The Chiswick Timeline of Writers & Books lists around 425 writers who have written a book and lived in Chiswick W4, or written books about the area. See A Quick Guide.
Below we list the Non-fiction writers, by subject area:
1. Chiswick’s art, architecture & history; 2. History, journalism, memoirs, biography; 3. Business, economics, coaching; 4. Education, science, technology, statistics, medicine; 5. Travel; 6. Stage, screen and radio; 7. Music; 8. Diplomacy, politics, law, military, marine; 9. Food and drink; 10. Architecture, gardens, nature, environment; 11. Art, design, fashion, photography, literary criticism; 12. Sport.
Most links on the authors’ names below connect to their book(s), their own website or the Writers Trail. Where other links are indicated, click ‘Life’ or ‘Career’ to read more about them – and ‘W4’ for a published connection with Chiswick (we are adding more details). CWRG stands for Chiswick Writers Research Group.
– See also: Chiswick Timeline of Writers: Novels, poems or plays.
– Chiswick Writers: Year by year (those no longer living)
– Read more stories and anecdotes via the Writers Tales page.
– In April 2020, we added 75 more names, listed on the Latest names page, with others to be added.
– See Notes and sources: We have tried to ensure that all those named have lived in, or written about, Chiswick – but are open to corrections.
Chiswick Timeline of Writers & Books: non-fiction
1. Chiswick’s art, architecture & history |
6. Stage, screen and radio See also 7. Music (below) and more: Chiswick’s theatres, playwrights and performers |
Tony Aldous |
John Abbott |
Humphrey Arthure Life (CWRG) |
Eamonn Andrews (1922-1987) Life (Wiki) W4 |
Sheila Binns |
Gareth Armstrong Career W4 |
Margaret Jones Bolsteri (b. 1931) Life (CWRG) |
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (1853-1917) Life (Wiki) Life (CWRG) W4 |
Val Bott |
Michael Billington Career W4 |
Michael Broom W4 |
Peter Brook Career + W4 (Wiki) W4 |
David Budworth (1934-2019) & Sandra Grant W4 |
Sir Charles (CB) Cochran (1872-1951) Life (Wiki) W4 |
Gillian Clegg Life Appreciation W4: People |
William Cook W4 |
Reginald Colman (1903-1995) & Shirley Seaton (1932-2019) (Beyond W4) |
Tommy Cooper (1921-1984) Life (Wiki) Life (CWRG) W4 |
Anthea Craigmyle (1933-2016) and Molly Rich Life (CWRG) |
Edward Gordon Craig (1872-1966) Life (Wiki) Life (CWRG) |
Sarah Cruz & Karen Liebreich |
Declan Donnelly Career (Wiki) W4 |
Warwick Draper (1873-1926) |
Richard Evans Career W4 |
Dr Ian Fletcher (1920-1988) |
Fenella Fielding (1927-2018) Life (Wiki) Life (CWRG) W4 |
Mark Girouard |
John Guillermin (1925-2015) W4 |
Roderick Gradidge (1929-2000) Life (CWRG) |
Sheila Hancock Career (Wiki) W4 |
T Affleck Greeves (1917-1997) |
Rachel Kempson (1910-2003) Life (CWRG) |
John H Grigg |
Rula Lenska Career (Wiki) W4 |
Carolyn & Peter Hammond |
Desmond Lynam Career (Wiki) Life (CWRG) W4 |
John Harris |
Dame Gillian Lynne (1926-2018) Life (Wiki) Life (CWRG) W4 |
Simon Jenkins Life (CWRG) |
Ant McPartlin Career (Wiki) W4 |
Sybil Pearce |
Pete Murray Career (Wiki) W4 |
WPW Phillimore (1853-1913) Life (CWRG) |
Richard Osman Career (Wiki) W4 |
William P Roe Life (CWRG) |
Christine Ozanne |
Andrew Saint |
Mark Edward Perugini (1876-1948) |
Christine Shaw Life (CWRG) |
Giles Playfair (1910-1996) Life (CWRG) |
Christina Speight & Laurence Duttson (deceased) |
Sir Nigel Playfair (1874-1935) |
Stephanie White |
Corin Redgrave (1939-2010) Life (CWRG) |
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Lynn Redgrave (1943-2010) Life (CWRG) |
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Michael Redgrave (1908-1985) Life (CWRG) |
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Vanessa Redgrave Life (CWRG) |
2. History, journalism, memoirs, biography |
Lynn Seymour |
Sir Edwin Arnold (1832-1904) |
Wayne Sleep |
Clare Balding |
Julia Smith (1927-1997) |
Helen Batten |
Susan M Stanley |
Mary Berry (1763-1852) |
Brian Tesler |
Alan Bignell |
Patrick Tucker |
Julian Borger |
Will Wyatt |
Henry Fox Bourne (1837-1909) |
Sir Jimmy Young (1921-2016) |
Isa Bowman (1874-1958) |
Eric Morecambe & Ernie Wise (EM: 1926-1984); EW: 1925-1999) |
Ginny Brown (1941 – 2006) Life (CWRG) |
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Deborah Cadbury |
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Sir John Chardin (1643-1713) Life (CWRG) |
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Jessie Childs |
7. Music |
Adrian Chiles |
Julian Bream |
Cosmo Clark (1897-1967) Tales |
Phil Collins |
Lady Mary Coke (1727-1811) Life (CWRG) |
Roger Daltrey |
James Cracknell |
Bruce Dickinson |
Kate Colquhoun |
Mark Ellen |
Hugh Cudlipp, Baron Cudlipp (1913-1998) |
John Entwistle |
William Dalrymple |
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Lord (President of ArtsEd) |
Ian Davidson |
Alan Smith |
Polly Devlin |
Pete Townshend |
Mora Dickson (1918-2001) |
Steve Turner |
Mark Ellen |
Midge Ure |
Siobhan Ferguson |
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Jerramy Fine |
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Glenn Frankel |
8. Diplomacy, politics, law, military, marine |
Sylvia Freedman |
Leo Abse MP (1917-2008) Life (CWRG) |
Tanya Goodin |
Llewelyn Atherley-Jones (1851-1929) |
Bryony Gordon |
KC Barnaby (1887–1968) Life (CWRG) |
RALPH GRIFFITHS (1720-1803) |
Colin Bamford |
Bill Hagerty |
Frank Field MP |
Jane Hayward |
Jo Grimond MP, Baron Grimond (1913-1993) Life (CWRG) |
Mary Hockaday |
David Hannay, Lord Hannay of Chiswick |
Ralph Hoddinott (1913-2007) |
Sir Percy Harris (1876-1952) |
Martin Hoffman (1929-2018) |
Vyvyan Kinross |
Roger Ingpen (1867-1936) |
Mark Malloch Brown, Lord |
Fergal Keane |
Field Marshall Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (1887-1976) W4 Chiswick in WW2 |
Jane Kelly |
William Morris (1834-1896) Timeline W4 |
Michael Kerr |
Sir Alan Munro |
Robin Knight |
Matt Myers |
Julia Langdon |
Daniel O’Connell (1775-1847) |
Thomas Layton (1819-1911) |
Sir Craig Oliver |
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Lord |
Erin Pizzey Life (CWRG) |
Karen Liebreich |
Sir Michael Rose |
Dr Sara Lodge |
Jean-Jacques Rousseau |
Tom Mangold |
Gordon Wansborough-White |
Tim Marshall |
Commodore Ronald Warwick |
Peter Oborne |
Sir George Young MP |
James O’Brien |
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Rageh Omaar |
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Robert Oulds |
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Frederick York Powell (1850-1904) |
9. Food and drink |
James Ralph (1705-1762) |
Marian Armitage |
Goronwy Rees (1909-1979) Life (CWRG) |
Lindsey Bareham |
Laurence Rees |
Carla Capalbo |
Cathy Rentzenbrink |
Lucy Cufflin |
Dan Rider (1869-1945) |
Gillian Flower |
James Rodgers |
Richard Johnson |
James Sime (1843-1895) |
Paul Keers |
Jessie Georgina Sime (1868-1958) |
Rowley Leigh |
Jenny Smith |
Patricia Lousada (1929-2019) |
Joan Smith |
Lucy McDonald |
JC Squire (1884-1958) |
Rick Stein |
Alfred Spalding (1850-1923) |
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SERGIUS STEPNIAK (1851-1895) |
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Beverley Turner |
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Liz Vercoe |
10. Architecture, gardens, nature, environment. See more: Chiswick’s gardeners: Kent, Lindley, Paxton and the RHS |
Queen Victoria (1830-1901) Search ‘Chiswick’ |
Maurice B Adams (1849-1933) Life W4 |
Jeremy Vine |
Fenja Anderson (Gunn) |
Avalon Weston |
CJ Cornish (1858-1906) Life (CWRG) |
Trish Williams |
Rev William Cotton (1813-1879) |
Humphry Berkeley Life (CWRG) |
Robert Fortune (1812-1880) Life (CWRG) |
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Andy Garnett and Polly Devlin |
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Professor Peter Hall (1932-2014) Life (CWRG) |
3. Business, economics, coaching |
Dr Karen Liebreich |
Kristina Bill |
John Lindley (1799-1865) |
Clive Bingley (1936-2017) Life (CWRG) |
Roddy Llewelyn |
Charles and Edward Bright (EB: 1831-1913) |
Jessie MacGregor (1853-1919) Life (CWRG) |
Philip Coggan |
Peter Murray |
Dharshini David |
Joseph Paxton (1803-1865) |
Torin Douglas |
Richard Bowdler Sharpe (1847-1909) |
Ann Francke |
David Shreeve |
Andy Garnett (1930-2014) |
Alison Taylor |
Professor Simon Goldsworthy |
Jutta Wagner |
Suzy Grant |
Martin Wainwright |
Cath Kidston |
Annette Wendland |
Judie Lannon (1942-2019) |
Kim Wilde |
Professor Robin Marris (1924-2012) |
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Beezy Marsh |
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Louella Miles |
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Ralph Miliband (1924-1994) |
11. Art, design, fashion, photography, literary criticism |
Michael Parker |
Professor Francis Ames-Lewis |
Ian Peacock |
Marthe Armitage |
Maggie Pigott |
Elias Malke Assad |
Dr Josephine Perry |
Dr Pamela Bickley |
Tony Porter |
Thomas Bolas (1848-?) |
Hamish Pringle |
Fiona Brattle |
Professor Robert Skidelsky |
Lindsay P Butterfield (1869-1948) |
Alan Toop |
Sir Sydney Cockerell (1867-1962) |
John Vaizey, Lord (1929-1984) |
Nelson Dawson (1859-1941) Life (CWRG) |
Roderick White |
Polly Devlin |
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Ralph Edwards (1894-?) |
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Professor Robert Hewison |
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William Hogarth (1697-1764) Life (CWRG) |
4. Education, science, technology, statistics, medicine |
Professor Graham Holderness |
Neil Ardley (1937-2004) |
Sandra Lousada |
Magdalena Bak-Maier |
Jose Manser |
MS Bartlett (1910-2002) |
William Morris (1834-1896) |
Alec Dickson (1914-1994) Plaque |
Bob Osborne & Carrie Reichardt |
Brent Furnas |
Robert Stevenson (1847-1900) Life (CWRG) |
Adam Kay |
Roger Tredre |
Professor Jeremy Levy |
Marina Vaizey |
Professor Archibald Low (1888-1956) |
James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) Life (CWRG) |
Virginia Makins |
Christopher Wilk |
Denis Postle |
Anthea Craigmyle (1933-2016) Life (CWRG) |
Sir Francis Ronalds Life (CWRG) |
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Louise Silverton |
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Robert E Smith |
12. Sport |
John Sutton (1919-1992) |
Clare Balding |
Herbert Thorndike (1598-1672) |
James Cracknell |
Thomas Harrington Tuke (1826-1888) Life (CWRG) |
Gary Critcher |
Professor Fred Vine |
Brian Dobbs |
Frederick Walton (1834-1928) |
Patsy Hendren (1889-1962) |
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Michael Miles |
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Sir Matthew Pinsent |
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Daley Thompson ** |
5. Travel |
Beverley Turner |
Kathy Arnold |
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Sue Bryant |
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Sir John Chardin (1643-1713) Life (CWRG) |
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Martin Daly Life (CWRG) |
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Andrew Eames |
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Robert Fortune (1812-1880) |
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Helen Martin |
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Tim Moore |
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James Tickell |
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Paul Wade |
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See also:
Chiswick Timeline of Writers & Books: How it began
Chiswick Timeline of Writers & Books: Latest names
Chiswick Timeline of Writers & Books: Beyond W4
Chiswick Timeline of Writers & Books: Notes and sources: Thank you to everyone who has submitted more names for inclusion. To be included, authors must have lived in Chiswick and written and published a book. We check all references but are happy to make corrections if you know more than we do! If you would like to give further suggestions, comments or information, please email: admin@chiswickbookfestival.net.
See also:
More names at:
Waterstones Local Authors Party 2018
Waterstones Local Authors Party 2017