52.4791° N, 1.9017° W

BIRMINGHAM

Most Famous People Born in Birmingham, United Kingdom

Notable people
1,855
Peak decade
1960s
Median birth year
1945
Most distinctive
Cricket 4.2×

England's second city, and the engine room of the Industrial Revolution. Birmingham's distinctive professions are cricketers, boxers, footballers, and musicians — the last because the city produced an outsized share of the British heavy-metal scene, from Black Sabbath (Ozzy, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward) through Judas Priest and ELO. Matthew Boulton, Francis Galton, and Neville Chamberlain all belong to the 19th-century Midlands establishment that built the place.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Birmingham during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1960s with 216 notable births.

What Birmingham Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Football is Birmingham's biggest profession — 25% of all notables (467).

Birmingham over-indexes on cricket4.2× the global rate.

Birmingham under-produces politician — only 0.3× the global rate.

  1. Football467
  2. Actor117
  3. Cricket99
  4. Politician73
  5. Painter59
  6. Writer57
  7. Singer46
  8. Player46
  1. Cricket994.2×
  2. Boxer263.5×
  3. Football4672.3×
  4. Music431.6×
  1. Politician730.3×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Birmingham's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

15001550160016501700175018001850190019502000
  • Sports
  • Film & TV
  • Writing
  • Music
  • Art & Design
  • Science
  • Other
All1,855
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Showing 23 of 1,855 notable people

0147 GEOLOGIST

William Johnson Sollas

1849 - 1936

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0164 CONDUCTOR

Walter Bache

1842 - 1888

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0442 WRITER

Frederic M. Halford

1844 - 1914

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0484 BOXER

Tom Allen (boxer)

1840 - 1904

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0502 MYCOLOGIST

William Bywater Grove

1848 - 1938

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0532 BIOGRAPHER

Georgiana Burne-Jones

1840 - 1920

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0585 BOXER

Billy Edwards

1844 - 1907

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0587 ENGINEER

Francis Fox (civil engineer)

1844 - 1927

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0708 PLAYWRIGHT

Thomas Edgar Pemberton

1849 - 1905

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0738 COMPOSER

Charles Swinnerton Heap

1847 - 1900

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0750 ENGRAVER

George T. Morgan

1845 - 1925

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0861 MUSIC

Franklin Taylor

1843 - 1919

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1156 MOUNTAINEER

Thomas Middlemore

1842 - 1923

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1256 GALLANTRY

James Cooper (VC)

1840 - 1889

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1262 PRIEST

Frederick C. Hopkins

1844 - 1923

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1351 POLITICIAN

Allan Studholme

1846 - 1919

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1386 POLITICIAN

Edgar Allan

1842 - 1905

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1424 LORD

Charles Gabriel Beale

1843 - 1912

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1516 PAINTER

Erasmus Walter Ellis

1849 - 1918

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1538 MECHANIC

George Capewell

1843 - 1919

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1627 SINGER

Fanny Addison Pitt

1847 - 1937

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1685 SECRETARY

Frederick D. White

1847 - 1918

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1712 CRICKET

William Robinson (cricketer, born 1847)

1847 - 1929

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