Donald Campbell
The story of Campbell's last attempt at the water speed record on Coniston Water was told in the BBC television film "Across the Lake" in 1988, with Anthony Hopkins as Campbell. Nine years earlier, Robert Hardy had played Campbell's father, Sir Malcolm Campbell, in the "BBC2 Playhouse" television drama "Speed King"; both were written by Roger Milner and produced by Innes Lloyd. In 2003, the BBC showed a documentary reconstruction of Campbell's fateful water-speed record attempt in an episode of "Days That Shook the World". It featured a mixture of modern reconstruction and original film footage. All of the original colour clips were taken from a film capturing the event, "Campbell at Coniston" by John Lomax, a local amateur filmmaker from Wallasey, England. Lomax's film won awards worldwide in the late 1960s for recording the final weeks of Campbell's life.
Sir Donald Campbell, 1st Baronet
He was born in Dunstaffnage, Scotland, the son of Angus Campbell and Lillias Buchanan. Campbell served in the cavalry for a short time while a young man. In 1825, he married Caroline Eliza Plomer. Campbell was named the 1st Baronet of Dunstaffnage in 1836. He became lieutenant governor for Prince Edward Island in 1847 following the dismissal of Sir Henry Vere Huntley. After his arrival, Campbell was closely associated with the more conservative faction on the island, taking Thomas Heath Haviland as his adviser. Campbell quickly came into conflict with the forces calling for responsible government for Prince Edward Island. He dissolved the assembly in 1850, hoping that more cooperative members would be returned, but the majority of those elected were reformers. He died in office in Charlottetown at the age of 50.