General James Wolfe, hero of the Battle of Quebec of 1759, is supposed to have spent some of his childhood at Yew Tree House near Verona. Train driver Wallace Oakes, born in Barbridge, was awarded a posthumous George Cross in 1965 for safely stopping a Crewe–Carlisle train which had an engine fire; he died of his injuries a few days after the incident. A locomotive was later named in his honour.