Rev Oliver Heywood(1630-1702)                                                           Non-Conformist Preacher                                                                       Born 1630 Little Lever, Bolton                                                              Died  4 May 1702 Northowram, Yorks                                                  Educated Bolton Grammar School; Trinity College                                      Minister of Coley, Halifax 1650 - ejected under Act of Conformity 1662 - Accused of being part of the abortive 'Cheshire Rising' against Parliament in 1659 - Excommunicated in 1662 and again in 1663. Continued preaching illegally - Imprisoned York Castle 1684-85 for Riotous Assembly - Toleration Act of 1689 made his activities legal.                                                    Introduced the Happy Union in Yorkshire between Presbyterians and Congregationalists.

 

Robert Heywood (1786-1868)                                                               Born 1786 Bury Street, Bolton                                                                Died 27 October 1868 Bolton                                                                Educated Bolton Grammar School; Bank Street Unitarian School?                 Politician, businessman, philanthropist and traveller - 2nd Mayor of Bolton 1839-40 (Liberal).                                                                            Son of a successful textile manufacturer. Leading figure in the creation of modern Bolton. Initiated or involved in the provision of reservoirs and drinking water, public baths, public parks, Bolton's first library, street lighting, Bolton Dispensary etc.                                                                                   Like his business partner Charles Darbishire qv a Unitarian and radical/reformist Liberal but always willing to compromise and cooperate with political and religious opponents for the greater good and for the benefit of the people of Bolton.                                                                         Travelled extensively in Europe, Russia, Canada and the USA in 1834 where he met Senator Henry Clay and President Andrew Jackson. Interestingly, although teetotal at home, he happily drank alcohol whilst travelling abroad.

 

Adam Hibbert  (1910-1992)                                                                  Politician                                                                                      Born 6 April 1910 Bolton                                                                      Died 20 June 1992 Bolton                                                                     Mayor of Bolton 1978 (Conservative)                                                     Insurance clerk. Worked for the Prudential Assurance Company, becoming Area Superintendent.

 

Benjamin Hick (1790-1842)                                                                  Born 1790 Leeds, Yorkshire                                                                    Died 9 September 1842 Bolton                                                        Engineer and industrialist Founder of the company that became the Hick Hargreaves & Co. engineering business.                                                 Moved to Bolton in 1810.

 

John Hick (1815-1894)                                                                      Born 2 July 1815 Bolton                                                                       Died 2 February 1894 Mytton Hall, Whalley, Lancashire                            Educated Bolton Grammar School                                                          MP Bolton 1868-1880 (Conservative)                                                      Became head of family engineering firm in 1842 on the death of his father Benjamin Hick qv. Company became Hick Hargreaves & Co in partnership with William Hargreaves in 1845. Retired from firm on becoming MP.        Company specialised in marine engines.                                                 Wrote a history of 'Sanspareil' locomotive which was presented to the Science Museum in 1864.

 

John Higgins (1915-)                                                                           Politician                                                                                            Born 1915 Albert Street, Farnworth                                                  Educated St Peters School, Farnworth and Harper Green School.                  Mayor of Farnworth 1959 (Labour).                                                       Proprietor of a fish and chip shop.

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Ruth Higham (1978-)                                                                           A former Page 3 girl from Harwood in Bolton, England.                             She was a Page 3 model from 1998 until around 2004. She first appeared on Page 3 of The Sun on April 17, 2000 and appeared in the paper 30 times.                                                                                                She has modelled for the Daily Star and The Sun since 1998.                      She attended the C of E Canon Slade CE High School in Bradshaw,

 

David Higson  (1946-2005)                                                                 Born 5 November 1946 Bolton                                                              Died 1 March 2005 Bolton                                                                   Much loved local football commentator and Bolton Wanderers superfan popularly known as Dave 'Ding-dong-do' Higson after his catchphrase.         His entertaining commentaries for Road Runner Productions helped Bolton Wanderers sell 30,000 match videos in the 1980s and 90s before his down to earth style was squeezed out by the 'professional' demands of Sky TV and the rise of corporate football.                                                                  His commentating skills were introduced to the nation when he appeared on David Baddiel and Frank Skinner's BBC2 show Fantasy Football.

 

Charles Hill (1816-1889)                                                                     Industrialist                                                                                         Born 1816 Bolton                                                                               Died 1889 Sweden                                                                             Revived cotton industry in Sweden.                                                           When his late father's wealth allegedly embezelled by his guardian, Hill was forced to make his own way in business. Moved to Sweden 1843. Later co-founded a mill at Norrköping. Established his own cotton mill at Alingsås in 1862.

 

Jeff Hill (1958-)                                                                                 Musician                                                                                            Born 14 September 1958 Culcheth, Lancashire                                      Educated Culcheth Primary School, Culcheth; Bolton School.                        Guitarist with Westhoughton folk group 'The Houghton Weavers'. The group were formed in 1975, had their own long running TV series 'Sit Thi Deawn' in the 1970s and continue to perform and record.                                     Played in many bands in 1970s and also recorded as 'Blueberry Hill' with fellow Houghton Weaver Tony Berry qv.

 

Keith John Hill (1969-)                                                                           Professional  Footballer                                                                        Born 17 May 1969 Bolton.                                                                  Defender - played for Blackburn Rovers, Plymouth Argyle and Rochdale.  Manager of Rochdale.

 

Ronald Hill MBE (1938-)                                                                        English runner and clothing entrepreneur.                                                  Born 25 September 1938  Accrington, Lancashire, England                       Hill held world records for 15 miles (24 km) (72:48.2, Bolton, July 1965); and 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) (75:22.6, Bolton, July 1965).

 

William Hill (1827-1889)                                                                      English architect                                                                                Born 18 June 1827                                                                              Died 5 January 1889                                                                           The Leeds architect, William Hill, was the winner of the competition to design a new town hall for Bolton.                                                                  He  practised from offices in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.                       Hills' major commissions were for two town halls. The first was for Bolton Town Hall, for which he won the competition for his design of a scaled-down version of Leeds Town Hall. He was awarded £120 (equivalent to £12,000 in 2019) for the design, which originally included no tower, but one was added later. During its construction, Hill was assisted by a local architect, George Woodhouse, but the design was entirely Hill's. The final cost of the town hall came to £167,000 (equivalent to £14,910,000 in 2019), this being the most expensive town hall built up to that time.

 

Julie Hilling (1955- )                                                                              Politician and Trade Unionist  

Born 29 Apr 1955 Oxford                                                                Educated Nottingham University                                                             MP Bolton West 2010-2015 (Labour).                                                     National President of the Community and Youth Workers Union for eight years. Senior Regional Organiser for the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association.

 

Cecil Hilton (1884-1931)                                                                     Born 1884 Oldham, Lancashire                                                             Died 19 June 1931  The Fylde, Lancashire                                               MP Bolton 1924-1929 (Conservative)

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John Hilton ( -1771)

A blacksmith, murdered by his wife in the parish of Middle Hulton on 8 Sep 1771. She poisoned him by putting 20 grams of white arsenic into his spiced dumplings. His wife was executed in 1772.

 

John Hilton (1880-1943)                                                                       Social Scientist, Statistician and Broadcaster.                                             Born 28 December 1880 14 Rumworth Street, Bolton.                               Died 28 August 1943 Cambridge, Cambridgeshire                                Educated Bolton Grammar School; Bolton Technical School.                         Lecturer and journalist with Free Trade Union in Brighton. Assistant Secretary and Director of Statistics in Ministry of Labour 1919. First Montague Burton Professor of Industrial Relations at Cambridge 1931.                                Made regular radio broadcasts on the BBC from 1933 addressing ordinary working people about economic and social issues - his humanist sympathies coloured by his own impoverished upbringing. Wrote newspaper column for the News Chronicle.                                                                    Director of Home Publicity at the Ministry of Information during Second World War. He continued broadcasting during the War and directed the News of the World's advice bureau until his death in 1943.

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Mary Hilton (-1772)

For the murder of the husband John Hilton - petty treason- she was hanged to death and her body burnt  to ashes at the stake on Lancaster Moor on 6 Apr 1772 .

 

James Hodgkinson (1844-1916)                                                             Industrialist, Inventor and Engineer                                                          Born 1844 Bolton                                                                               Died 14 December 1916 Southport, Lancashire                                        Invented the 'Mechanical Stoker'                                                             Invented process for "vastly improving the production of salt". He was reported to have sold US patent rights in 1911 for $5,000,000 / £1,000,000 plus a royalty.

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Herbert Holdbrook

Gardener, Haslam Maternity Home, Bolton

Awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) - Civil Division United Kingdom -in the 1978 Queen's Birthday Honours.

 

Dr Charles Henry  Holden (1875-1960)                                                Architect                                                                                           Born 12 May 1875 Great Lever, Bolton                                                   Died 1 May 1960 Harmer Green, Hertfordshire                                    Educated Manchester School of Art and Technical College.                      Designed London University Building, Bloomsbury - Head offices London Underground, Piccadilly Circus Underground station and 50 other London Underground Stations, Bristol Royal Infirmary and Bristol Central Library.         Employed Jacob Epstein for exterior decoration of many of his buildings - Holden's design philosophy was 'When in doubt, leave it out'.

 

Moses Holden (1777-1864)                                                                  Astronomer                                                                                          Born 21 November 1777  Bolton                                                           Died 3 June 1864 Preston, Lancashire                                                     Moved to Preston in childhood.                                                                Constructed a large orrery and magic lantern - published 'A Small Celestial Atlas; or, Maps of the Visible Heavens' Preston 1818.                                 Wesleyan preacher in the Fylde - organiser of Fylde Methodism.

 

Sir John Henry   Holden (1862-1926)                                                      Industrialist                                                                                         Born 25 January 1862 Halliwell, Bolton                                                  Died 4 May 1926  Sharples Hall, Bolton                                                Educated St Paul's School, Astley Bridge; Bolton Church Institute.                   Mill owner. Knighted 1919 for services to the cotton industry. Built the last big cotton mill in Bolton at Astley Bridge - unfinished at his death in 1926.           Lived at Sharples Hall. Was twice Mayor of Leigh, Lancashire.

 

William (Bill) Holden (1928-)                                                                 Professional Footballer                                                                          Born 1 April 1928 Bolton                                                                     Educated Folds Road Central School, Bolton                                             Centre forward - played for Burnley 1950-55, Sunderland, Stockport County, Bury and Halifax Town.                                                                 Played for Bolton Boys Federation. After an unsuccessful trial with Everton he debuted for Burnley in September 1950 and was their top goal scorer in his first full season as a professional player.

 

Harold Greenwood Holland (1900-1949)                                                Politician                                                                                             Born 1900 Church Street, Farnworth, Bolton                                              Died 21 September 1949 26 Lavender Road, Farnworth                           Educated St Johns School, Farnworth                                                 Mayor of Farnworth 1946 (Labour).                                                        On leaving school in 1913 he joined the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company as a telegraphist, working for 36 years until his death.

 

Cyril Butler Holmes (1915-1996)                                                             International Athlete and Rugby Union player                                            Born 11 January 1915 Heaton, Bolton                                               Died June 1996 Bolton                                                                         Educated Wrekin College, Shropshire                                                     Champion 100 yards, 220 yards 1938 British Empire Games in Sydney. Won career total of 7 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze international athletics medals. Competed in 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. In 1937 played Rugby Union for England.                                                          Managing director of Lion Oil Works in Bolton.

 

Paul Holowaty(1985-)                                                                         Actor                                                                                                  Born 7 March 1985 Bolton                                                                    Educated Bolton School                                                                 Played Neil Fearns in 'Coronation Street'. Also appeared in 'Hollyoaks'.

 

Arthur Frederick Holt (1914-1995)                                                          Born 8 August 1914 Bolton                                                            Died  23 August 1995  Ulverston, Cumbria                                               Educated Mill Hill School; Manchester University                                     MP Bolton West 1951-1964 (Liberal)                                                     POW in Singapore 1942-1945. Ran Holt's Hosiery at Derby Street Mills until 1975.                                                                                       Liberal Whip 1962-1963 - President of Liberal Party 1974-1975.

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Elizabeth Ann Holt (c.1869-1890)                                                 Murdered November 10th, 1890 aged 21 years.                                    She lived with her widowed mother and sister at 352, Darwen Road.            She was a teacher at Belmont School and a Sunday School teacher at Eagley.

 

Sandy Holt  (c.1960-)                                                                           Champion kick boxer and gym owner                                                     He owns Bolton Thai Boxing Club in Brown Street.                                     Sandy Holt started to train in Martial Arts in 1974 learning styles such as Karate & Ju-jitsu, before getting involved in Muay Thai in 1977.  He is a Fully Qualified Instructor, receiving Tuition & Experiencefrom the World acclaimed Muay Thai & Instructor Master Sken.                                                   Sandy Holt is 5th Degree, Red & Silver Grade (Kruang-Lruang) which is equivalent to 5th dan blackbelt.  He is the Founder of Bolton Thai-Boxing Club, which was established in 1983 & the Club has gone from strength to strength, Sandy Holts fighting career has been a successful one, gaining Titles such as the British Lightweight, British All Styles & WMTA (World Muay Thai Association)  European Superfeather weight Thai-boxing Champion.

 

Simon Holt (1958-)                                                                               Composer                                                                                          Born 21 February 1958 Bolton                                                              Educated Bolton College of Art and Design; Royal Northern College of Music.                                                                                                 Has written many contemporary classical works.

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Peter J Hopkinson (c.1929-2007)                                                            Died 11 Aug 2007 at the Royal Bolton Hospital, aged 78                          Peter J. Hopkinson Limited the largest distributor of kitchens and bathrooms in the UK                                                                                          Bradley Fold Industrial Estate, Radcliffe Moor Road, Bradley Fold, Bolton, BL2 6RT

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