Famous People from Hexham

Hexham is a small market town, but its contribution to British history — scientific, artistic, military, and cultural — is disproportionate to its size.

William Hewson (1739-1774): Father of Haematology

Born in Hexham on 14 November 1739, William Hewson attended Hexham Grammar School before training under the anatomist William Hunter in London. He demonstrated that red blood cells are disc-shaped, established that fibrinogen causes blood to clot, and advanced understanding of the lymphatic system. The Royal Society awarded him the Copley Medal in 1769, its highest scientific honour. He became a close associate of Benjamin Franklin and set up his own anatomy school at Franklin's London house on Craven Street. He died in 1774 aged just 34, of sepsis contracted while dissecting a cadaver. Today he is regarded as one of the founders of haematology.

Wilfrid Wilson Gibson (1878-1962): War Poet

Born in Hexham on 2 October 1878, Gibson became one of the significant poets of the First World War. A close friend of Rupert Brooke and later his literary executor, Gibson was distinguished by his early and empathetic response to the experience of ordinary soldiers. His Georgian style was spare and direct. Despite spending most of his adult life away, his poetry is full of Northumberland: Hexham's Market Cross appears in his work, as do Hareshaw, the Kielder Stone, and the landscapes of the Tyne Valley.

Robson Green (born 1964): Actor and Entertainer

Robson Golightly Green was born in Hexham on 14 December 1964. His acting career took off in ITV's Soldier Soldier, which led to one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the mid-1990s. With co-star Jerome Flynn, he released "Unchained Melody" in 1995 — the UK's best-selling single of the year — followed by three more number-one singles. He has continued as one of television's most recognisable faces: Wire in the Blood, Grantchester, Waterloo Road, and Extreme Fishing. He remains closely associated with the North East.

Pete Doherty (born 1979): Musician

Peter Doherty was born on 12 March 1979 at Hexham General Hospital. He co-founded The Libertines with Carl Barat, whose debut album Up the Bracket (2002) helped define the post-punk revival of the early 2000s and influenced a generation of British guitar bands. His songwriting — literate, romantic, and distinctly English — has secured him a lasting place in British rock music.

A Town Punching Above Its Weight

Hexham's population today is around 12,000. The fact that it produced a scientist honoured by the Royal Society, a significant war poet, a television actor turned pop phenomenon, and one of the most influential British rock musicians of the 2000s suggests something unusual in the town's character.