Explore
What's On in Devon
Welcome to the Itinerary Planner. Use this tool to build your own journey or choose from an exciting range of specially selected tours.
To build your own Itinerary, click to add an item to your Itinerary basket.
You are here > Visitor Info > More Information > Celebrating Devon’s great women on International Women’s Day
19th February 2019
Categories: Visitor News
There are many amazing people that hail from Devon, but as today is International Women’s Day, here are some of the brilliant women that were born or lived in Devon.
Starting off with one of Devon’s greatest exports:
One of the most celebrated crime writers ever, Agatha Christie lived in Torquay and her house at Green Ways is now a National Trust property. You can walk the Agatha Christie mile around Torquay town centre, visit her former home and also head over to Burgh Island to see what inspired some of her best loved stories.
The tennis player and television presenter was born in Paignton and went on to have a successful career as one of the top female tennis players in the country.
Another Torquay native, Miranda Hart is a popular comedian known for Call the Midwife and her own sitcom, Miranda.
Hailing from Plymouth, the model and actress has been working with top brands such as M&S and Burberry as well as taking Hollywood by storm starring alongside top actors such as Tom Hardy and Jason Statham.
Lizzie Kelly is the first woman to win a Grad One Jumps race in Britain and is well respected in the equine sports.
It feels wrong not to use her full title, Mary Chudleigh was a poet who was born in Devon in 1656 and as she was a feminist, we couldn’t not include her on this list. She originated in Winslade and married Sir George Chudleigh, 3rd Baronet of Ashton.
Sharron Davies is a former competitive swimmer who represented the UK in the Olympics as well as in the Commonwealth Games, winning Silver at the 1980 Olympics and two Gold in the 1978 Commonwealth Games. She grew up in Plymouth and attended school in Tavistock.
She might have been claimed by Bristol as that was where she launched her music career in the band Portishead, but she was born in Exeter and didn’t head to the Bristol area until she was in her early twenties.
© Visit Devon Community Interest Company