List of Old Tonbridgians

This is a list of notable alumni of Tonbridge School.

Academics and scientists

• Sir Derek Harold Richard Barton FRS, Chemist and Nobel Laureate
• William Thomas Clifford Beckett, CBE, DSO (1862–1956) Brigadier-General in British Army and notable Civil Engineer
• Herbert Edward Douglas Blakiston, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford (1917–1920)
• Roland Bond, Locomotive engineer
• Ian Bradley, writer, academic and theologian
• Owen Chadwick - Order of Merit, Vice Chancellor of University of Cambridge, Master of Selwyn Cambridge, Regius Professor of Modern History, Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Chancellor of University of Anglia, President of British Academy, and a Rugby Union International.
• John George Children FRS British chemist, mineralogist and zoologist
• David Emms, teacher and rugby union player
• Peter Fisher (physician), personal physician to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
• W. D. Hamilton, devisor of Red Queen Theory
• Norman Heatley, the man who, having been on the team of Oxford scientists which discovered penicillin, turned it into a usable medicine
• R.J.B. Knight, naval historian
• Sir Arthur Marshall, aviation engineer
• Edward Nicholson, author and head of the Bodleian library
• Walter Fraser Oakeshott, Vice Chancellor of Oxford University
• Carl Pantin FRS, Professor of zoology, Cambridge University
• Colin Patterson, palaeontologist and reformer of the fossil record
• Sir David Randall Pye FRS, Mechanical engineer and Provost of University College London
• W.H.R Rivers, Cambridge neurologist, psychologist, anthropologist and World War One psychiatrist
• Sir Anthony Seldon, historian, political commentator and educationalist (current Master of Wellington College)
• Claud Buchanan Ticehurst, ornithologist
• Ernest Basil Verney, pharmacologist and Fellow of the Royal Society
• Thomas Dewar Weldon philosopher
• Maurice Frank Wiles - Regius Professor Emeritus of Divinity at Oxford and one of the leading theologians of the Church of England

Actors, Directors & Screenwriters

• Maurice Denham (1909–2002), prolific character actor, known for voicing all the animal characters in the animated feature Animal Farm (1954 film)
• Tristan Gemmill (born 1967), actor, known for playing Adam Trueman in the BBC medical drama Casualty
• Ronald Howard (1918–1996) actor, son of Leslie Howard
• John Howlett (born 1942), screenwriter & film director, co-wrote the feature film If.... with fellow Tonbridge schoolmate David Sherwin
• Adrian Rawlins (born 1958), actor, known for playing James Potter in the Harry Potter film series
• Dan Stevens (born 1982), actor, known for playing Matthew Crawley in the ITV period drama Downton Abbey
• David Sherwin (born 1942), screenwriter, co-wrote the feature film If.... with fellow Tonbridge schoolmate John Howlett
• Richard Southgate (born 1990), actor, known for playing Malik in the CBBC series Young Dracula
• David Tomlinson (1917–2000), actor, known for playing George Banks in Mary Poppins
• Benjamin Whitrow (born 1937), actor, known for playing Mr. Bennett in the 1995 mini-series Pride and Prejudice

Armed forces

• Clifford Thomason Beckett, CBE, MC, Major-General in British Army
• Rear Admiral David Cooke, submarine and defence procurement officer
• William Sholto Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas of Kirtleside GCB, MC, DFC, Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command after the Battle of Britain
• Eric Stuart Dougall, Victoria Cross, First World War
• Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Dowler
• Air Chief Marshal Sir William Elliot GCVO, KCB, KBE, DFC & Bar, ADC, RAF
• John Everard Gurdon DFC and bar. WW1 flying ace with 28 kills
• Rear Admiral Frederick Hervey, 4th Marquess of Bristol, nobleman, naval officer and Conservative politician
• Squadron Leader Hilary Hood, Battle of Britain fighter pilot
• Edmund Ironside, 1st Baron Ironside, Chief of the Imperial General Staff
• Edmund Ironside, 2nd Baron Ironside
• Major-General Sir Millis Jefferis, developer of unusual weapons during WW2
• Harold Stephen Langhorne (1877–1878), Brigadier-General in the British Army in the First World War
• James Archibald Dunboyne Langhorne (1893–1896), Brigadier in the British Army
• Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough, a brilliant soldier and notorious eccentric who captured Barcelona in the war of Spanish Succession
• Lieutenant-Commander Harold Newgass GC, recipient of the George Cross
• Wing Commander Eric James Brindley Nicolson VC DFC, Battle of Britain fighter pilot and recipient of the Victoria Cross
• Major Sandy Smith (British Army officer), awarded the Military Cross for action at Pegasus Bridge
• Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith, KCB, GCTE, the British admiral of whom Napoleon Bonaparte said, "That man made me miss my destiny".
• Trevor Sidney Wade DFC AFC, Battle of Britain fighter pilot and ace
• Air Chief Marshal Sir Andrew 'Sandy' Wilson, Former Air Member for Personnel and last C-in-C RAF Germany
• Robert Charles Zaehner, British academic, wartime SOE agent and post war MI6 agent

Business

• Sir John Bond, former chairman of HSBC and current chairman of Vodafone
• Roy Brown, former chairman of GKN
• Gerald Corbett, businessman
• Michael Marriott, head of the British stock exchange
• Alex Proud (born 1969), founder and CEO of The Proud Group
• Tim Waterstone (born 1939), founder of Waterstones bookshops

Church leaders

• William Alexander (bishop) (1824–1911) poet, theologian and Anglican Primate of All Ireland
• Harry Blackburne DSO MC, Dean of Bristol
• Gerald Brooks, Anglican Bishop
• Timothy Dudley-Smith, Bishop and hymn writer
• Charles Escreet, Archdeacon of Lewisham
• Edward Lewis Evans, Bishop of Barbados
• Andrew Graham, Bishop of Newcastle
• Sidney Faithorn Green, Ritualist clergyman
• John Halliburton, theologian
• Joseph Charles Hoare, an eminent Anglican priest in the late 19th century and the very early 20th
• Bishop Frederick Edward Ridgeway
• Arthur Tooth SSC, Anglo-Catholic clergyman prosecuted for using ritualist liturgical practices
• Hugo Ferdinand de Waal, Principal of Ridley Hall, Cambridge and Bishop of Thetford
• Henry Russell Wakefield was an Anglican Bishop and author
• Geoffrey Warde, Anglican Bishop
• Kenneth Warner, Bishop of Edinburgh
• Cecil Wilson, Bishop of Melanesia

Diplomats and politicians

• Austen Albu, Labour MP
• Geoffrey Bing, Labour MP
• John Bowis, former Conservative MP and MEP
• Iain Coleman, Labour MP
• Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, diplomat
• Charles Conybeare, radical Liberal politician
• Sir Henry Mortimer Durand diplomat, former Ambassador to the United States
• Sampson Gideon, later Eardley, 1st Baron Eardley, Jewish-born 18th century Tory MP, created Baronet while a schoolboy in 1759.
• Sir Walter Egerton, colonial governor
• Sir Basil Engholm, civil servant
• John Ganzoni, 1st Baron Belstead, Conservative MP
• The Hon.Ben Gummer, Conservative MP for Ipswich
• Sir Reginald Hanson, 1st Baronet, Kt, JP, DL, FSA was Lord Mayor of London and a British Conservative Party politician.
• Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke, Lord Privy Seal
• Edward Brodie Hoare, British Conservative politician
• Sir Norman Hulbert, RAF officer and Conservative politician.
• Nawab Mohammad Ismail Khan, (politician), signatory to the Indian Constitution
• Sir John Leahy, KCMG, former Ambassador to South Africa
• Lord Mayhew of Twysden, QC, barrister and Conservative politician

. Jeremy Newman (Judde House 1964-69), Australian diplomat,ambassador to Iran 2001-2005

• Ralph Neville (MP), Liberal Unionist politician
• Sir Sydney Olivier, 1st Baron Olivier (1859–1943), KCMG, colonial civil servant and Cabinet Minister
• Thomas Pelham, 1st Baron Pelham, aristocrat, Whig Party politician, father of two Prime Ministers.
• Henry Thoby Prinsep, English official of the Indian civil service
• Sir Julian Ridsdale, Conservative politician and intelligence officer
• Robert Rogers, Baron Lisvane, Clerk of the House of Commons
• George Smythe, 7th Viscount Strangford, Conservative politician
• Sir Peter Tapsell, Conservative politician, MP for Louth & Horncastle & current Father of the House of Commons
• Sir David Trench, Governor of Hong Kong (1964–1971)
• Charles Wardle, Conservative politician
• David Williamson, Baron Williamson of Horton GCMG, CB, PC, Secretary General of the European Commission
• Charles Whitworth, 1st Earl Whitworth, British Ambassador to Paris during the treaty of Amiens

Entertainers and musicians

• Robert Ashfield Organist of Southwell Minster and Rochester Cathedral
• Bill Bruford, Drummer for Yes, King Crimson and others (musician)
• Justin Chancellor, bassist, Tool
• Tom Chaplin, Keane musician
• Julian Clifford, Conductor
• Kit Hesketh-Harvey, musician
• Richard Hughes, Keane musician
• Joseph McManners left in 2011, Singer and actor
• Tim Rice-Oxley, Keane musician
• Dominic Scott musician, founding member of the band Keane
• Andy Zaltzman, stand-up comedian

Journalists and writers

• Mark Church, sports commentator
• Harry Cole, journalist
• Rupert Croft-Cooke, author
• Albany Fonblanque, journalist
• E. M. Forster, novelist
• Frederick Forsyth, novelist
• Sidney Keyes, poet
• Christopher Reid, poet
• Vikram Seth, novelist
• Jonathan Street, novelist
• Ken Wiwa, journalist and author. Son of Nigerian campaigner, Ken Saro-Wiwa.
• William Woodfall, (at the school in 1760), pioneer of the (then illegal) practice of reporting Parliamentary debates

Miscellaneous

• William Adams (lawyer), lawyer
• Ranulph Bacon, senior police officer
• Sir Herbert Baker, architect
• Murray Beauclerk, 14th Duke of St Albans
• Sir Rupert de la Bère, 1st Baronet
• Decimus Burton - noted and prolific architect and garden designer
• Hugh Cecil - 1920s society photographer
• Gerald Cock, British broadcasting executive
• Aleister Crowley, occultist, mystic, sexual revolutionary
• Peter Fincham, Director of TV at ITV, former Controller of BBC One
• Chris Hollins - BBC Breakfast sports presenter, son of footballer John Hollins
• William Hughes-Hughes, stamp-collector
• George Percy Jacomb-Hood, artist
• Vikram Jayanti, documentary film maker
• Sir John Nott-Bower, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
• Jasper Rootham, civil servant, soldier, central banker, merchant banker, writer and poet
• Tim Severin, explorer
• George Smythe, 7th Viscount Strangford
• Paul Tanqueray - society photographer
• Francis Thynne, herald (his father was Chaucer's editor, and Master of the Household for Henry VIII)
• David Trubridge, furniture designer
• Roger Yates, Organ builder

Sportsmen

• William Albertini (1913–1994), English cricketer
• Mark Allbrook, cricketer and Head at Bloxham School
• Randolph Aston, rugby union international who represented England
• Matthew Banes, cricketer
• Jack Barley, cricketer
• James Body, rugby union international who represented England
• Thomas Bourdillon, cricketer
• William Cave, England rugby union player
• Sir Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge (1932–2000), Kent CCC and England cricketer and cricket administrator
• C. S. Cowdrey (born 1957), Kent Glamorgan and England cricketer and broadcaster
• Fabian Cowdrey, Kent cricketer
• G. R. Cowdrey (born 1964), Kent cricketer
• Tom Crawford, cricketer
• John Dale, cricketer
• Jack Davies (cricketer), cricketer who bowled Sir Donald Bradman out for a duck
• John Dew, cricketer
• R. M. Ellison (born 1959), Kent CCC and England cricketer
• Edward Estridge, cricketer
• Ollie Freeman, athlete, tri-athlete
• Peter Graham, cricketer
• Lionel Hedges, cricketer
• Anthony Henniker-Gotley, England rugby union captain
• Maurice Holmes (cricketer), cricketer
• C. W. H. Howard (born 1904), Middlesex CCC cricketer
• Kenneth Hutchings England cricketer and Wisden cricketer of the year
• Francis Luscombe (1849–1926), rugby union international who represented England and was on the first Rugby Football Union committee
• Chris Madderson (Born 1972), Rugby Union represented Harlequins F.C.
• David Marques, England and British Lions rugby player and member of 1964 America's Cup challenger team aboard the yacht Sovereign.
• James Mason (1876–1938), cricketer
• Tom May, rugby union player, Newcastle Falcons and England
• Charles Pillman MC, England Rugby player
• Ben Ransom, Rugby union player for Saracens
• James Rowe, cricketer
• Ronald Rutter, cricketer
• George Arbuthnot Scott, cricketer
• Walter Slade, (1854–1919), former world amateur record holder for the mile
• James Short (rugby union), Rugby union player for Saracens.
• E. T. Smith (born 1977), Middlesex CCC, Kent and England cricketer
• Luke Wallace, Rugby player for Harlequins RFC