Who are these people?

[Aditus]

 

Yes, Zombie, he held a very prominent office here in the UK

There is only one very prominent office that comes into my mind.

[Red_A]

That picture shows a state gown, i.e. a gown worn by high ranking officer of England,  Lord chancellor, speaker, and in the past Chancellor of the exchequer, first lord of the treasury, first lord of the admiralty,  the attorney general, and the solicitor general. Maybe more.

 

I think a trip to the National Portrait Gallery is called for.

[MikeL]

I think a trip to the National Portrait Gallery is called for.

 

That or a "Paya special".

[paya]

That or a "Paya special".

 

Only Westie knows the "Paya special"! ;-)

[Andy78]

More clues:

 

Our mystery guest went to university at Trinity College, Cambridge.

 

His career started out in law.  He eventually became a King's Counsel.

 

As I said, he holds a gruesome honour in British history - this honour is shared with four Americans who held the equivalent US position.  However, he also holds several unique distinctions, for which he is generally known for none of them (I doubt anyone could even tell you what these are without looking in a book or on Google).

[Andy78]

Time for the big clue:

 

He is a former Prime Minister.

[Zombie]

Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!

 

Spencer Percival - the only British Prime Minister to be assassinated. Shot, I think

[Andy78]

The brain muncher is correct.

 

He was the only Prime Minister to be assassinated whilst still in office.

 

On a slightly more positive note he was also the only Solicitor General, Attorney General or MP for Northampton to ever become Prime Minister.

[MikeL]

Never heard of him and can't play because I saw something I shouldn't.

 

So, I'm guessing the "Paya special" is nothing more elaborate than right clicking on the picture presented as a challenge.  Go ahead and try it on the most recent picture above.  The label on the picture contains the name of the subject.  Most pictures have such a description in their original internet posting.

 

To avoid tempting Paya and others who may not recuse themselves as he so politely did, I suggest you "launder" the picture by saving it to your Photobucket or other such account and changing the description to something less revealing.

 

Good luck.  Have fun.

 

I believe it's Zombie's turn.

Edited March 31, 2014 by MikeL

[Zombie]

so who's this handsome dude?

 

[C J]

That's Bartholamew Q. Merriweather,  the first hermaphrodite to recite "Ode to a Nightingale"  at an annual meeting of the Boston Chamber of Commerce.  The meeting was the first in Boston Chamber history to have been attended by both the Queen of England as well as Dyke Ellington, sister to the famous musician of the same last name, and the Queens secret cuddler.  The Queen was heard to say to Dyke on the way out, "Was it a vision, or a waking dream?".

[Zombie]

Hahaha! Funnily enough there are two facts there that apply to mystery guy

[Slytherin]

Probably a composer - it looks like notes to me... but I'm not sure who he is/was.. hmmmmmmm

[paya]

He reminds me of somebody... So I must have seen the pic before but again, I can't remember where.

[Zombie]

well, the clues are there - you just have to Google two words and mystery guy is the second item

[Red_A]

tudor composer

John Taverner

[Zombie]

Red's in the right area Mystery guy was a Catholic composer who lived through all the Tudor monarchs, a dangerous period where religion swung between Catholic and Protestant several times and each new monarch demanded religious loyalty and many of his contemporaries were punished for recusancy and fined, imprisoned or executed. His Catholicism was almost certainly known but he survived because he was so creative and good at what he did. He is England's greatest Renaissance composer

[Slytherin]

William Byrd ?

[Red_A]

William Byrd not quick enough

Edited April 2, 2014 by Red_A

[Zombie]

William Byrd ?

 

little blue, you are soooo close - William Byrd was his pupil

[C J]

OH jeez, is someone gonna cheat already and tell who it is?  The Queen would never tolerate all this waiting!  I cheated and looked anyway, and it's a little interesting.  This guy had the Queen loving his music.  Makes me wonder if it was the music or something else she liked so much.  

[Slytherin]

I never cheat !  

Edited April 3, 2014 by slytherin

[Zombie]

Final clue!!

 

His music was used in Master and Commander

[paya]

Is he from the era of Henry VIII? There was a composer in Tudors who was gay and when I checked him on Wiki, it was based on true facts. I would endeavour into looking up the name if it lead somewhere but I'm not sure if you consider Henry VIII Renaissance enough... 

[Zombie]

Is he from the era of Henry VIII? There was a composer in Tudors who was gay and when I checked him on Wiki, it was based on true facts. I would endeavour into looking up the name if it lead somewhere but I'm not sure if you consider Henry VIII Renaissance enough... 

 

Yes. Apart from Henry VII (mystery guy was only a young boy when that king died), he composed and performed for all the Tudor monarchs: Henry VIII, Edward VI, "Bloody" Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth I. Although most historians would say The Renaissance started in Italy in the 1300s, it didn't kick off in  England until about 200 years later in the 1500s and there's good reason to say it started during the reign of Henry VIII [1509-47] and ended abruptly in 1649 when Charles I carelessly mislaid his head Not sure who the gay composer is - let us know if you find out

 

This guy deserves to be better known I'll post the answer tomorrow if no-one gets it soon