THEY are the men and women who founded Bournemouth and soon they could be honoured on granite plaques mounted on the outside wall of the Pavilion Theatre.

But who were the founding fathers who forged the Bournemouth we know today?

As part of Bournemouth’s bicentenary, Cllrs Rod and Elaine Cooper are financing the commissioning of plaques each bearing a picture of one of the town’s founders.

They will be situated on the Pavilion wall, if the necessary consents are granted.

“The question is, who were the founders of our town?” asked Cllr Rod Cooper, who wants members of the public to put forward their suggestions.

Already a meeting of a distinguished team, chaired by Michael Stead, of Bournemouth Libraries, has come up with some suggestions, but have they missed anybody out?

Here we reveal their seven “definites”, which to some may be controversial.

Cllr Cooper’s team also looked at a variety of other notables of the past, including, for example, Merton Russell-Cotes, Henry Joy, Joseph Cutler, William Rebbeck, the Tapps-Gervis-Meyrick family, Kerley, David and Peter Tuck, Edmund Street, Robert Day, Roberts Thompson, Jenry Drummond-Wolff and George Durrant.

They, however, were judged as “not quites”. Others, highly regarded, but discounted, included John Beale, Lord Manners, Christy and Benjamin Ferry, who all fell short of the criteria.

And they plan to have further discussion on the likes of Sir Percy Florence Shelley, Ledgard, Sydenham, Bayly, Taylor and Granville.

But now they want your opinions.

The criteria demands that those to be commemorated on the plaques should have been active in the town prior to 1870; should have left a legacy to be visited; may include builders and, usually, would have been living in the town.

And they want the people to be engaging, not stuffy, and help people to discover Bournemouth.

“We would now like to have suggestions from members of the public of any other names they believe should be included as founders,” said Cllr Rod Cooper. “And, if not on the Pavilion wall, where else would you like to see them displayed?

“Your suggestions and comments should be sent to Heritage@BournemouthLibraries.org.uk Candidates - 1 Christopher Crabtree Creeke: He came to Bournemouth in 1852 and became Surveyor and Inspector of Nuisances. A man of energy and vision, “his legacy lives on in the winding roads of the town centre and in some of the surviving villas and in his design work at the Wimborne Road Cemetery”.

2 Alexander Morden-Bennett: The town’s first vicar, arriving in Bournemouth in 1845. “Representing faith and education, he worked tirelessly for Bournemouth and had the missionary vigour to go beyond the bounds of his own congregation and establish churches across the town”.

3 Clapcott-Cooper-Dean family: There were Deans in Holdenhurst in the 17th century and so this family were here before Bournemouth was begun and helped in its development, “laying out some of the most significant regions of villas” and giving plots of land for various public uses.

4 Captain Lewis and Henrietta Tregonwell: When she saw the place where the Bourne met the sea, Henrietta decided it would be the ideal spot for a summer residence and her husband, Lewis, set about arranging for the mansion to be built. The bicentenary celebrates the year of 1810 when he purchased the land. “Without the spark of interest shown by the Tregonwells, perhaps Bournemouth would never have been started, the team concluded, adding that Tregonwell’s vision “allowed all the other founders to play their part”.

5 Isaac Gulliver: The smuggler, who retired, in style in 1800, represents “the energetic enterprising nature of the place, which was made respectable by being enclosed in bricks and mortar”.

A romantic figure, he boasted of never having resorted to murder whilst engaged in a murderous trade.

6 The Talbot Sisters: Georgina Charlotte and Mary Anne “may have arrived in Bournemouth expecting a genteel retirement” in the 1840s but were shocked by the suffering of the poor”. They not only began building Winton and created Talbot Village, but were pioneers of education and social welfare, founding a charity that survives today.

7 Farmer William West: Farmer West who farmed at Muscliff and the other Enclosure cottagers around the site “were not prepared to bow to their lords and masters” over the move to enclose the heathland and take away their ancient rights over the land. “They made their case to the commissioners and, as a result, the great parks of Bournemouth – Redhill, Meyrick, Queens, Kings and Southbourne Pleasure Grounds – were set aside for their use and eventually became an asset for everyone.”