Fielding, Henry, b. 1707, at Sharpham, near Glastonbury; novelist (best known work, "Tom Jones"); d. 1754 at Lisbon.
Hood, Samuel, b. 1724, at Butleigh; admiral (Nelson wrote of him as "the best officer, take him altogether, that England has to boast of"); made a viscount; d. 1816.
Hooper, John, b. 1495 (place unknown); Bishop of Gloucester and Worcester; burnt at the stake, 1555.
Irving, Henry (real name John Henry Brodribb); b. 1838, at Keinton-Mandeville; actor; knighted; d. 1905.
Kinglake, Alexander William, b. 1809, at Taunton; wrote "Eothen" and "Invasion of the Crimea"; d. 1891.
Locke, John, b. 1632, at Wrington; philosopher; author of "Essay on the Human Understanding," and works on education and the currency; d. 1704.
Norris, Edwin, b. 1795, at Taunton; Oriental scholar; d. 1872.
Parry, William Edward, b. 1790, at Bath; Arctic explorer; knighted; d. 1855.
Prynne, William, b. 1600, at Swainswick; Presbyterian pamphleteer; wrote "Histriomastix" (directed against stage-plays); several times pilloried; d. 1669.
Pym, John, b. 1584, at Brymore, near Cannington; politician; one of the five members of the Commons whom Charles I. sought to arrest; d. 1643.