Almost everybody who has lived in Britain can probably be illustrated in some way or another with pictures from our files, even if it is just the village where they were born or the town in which they worked. This list is a random selection of people that most of you will recognise. Engineers and architects are disproportionately well represented because they tend to leave a more obvious mark on the landscape, and because they interest us!

  Oliver Cromwell

  George and Robert Stephenson

  Nicholas Hawksmoor

  The Brontes

  Charles Dickens

  Christopher Wren

  Jane Austen

  Capability Brown

  Thomas Telford

  Isambard Kingdom Brunel

  Edwin Lutyens

  John Constable