In 1930, an anonymous donor, assumed to be a member of the Wills' family, donated to Bristol's City Museum and Art Gallery a large-scale oil painting entitled Some Who Had Made Bristol Famous by Ernest Board. The painting now hangs in the foyer of the museum.



Some Who Have Made Bristol Famous by Ernest Board, 1930 (Bristol's Museums, Galleries and Archives: BMAG).

In this section we look at a few of the people depicted in the painting – and some of the others associated with their particular field of activity, past and present. Click on the topics to the left to find out more.

Follow the link here to find details of an updated version of the Board painting to be created later in 2008 following a poll of local people.

For further information on the Board painting, download the Bristol History section of the guide here.

For further information on notable Bristol women, download the Women in Bristol's History section of the guide here.

If you have a library card from Bristol Libraries, you can access the online edition of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography which will give you biographical information on many of the people referred to in this section. See Online Resources on the Libraries West website for details.