Famous Cornish People Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mick Fleetwood

Mick Fleetwood is the drummer in 'Fleetwood Mac' and was born in Redruth, Cornwall. Mick, along with bassist John McVie were original band members and are its namesakes.
Roger Taylor was the drummer in 'Queen' but only moved to Cornwall after he was born.
Andrew Ridgeley from 'Wham' and Bruce Foxton from 'The Jam' own property in Cornwall but were born elsewhere.

Answer: Robert James Fitzsimmons

"Bob" Fitzsimmons was born on June 4, 1862 in Helston, Cornwall. On January 14, 1891, Bob knocked out Jack Dempsey in the 13th round of a title fight in New Orleans to win the middleweight championship. Fitzsimmons knocked Dempsey down at least 13 times and then carried him to his corner.
He won the heavyweight championship with a 14th-round knockout of James J. Corbett on March 17, 1897, in Carson City, Nevada.
The last of his titles came when he won the light-heavyweight championship in 1903 by defeating world Light-Heavyweight champion George Gardner by a decision in 20 rounds, thus becoming the first boxer to win titles in three weight-divisions at the age of 41. Bob Fitzsimmons is said to have invented the phrase "the bigger they come the harder they fall".

Answer: Rory McGrath

Few people realise that Rory was born in Cornwall. He is best known for his appearances on the sporting game show 'They think it's all over'.

Answer: John Couch Adams

John Couch Adams was born near Bodmin moor in 1819. He went to Cambridge University and became a Professor of Astronomy in 1858. He later turned down a knighthood offered by Queen Victoria, as he did not want the extra attention or the expensive lifestyle.
Urbain Le Verrier, a French mathematician, made the same calculations as Adams at a similar time and so shares the credit for the discovery.

Answer: William Bligh

Bligh is best remembered for the mutiny that took place against his command on the ship 'Bounty', bound for Tahiti, and the 3,500 mile voyage he took to Timor after being set adrift.
Bligh later fought in a number of sea battles including The Battle of Copenhagen, for which Nelson personally thanked him for his bravery.
Thomas Hardy fought under Nelson, George Dixon sailed with Cook and Edward Boscawen was Cornish but none of these individuals fit the question entirely.

Answer: Africa

Richard and his younger brother John Lander were born in the 'fighting cocks inn' in Truro. In 1830 they went off to explore the unmapped parts of the river Niger in Africa. John Lander was killed by a bullet during a fight with natives.
Richard himself died on his third West African trip in 1834, when he also was killed by a native!

Answer: Miners' safety lamp

The Humphry Davy lamp had a metal gauze that covered the flame, air could pass through to feed the flame with oxygen, but the explosive gasses were held back.
The lamp was particularly useful in the coal mining industry where the presence of methane made the practice so dangerous. Tin was extensively mined in Cornwall, where there were no explosive gases present, however many Cornishmen worked in the coal mines elsewhere and this invention was therefore beneficial to many Cornish lives.

Answer: Saint Piran

Saint Piran has his own flag, which is a white cross on a black background and has been adopted as Cornwall's flag. One myth surrounding Piran states that he discovered tin.
Piran was actually from Ireland but is regarded as much Cornish as the mighty Cornish pasty!

Answer: Yes

Yes it's true, born near Penzance in 1783.

Answer: Thomas Flamank

Flamank and Michael Joseph led the 1497 rebellion against Henry VII and the taxes he imposed to finance his Scottish war. The impoverished Cornish felt that they had no involvement in wars with Scotland as they lived so far from it. An army of 15,000 marched out of Cornwall and fought The Battle of Deptford Bridge (just outside London) on 17th June 1497, against 25,000 of Henry's army. Henry won the day and thus ended the rebellion.