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Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey
Carey on Iraq - May 04
The former Archbishop of Canterbury has spoken out against the Iraq torture pictures.
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Jack Cohen - founder of Tesco
Jack Cohen is the original man who founded and started a Supermarket giant and yes, he was an East End boy. In one story about his life he used his wife's name 'Tess' as a trade name for the family stall. any ideas yet - yes, he founded TESCO!
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Sir Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh was reputed to have lived in the Blackwall region of Tower Hamlets and was one of the grand rascals of the Elizabethan Age. He made a name for himself fighting the Irish at Munster; later he was introduced at court and used his considerable charm to become a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I. Known for his wit and roving eye, Raleigh fell in and out of Elizabeth's favour. (The story about him laying down his cloak for the queen is disputed, but it may well be true.) He also organized expeditions to the new world, popularized tobacco, and found time to write poetry as a hobby. Raleigh's charm did not however work on Elizabeth's successor, James I, who kept Sir Walter imprisoned in the Tower of London for years and finally had him beheaded in 1618. After Raleigh's execution, his head was embalmed and returned to his wife.

Clement Atlee
Clement Atlee (Prime Minister between 1945 and 1951) was born in Putney and came to live at Haileybury house, Durham Row, off Ben Johnson Road E3, a boys club in Stepney. This move developed a keen interest in social issues. In 1908 he joined the Limehouse Branch of the Independent Labour Party.

Clement Atlee's government created the welfare state and the National Health Service, it nationalised a fifth of Britain's economy, and found the money from a war-devastated economy to build new schools, raise the school-leaving age to 16 and expand higher education. Often regarded as a grey uninspiring figure, Atlee was perhaps the most competent and professional Prime Minister Britain has ever known.