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
Sort By

Showing 36 of 1,855 notable people

0153 PAINTER

Walter Langley

1852 - 1922

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0158 METEOROLOGIST

Napier Shaw

1854 - 1945

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0315 WRITER

Constance Naden

1858 - 1889

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0349 POLITICIAN

Lee Mantle

1851 - 1934

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0364 POLITICIAN

Will Thorne

1857 - 1946

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0412 ASTRONOMER

T. H. E. C. Espin

1858 - 1934

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0415 PHYSICIAN

John Hall-Edwards

1858 - 1926

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0426 RABBI

Henry Pereira Mendes

1852 - 1937

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0437 PAINTER

Edwin Harris

1855 - 1906

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0444 PHILOLOGIST

John Percival Postgate

1853 - 1926

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0578 PAINTER

Kate Bunce

1856 - 1927

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0644 ENTOMOLOGIST

George Thomas Bethune-Baker

1857 - 1944

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0699 ART HISTORIAN

Amelia Sarah Levetus

1853 - 1938

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0818 FOOTBALL

Arthur Brown (footballer, born 1858)

1859 - 1909

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0845 BOXER

Jem Carney

1856 - 1941

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0866 ARCHITECT

Eden Smith

1858 - 1949

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0870 PRIEST

Charles Riley

1854 - 1929

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0914 PAINTER

William Breakspeare

1856 - 1914

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0974 PAINTER

William John Wainwright

1855 - 1931

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0991 ARTIST

Oliver Baker

1856 - 1939

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0993 POLITICIAN

Holcombe Ingleby

1854 - 1926

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1087 PRIEST

John McIntyre (archbishop of Birmingham)

1855 - 1935

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1208 CRICKET

James Cranston

1859 - 1904

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1224 REFORMER

Elizabeth Chambers Morgan

1850 - 1944

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1258 ARCHITECT

Arthur Stansfield Dixon

1856 - 1929

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1328 CRICKET

Joseph Lawton

1857 - 1934

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1382 MAYOR

Henry Fletcher (mayor)

1859 - 1953

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1454 PLAYER

Sydney Morse

1854 - 1929

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1497 BOTANIST

Frederick Arthur Walton

1853 - 1922

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1507 FOOTBALL

Frankie Dawson

1858 - 1938

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1518 MILITAR

Samuel Wassall

1856 - 1927

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1651 PAINTER

George Frederick Harris (painter)

1856 - 1924

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1670 POLITICIAN

James B. Hawkes

1857 - 1936

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1691 FOOTBALL

Charlie Simms

1859 - 1935

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1710 POLITICIAN

Edward Corser

1852 - 1928

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1844 POLITICIAN

Charles F. Cooper (politician)

1852 - 1919

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