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England has long been celebrated for its eccentric ways. Whether it's their affection for black pudding made with pig's blood at breakfast, their judicial system's insistence on wearing syphilis-hiding wigs, or bizarre customs like cheese rolling and burning effigies of the Pope, the English have cultivated a rich tradition of weirdness. Here are some of the most extraordinary oddballs England has ever produced.
10. John Ruskin—The Shy Marvel
Every tale of England's eccentricities ought to begin with the story of John Ruskin—The famed art critic and writer tied the knot with his cousin in 1848. (That certainly adds a peculiar layer to this list, don’t you think?)
While Ruskin's brilliance was undisputed, it failed to translate into charm with women. He was, in fact, deeply repulsed by the female form. His ill-fated marriage to Effie Gray was never consummated, as Ruskin outright refused to do so and treated her with unfair cruelty. His aversion to the female body was so intense that, when he founded the Ruskin School of Art in 1871, he banned students from drawing, painting, or sculpting depictions of nude women... in an art school.
9. William Beckford—The Lord of ‘(fall)Downton Abbey’
This guy was a real-life ‘Ritchie Rich’, the comic book billionaire. In 1770, at the age of 10, Beckford inherited a staggering £1 million (which, adjusted for inflation, is about a gazillion and a half US dollars and 43 cents), along with sugar plantations in Jamaica and 1,600 African slaves. With his sudden wealth, Beckford became accustomed to the finest things in life. He was an art collector, a literary giant, and even a collector of harems of young boys for companionship. His true passion, however, was gothic architecture. Like any decent, god-fearing, mad millionaire novelist, he decided to construct an abbey to live in and continue his love affair with his 11-year-old cousin, William Courtenay.
After recruiting 500 local men to work for six years, Beckford's magnificent new home was finished on his vast Wiltshire estate. ‘Fonthill Abbey’ came together with the help of builders who were generously supplied with beer to keep them working on the unusual project. No one could have been too surprised when the 300-foot spire eventually toppled. Seven years later, the tower was reconstructed, allowing Beckford to live in peace... with just his one servant, a Spanish dwarf.
8. Mary Amelia ‘Emily Mary’ Cecil, Marchioness of Salisbury—Mistress of the Hunt Who Was Gone in a Flash
When people reach around 70, something curious happens; once fashionable individuals begin opting for increasingly comfortable clothes, until they resemble little more than bundles of woolly sweaters, deck shoes, and oversized cataract glasses. Now, picture a 90-year-old punk rocker. However, the first Marchioness of Salisbury refused to succumb to the slow slide into loungewear.
She was quite the athlete, enjoying a thrilling fox hunt like many of her fellow aristocrats living in the countryside. Lady Cecil maintained this hobby into her seventies, but due to her deteriorating eyesight and unsteady balance, she had to be secured to her horse while leading the hunt. However, she was most famous for her fashion choices, still wearing the elaborate wigs that were all the rage when she was young. This fondness for nostalgia ultimately led to her tragic end when, while seated at her writing desk in the west wing of her country estate, one of her voluminous wigs caught fire from a nearby candelabra. The resulting blaze destroyed much of the house and claimed her life. All that remained were some charred bones and a set of dentures from the eccentric octogenarian.
7. Henry Cavendish—The Rainmaker
"The richest of all the savants and the most knowledgeable of all the rich"—that’s how the renowned French scientist Jean Baptiste Biot described 'The Honourable Henry Cavendish,' a man who stands out as one of the most significant experimental chemists of the 18th century.
Among his groundbreaking discoveries were various astrological instruments, the revelation of the chemical makeup of both air and water, and the calculation of electrical resistance 50 years before Georg Ohm. He even deduced the effects of gravity on light rays long before Einstein, and perhaps most astonishingly, he accurately calculated the mass of the Earth, a conclusion that has only been fine-tuned slightly ever since. Despite his monumental achievements, Cavendish was famously reclusive and had no concept of the value of money. When one of his servants fell ill, colleagues raised funds for him and asked Cavendish to contribute. A few pounds would have been generous, but Cavendish, unaware of the sum, pledged £10,000—a staggering amount even by today's standards!
6. Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, Lord Berners—The Epitome of the Eccentric
How’s this for logic? If you toss an adorable spaniel into water, it’s widely believed that it will naturally swim. So, if one were to toss a cute little spaniel out of a window… that’s precisely what young Lord Berners did at his family estate. Results of the experiment remain unreported.
Tyrwhitt-Wilson, a peculiar and eccentric child, matured into an equally odd and eccentric adult. His meals were planned and served based on which color he felt like that day (green, for instance, would likely mean asparagus soup, mixed greens, peas, and a kiwi fruit dessert). In 1935, he constructed a folly tower at his estate, Faringdon, in Oxfordshire, England, despite opposition from local planners. A sign near the completed tower read: ‘Members of the public committing suicide from this tower do so at their own risk.’
Lord Berners was a mischievous sprite, always ready to play tricks and practical jokes on friends and strangers alike. Like most train users, he enjoyed having his own space, so he’d wear the most outlandish outfits possible, leaning out the window at stations to invite random passengers to join him. Few accepted. Those daring enough to sit with the eccentric Lord Berners would soon make their exit, as he had a habit of regularly checking his own temperature... with a rectal thermometer.
"Here lies Lord Berners One of the learners His great love of learning May earn him a burning But, Praise the Lord! He seldom was bored." – Epitaph on the gravestone of Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron Berners
5. David James, MP for Brighton Kemptown—On the Hunt for Nessie…and His Parliamentary Seat
I really, really want the Loch Ness Monster to be real, (along with UFOs, Bigfoot, and guardian angels—the magical kind, not the vigilante ones roaming the streets of New York—they’re real, I think). Another person who shared this desire to find Nessie was David James. The difference between him and me? I don’t actually believe Nessie exists, and I’m not the Member of Parliament for Brighton Kemptown on the south coast of England.
During the 1964 general election, James lost his seat to a challenger from the rival Labour Party, marking their first win of the seat. While conventional wisdom would have you knocking on doors, attending debates, and kissing a few babies to secure an election victory, David James had more important plans—he embarked on a three-week hunt for the Scottish cryptid. Needless to say, he didn’t find his elusive aquatic dinosaur friend, but you’ve got to admit, this was a man with a plan. A very foolish plan.
4. Admiral Algernon Charles Fieschi Henage—Cleanliness is Next to Godliness, Sloppiness Gets You Punished
Admiral Henage was highly regarded, honored with a knighthood in the Order of Bath after his retirement, alongside many other esteemed admirals of the world’s most powerful navy. Considering that England perhaps had the most dominant fleet in history, perhaps we should look at the practices that made such dominance possible.
Was it daily gun drills to ensure peak firepower at lightning speed? Was it ensuring seamless supply lines so the fleet’s men were well-fed, hydrated, healthy, and ready to engage? No. For Admiral Henage, a clean ship was the ultimate weapon. How did he enforce this? Henage would tour his ship wearing white kid gloves, a coxswain following with a silver platter stacked with fresh gloves, and he would run his finger along every surface, hunting for any speck of dirt. Any found could lead to a very disgraced officer’s dismissal from the Navy. And that’s how Britannia ruled the waves.
3. Kenneth Cecil Gandar-Dower—Not Exactly the Sport of Kings
England has a long history of versatile athletes who excel across multiple sports. Few embody this more than Kenneth Cecil Gandar-Dower, who not only shone as a cricketer but also mastered the Eton and Rugby versions of the game 'fives', as well as excelling in tennis, squash, and billiards—the list is seemingly endless. Gandar-Dower was also an avid traveller and adventurer, a trailblazing aviator, and a pioneer discovering uncharted territories on behalf of the Empire. However, his most questionable contribution was his invention of perhaps the most ludicrous spectator sport ever conceived.
Greyhounds are fast, but nowhere near as fast as cheetahs. We race greyhounds, right? Well, Gandar-Dower thought, why not race cheetahs too? Unfortunately, this plan didn’t pan out. After all, as we all know, cheetahs are not greyhounds, and locals were terrified at the idea of roving packs of hungry cheetahs in West London, looking for their next meal (the cats weren’t interested in racing, they were more focused on finding food). Though interest in Gandar-Dower’s bizarre idea faded, we can still appreciate the insanity of the man—and the sheer oddity of those featured in this list.
2. Justice Sir Melford Stevenson—A Terrifying Wit
Throughout this article, we’ve encountered a number of quirky and eccentric individuals, but imagine one of them was the judge overseeing your trial. Terrified yet? This was the reality for many people standing before Justice Sir Melford Stevenson. Known for his inflammatory comments during the trials he oversaw, he once referred to bookmakers as a 'bunch of crooks', called the city of Birmingham in the Midlands a 'municipal Gomorrah', and, during a divorce hearing, criticized the husband’s choice to live in Manchester as 'a wholly incomprehensible choice for any free man to make'. When he ran for parliament in 1945, he promised a clean campaign against his opponent, Tom Driberg, stating he would not mention Driberg’s 'alleged homosexuality'. This un-PC judge holds the dubious record of having the most decisions overturned by the Court of Appeal in a single day—three decisions, to which he quipped, 'A lot of my colleagues are just constipated Methodists.'
1. Lady Diana Cooper—Beyond Leisure
Lady Diana Cooper, the epitome of a leisure-loving socialite, muse for Evelyn Waugh, and crowned the 'most beautiful girl in the world,' is someone whose life and legacy could fill multiple articles—or even books. Instead, let’s focus on a few key moments that showcase this High Priestess of English eccentricity. During World War II, Lady Cooper had a strikingly simple yet ingenious idea to protect London from the relentless nightly bombings. Her plan? Install giant magnets in London’s parks to repel incoming bombs. Unfortunately, the War Office did not adopt her plan.
Another unforgettable moment in Lady Cooper's colorful life occurred at a reception celebrating the 100th birthday of Sir Robert Mayer, a distinguished musician. Lady Cooper was mingling with the upper crust of society when she found herself chatting with a very well-dressed woman. She continued her lively conversation until it dawned on her that the woman she was speaking with was none other than the Queen. Embarrassed, Lady Cooper quickly curtseyed and, with characteristic charm, offered a quintessentially Cooperian apology: 'I’m terribly sorry, ma’am. I didn’t recognise you without your crown on.'
