Katharine Eleanor Hamnett

Place: Gravesend

Born: 1947

Biography:

Katharine Eleanor Hamnett is an English fashion designer born on August 16, 1947 in Gravesend, England. She is best known for her political T-shirts. Her surname originates from two medieval names, Hamunet and Hampnett, which came to sound the same around the sixteenth century. The first is derived from the Old German name Haimo, borrowed into Old French as Haim, Haimes, and Haimon, and combined with the Anglo-Norman diminutive suffix -et to give the pet-name Hamunet. The second source of the surname Hamnett is the place-name Hampnett, found in Gloucestershire and in the forms Westhampnett and East Hampnett in Sussex, which first came to be used as a second name to indicate that a person came from one of these settlements. As of around 2011, 1543 individuals had the surname Hamnett in Great Britain, and 21 in Ireland. In 1881, 991 people in Great Britain had the name, being clustered in the south-west of England, especially Devon. Meanwhile, Irish bearers of the name around the middle of the nineteenth century clustered in Dublin. Notable people with the surname Hamnett include Hamnet Shakespeare, son of William Shakespeare, English footballer Ade Hamnett, Hong Kong actress and model Belinda Hamnett, English footballer Bob Hamnett, British journalist and politician Cyril Hamnett, Baron Hamnett, English fashion designer Katharine Hamnett, Welsh artist and writer Nina Hamnett, and English actress Olivia Hamnett.