1723
Daniel Defoe
The author of 'Robinson Crusoe', Daniel Defoe visited Ramsgate.

1801
Charles Lamb
Famous English Essayist, came to Margate, travelling on the "Old Margate Hoy", which was the title of the records of his experiences on the journey. He made at least two more recuperative visits to Margate.

1804
Emma, Lady Hamilton
Attended a ball at the Ramsgate Assembly Rooms on the 11th August this year.

1805
Lord Nelson
While he was no doubt far too busy to take a holiday here during his lifetime, after the Battle of Trafalgar, the body of Lord Nelson was kept offshore at Broadstairs while waiting for the weather to permit the boat to get to Dover, from where he would be carried to London. People are said to have taken trips out to look at him, being preserved in rum. To this day Broadstairs has always tried to provide novel attractions and entertainment.

The Duke of Wellington visited East Cliff Lodge in Ramsgate and stayed at 1 Chatham Place, Ramsgate during the Napoleonic Wars.

b. 1816 - d. 1888
Thomas Russell Crampton
Born in Broadstairs (and later to become assistant to the elder Brunel), this notable Victorian railway and locomotive engineer built the water tower in Broadstairs in 1859. He also provided the town's gas works. The tower is now the Crampton Museum. Amongst his many achievments were the drawings for the first locomotive for the Great Western Railway and the invention of a tunnelling machine for the 19th C. Channel Tunnel Project.

1819 to 1825
Samuel T. Coleridge
Best known for his poem 'The Ancient Mariner', and a frequent visitor to Ramsgate. Not always in the best of health, Coleridge was a keen sea-bather, believing it to be beneficial to his health. His impressions of the town are to be found in his letters to friends written from his lodging on Wellington Crescent.

1823 to 1830
Queen Victoria
Stayed as a girl at Albion House and at Townley House in Ramsgate. In 1829 at the age of ten she stayed with her mother at Pierremont Hall in Broadstairs.

1838 to 1840
William Makepeace Thackeray
Sometime during this period, the writer brought his wife to Margate while she was ill. He was reported to have been found in a shelter at Kingsgate one day, writing an article on Fielding.

late 1840s
Hans Christian Andersen
Visited Broadstairs and Ramsgate in the company of his long-standing friend, Charles Dickens. It is possible that this visit was in connection with the English translation of his fairy stories.

1852
George Eliot
The Author came with Herbert Spencer, for one of their "discreet holidays together in Broadstairs".

1853
Sir Samuel Luke Fildes
The Artist lived for many years at Holland House in Kingsgate. He illustrated 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood', but Dickens died before he finished writing it. Fildes gained a reputation as a portrait painter and his clientele included Edward VII, Queen Alexandra and King George V. These portraits now hang in Buckingham Palace.

1859
Wilkie Collins
Visited Broadstairs and stayed at the Albion Hotel with Charles Dickens. Collins also stayed in Ramsgate in 1861 at 14 Nelson Crescent. The North Foreland Lighthouse is said to have been the inspiration for the title of his detective novel 'The Woman in White'.

b. 1875 to d. 1961
Frank Richards (Charles Hamilton)
The creator of 'Billy Bunter' lived in Kingsgate, and his home is now a shrine for Bunter fans. (See Celebrity Connections Festival on Broadstairs & St Peter's Web Site).

1880
Karl Marx
Came to Ramsgate to visit his daughter Jenny who lived at 6 Artillery Road. Marx' grandson, Edgar, was born there in August 1879. When Karl Marx' wife was terminally ill, she passed the last summer of her life with her daughter in Ramsgate.

1889
Alfred Charles Harmsworth (Lord Northcliffe)
Lived at Elmwood in Reading Street, Broadstairs - his 'beloved home'. He founded the Daily Mirror, The Daily Mail and obtained control of the Evening News and TheTimes.

1900 to 1955
Annette Mills
Most famous for her long association with 'Muffin the Mule' lived at Dumpton Gap in Broadstairs. Her daughter Molly took a studio at St Peter's and they spent many happy years in the town.

1907
George Bernard Shaw
Visited Margate, and went straight to the Theatre Royal to coach a new actor appearing in his play 'John Bull's Other Island'. He was something of a celebrity during this visit, but on a visit to Broadstairs as a young man several years earlier, he applied for the post of lighthouse keeper on the North Foreland, and was rejected due to his inexperience.

1908
Baroness Orczy
During this year the Hungarian playwright and novelist, and creator of 'The Scarlet Pimpernel', spent some time at Cleve Court in Minster. Margate is mentioned in some of her books.

1921
T.S.Eliot
Stayed in Margate while convalescing from nervous exhaustion. While here he wrote large sections of 'The Waste Land'.

1934 to 1938
Walter Richard Sickert
One of the most important of English impressionists, spent four years teaching at the 'Thanet School of Art'. He lived in a house in Church Street, St Peter's where, amongst other things, he painted Birds Hill House.

Sir Edward Heath
The ex-Prime Minister lived in Broadstairs as a boy, and went to Chatham House School in Ramsgate. His keen interest in sailing stays with him to this day. Sir Edward also has a famous love of music, and until fairly recently returned every year to conduct the Broadstairs carol concert. 

1803
Jane Austen
Came to Ramsgate to visit her brother Frances who was a Captain in the Channel Fleet, and was engaged in fortifying the sea defences against Napoleon's expected invasion from France. During this visit, Jane Austen also met her brother's future wife.

1812 to 1852
Augustus Welby Pugin
The brilliant Victorian architect, settled in Ramsgate and acquired some land on the Westcliff where he built himself a house and a church. St Augustine's Abbey church is a fine example of the Victorian Gothic revival. He died in Ramsgate. His son, Edward Pugin, also enjoyed much success as an architect, and completed his father's work on St Augustine's Church and designed the nearby monastic buildings. Edward Pugin also designed Ramsgate's Granville Hotel, which was initially conceived as a housing development. Edward Pugin's memorial marble bust stands in the cliff gardens across from the Granville Hotel.

early 1800's
Richard Harris Barham
Mainly remembered for his 'Ingoldsby Legends' and a regular summer visitor to Margate, staying in the house which is now known as Ingoldsby House. Legends of his which are set in the Thanet area include 'Misadventures at Margate' , 'The Smuggler's Leap' (A Legend in Thanet) and the 'Brothers of Birchington'. He visited Margate until the last year of his life.

1827 to 1836
J.M.W. Turner
The Artist lived at Miss Booth's House in Cold Harbour in Margate. The area inspired many of his seascapes. His painting 'Off Margate' fetched £14,000 when auctioned at Sotheby's in 1982. Turner once said that "The loveliest skies in Europe are over the Isle of Thanet".

1837 to1850
Charles Dickens
A regular visitor to Broadstairs where many of his books were completed including 'Pickwick Papers', 'Oliver Twist', 'Nicholas Nickelby', 'David Copperfield', 'The Old Curiosity Shop', and 'Barnaby Rudge'. Dickens' favourite home was Fort House, now Bleak House, which stands on the clifftop overlooking Viking Bay. Dickens' long association with Broadstairs is commemorated annually by the Broadstairs Dickens Festival.

1851
William Powell Frith
The Artist was a friend of Charles Dickens and a great favourite of Queen Victoria and spent a holiday in Ramsgate during this year. His picture 'Life at the Seaside' (1853) inspired by his holiday, was sold for 1,000 guineas and then sold on to Queen Victoria. It remains in the Royal Collection.

1858
William Dyce
Scottish painter and art administrator and instigator of the pre-Raphaelite movement in English painting. His most renowned paintingis called 'A Recollection of October 5th 1858', depicted Pegwell Bay and now hangs in the Tate Gallery.

1876
Vincent Van Gogh
Taught languages at a private school at 6 Royal Road, Ramsgate, from where he drew pen and ink sketches of the view from his windows.

b. 1861 to d. 1947
Alfred North Whitehead
Born at 29 Chatham Street in Ramsgate. One of the great minds of the 20th century. As a mathematician he collaborated with Bertrand Russell to produce 'Principia Mathematica' (1903).As a philosopher, he wrote works such as 'Process and Reality' and 'Adventures of Ideas'. In 1945 he was awarded the Order of Merit, the highest honour bestowed on a man of learning. In 1810 his grandfather purchased a school on the site of the present Chatham House. His father was later to become the Headmaster.

1882
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
The artist and poet, one of the founders of the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood, moved to Birchington at this time to recover from a serious illness. He died soon after his arrival, and his grave is by the south door of Birchington Church.

b. 1864 - d. 1900
Oscar Wilde
Stayed at the Albion Hotel in Broadstairs

b. 1896 - d. 1981
Jack Warner
Probably best known for his portrayal of 'Dixon of Dock Green', lived for many years at Kingsgate both before and after his retirement, and gave his support to many local good causes.

b. cica1900 - d. 1948
Uncle Mack (James Henry Summerson) With his Minstrels he entertained hundreds on the sands, pier and promenade. In 1911 they were voted the most popular troupe of the British Seaside resorts.

1914
John Buchan Wrote 'The Thirty Nine Steps' the title of which was inspired by the steps which go down to the beach from the North Foreland where he was living at the time.

1918
Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford
The famous silent movie stars came to Broadstairs for their honeymoon.

1920 to 1997
Frank Muir
The popular television personality was born and raised in Ramsgate, and one of the most famouse old boys of Chatham House School.

1936
Dennis Wheatley
During this year the Author had his novel 'Contraband' published in which he wrote extensively about Margate, Birchington and Quex Park and also featured Pegwell Bay. The novel is about modern day smuggling.