Ralph Hamsterley (died 1518), Master of University College, Oxford
Near to the village is Dryderdale Hall, a magnificent grade II listed mansion built in 1872 by the architect Alfred Waterhouse for the Backhouse family.
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The village lies on a rise above the upper reaches of the Wear valley.
He was seized by the Parliamentarians at Hamsterley, 8 July 1644, when clothed in his Mass vestments, conveyed to London, and committed to Newgate Prison (22 July) with John Duckett, a secular priest.
The northerly spur passes through Hamsterley, taking two miles (3 km) more to reach the beautiful cathedral city of Durham than the easier southern spur which passes through Bishop Auckland.
Their first son John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort VC was succeeded in 1946 by his brother Standish Vereker, 7th Viscount MC who lived at Hamsterley until his death in 1975.