Arthur Edward Satherley – aka as Uncle Art.
He was born in Bedminster in 1889 and died in California in 1986 He was an American record producer and made major contributions to the recording industry. He has been described as “one of the most important pioneers in the field of country music production.
Mary Baker (née Willcocks born around 1792 in Withering in Devon and died on Christmas Eve 1864.
She posed as a fictional character, Princess Caraboo, pretending to come from a far-off island known as Javasu.
In September 1828, she was living as a widow in Bedminster which was then in Somerset calling herself Mary Burgess. She married Richard Baker and had a daughter named Mary Ann the following year around 1829. In 1839 she was making a living by selling leeches to Bristol Royal Infirmary. She was buried in the Hebron Road cemetery off North Street in Bedminster. Her daughter carried on selling leeches and lived alone in Bedminster in a house full of cats until her death in a fire in February 1900.
Her Blue Plaque is on the site of her former home in Princess Street in Bedminster.
Jessie Stephen 1893 – 1979 was a Labour Activist and Councillor. She grew up in Scotland and worked as a domestic worker becoming involved in national labour issues as a teenager.
After moving to Bristol in the 1940s she became the first woman President of the Bristol Trades Council. She was awarded the MBE in 1977 and her Blue Plaque is on the corner of Elmdale Road and Chessel Street in Bedminster.
John James CBE (1906 – 1996) was a business man and philanthropist who born in Philip Street in Bedminster the site of which is now the home of Windmill Hill City Farm.
He set up the Dawn James Foundation following the death of one of his daughters and later set up the John James Bristol Foundation. HIs numerous donation were mainly for the benefit of the elderly, health and education.
His Blue Plaque is on the site of his birthplace inn Philip Street in Bedminster. The John James Bristol Foundation is still running.
Russ Conway who was born as Trevor Stanford in 1925 certainly led and interesting life. His Wikipedia page details far more of it than I can here!
He attended secretarial college then became a solicitors clerk before spending three years in Borstal where he taught himself to play piano.
During his Navy service in the Second World War he cut the top off his ring finger while using a bread slicer. His life was peppered with ill health including a nervous breakdown and a stroke. He smoked up to 80 cigarettes a day.
In 1995 he said that he had no idea about his sexuality but that in his younger days he hadn’t been an angel and had tried most things.
After his death Richard Hope-Hawkins arranged a tribute to Russ Conway which was held at the Colston Hall. The £11,000 raised was donated to St Peter’s Hospice.