocide, misogyny, and prejudice make Britain great?

+6
Level ∞
Feb 25, 2020
There's a strain of popular history that frames Oliver Cromwell in a very unfair light. I'd encourage you to learn more about him before making these sort of generalizations.
+6
Level 69
Feb 26, 2020
Do you dispute that Cromwell launched a campaign in Ireland that killed hundreds of thousands?
+3
Level 89
Feb 25, 2020
Sir Gallipoli Churchill left more of his countrymen to die on a beach for months to save his own face than all the people you mentioned put together, yet he's consistently "the greatest".
+2
Level 69
Feb 26, 2020
I think Churchill enjoys far too positive a reputation, particularly considering his policies toward India. But I'm not surprised that he would be voted highly on a list such as this.
+3
Level 75
Feb 25, 2020
Why is Bono on that list? What description are you looking at? He was born in Dublin, went to school in Dublin and still lives in Dublin. He's described everywhere as an "Irish singer, song-writer..." It's bad enough having to accept some Irish people being claimed as "British" just because all of Ireland happened to be part of the British Empire when they were born, but Bono certainly doesn't fall into that category!
+2
Level 77
Nov 16, 2020
1) The description says "British (and Irish)"

2) This is a list compiled by the BBC, not Quizmaster. You can find the people here.

3) There are 2 non-British people on this list: Bob Geldof and Bono, that are both Irish.

+1
Level 89
Feb 25, 2020
To perhaps the majority of people "of all time" means "in my times".
+1
Level 83
Jun 23, 2020
what an awful list . you could have at least 100 footballers ahead of Beckham ( Dalglish , B Charlton , etc.) .hundreds ahead of Williams .Elton John , Lemmy, the Stones ,Dusty Springfield . also Liz Taylor .Good to see Wilberforce appear he seems to not get enough mentions in history .
+1
Level 56
Jul 16, 2020
Boy George Is disliked in UK , how is he here , longshanks never conquered nothing , zip zero . Beckham not even top 10 British players in last 20 years so how Is he on list , moore can understand ,,but Jimmy Greaves John Charles .Denis Law many many more should be above Beckham ,never mind likes of Giggs . Shearer etc etc .. random to say least , and if say by general public load of s**t . I never got asked lol , probably handpicked
+1
Level 71
Jul 28, 2022
It was a BBC poll where viewers were invited to vote so you had the choice assuming that you had a TV. I vaguely remembered it but didn't watch it, let alone vote. I think your suggestion of Ryan Giggs looks a little misplaced now. Or maybe not, considering some of those that made the list
+3
Level 57
Oct 5, 2020
Really ... Churchill at number 1??? Sure, he was a great war leader but it would be interesting to know if people would seriouly still vote him the greatest if the vote was done today in light of his racist views on India.

What is Enoch Powell doing on this list? Crawford, Boy George is amusing but Powell being on the list is just plain offensive.

+1
Level 48
May 14, 2021
Another minute or two wouldn't do any harm.
+2
Level 56
May 27, 2021
Bob Geldof & Bono are Irish not Britons. And I think James Connolly would rise from the dead to challenge being referred to as a Briton,
+3
Level 69
Sep 28, 2021
jesus it's a bit scary powell is on there where he is
+1
Level 64
Feb 21, 2022
Weird list! At least William Blake is there, and not William Wordsworthless with his dafft daffodils ;)
+1
Level 59
Mar 1, 2023
Small correction, but on #57 it should be America, without the 'n'
+1
Level 67
Mar 20, 2023
I got the Crowley question from the David Bowie song Quicksand - 'Immersed in Crowley's uniform...' from Hunky Dory. Also Bewley Brothers is about Crowley.
+1
Level 56
Apr 21, 2023
bit weird that there are non brits in the list like bob Geldof, bono and Connolly lol
+2
Level 47
May 16, 2023
It's a good quiz with good clues. A bit more time would be nice though. There were some that I think I would have got if I had more than the 6/7 seconds per answer.