51.5071° N, 0.1297° W

LONDON

Most Famous People Born in London, United Kingdom

Notable people
15,663
Peak decade
1960s
Median birth year
1919
Most distinctive
Novelist 2.6×

Nine centuries of the British public eye. London's notables fan out across a longer continuous span than almost any other anglophone city, from medieval peers and antiquarians through Georgian solicitors and impresarios to a postwar wave of actors, footballers, and singers. The court and the stage have always been within walking distance of each other here, and the dataset shows it.

Standouts

What London Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Actor is London's biggest profession — 13% of all notables (2,038).

London over-indexes on novelist 2.6× the global rate.

London under-produces football — only 0.3× the global rate.

  1. Actor 2,038 2.5×
  2. Politician 1,102 0.6×
  3. Painter 769 1.9×
  4. Writer 646 1.3×
  5. Football 600 0.3×
  6. Singer 424 1.3×
  7. Film 350 1.8×
  8. Music 340 1.5×
  1. Novelist 163 2.6×
  2. Actor 2,038 2.5×
  3. Painter 769 1.9×
  4. Film 350 1.8×
  5. Composer 318 1.5×
  6. Music 340 1.5×
  1. Football 600 0.3×
  2. Politician 1,102 0.6×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

1550 1600 1650 1700 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000
  • Film & TV
  • Writing
  • Art & Design
  • Politics & Law
  • Music
  • Sports
  • Other
All15,663
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Showing 127 of 15,663 notable people

0010 PAINTER

William Blake

1757 - 1827

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0142 QUEEN

Caroline Matilda of Great Britain

1751 - 1775

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0373 MILITAR

John André

1750 - 1780

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1039 CHEMIST

William Nicholson (chemist)

1753 - 1815

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1302 POLITICIAN

George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland

1758 - 1833

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1367 POLITICIAN

Lord George Gordon

1751 - 1793

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1406 POLITICIAN

Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (seventh creation)

1754 - 1842

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1422 POLITICIAN

George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham

1753 - 1813

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1482 SINGER

Elizabeth Craven

1750 - 1828

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1581 PHYSICIST

Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope

1753 - 1816

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1632 PAINTER

John Robert Cozens

1752 - 1797

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1672 POLITICIAN

John Shore, 1st Baron Teignmouth

1751 - 1834

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1682 KING

Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey

1753 - 1821

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1724 ORNITHOLOGIST

John Abbot (entomologist)

1751 - 1840

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1808 ENGINEER

Samuel Bentham

1757 - 1831

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1944 ARTIST

John Webber

1751 - 1793

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1949 POLITICIAN

Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave

1755 - 1831

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2024 PHILOSOPHER

Thomas Taylor (neoplatonist)

1758 - 1835

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2241 ILLUSTRATOR

Thomas Stothard

1755 - 1834

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2376 AMERICAN REVOLUTION

Margaret Corbin

1751 - 1800

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2448 NOVELIST

Mary Hays

1759 - 1843

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2490 POLITICIAN

William Windham

1750 - 1810

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2519 POET

Helen Maria Williams

1759 - 1827

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2532 POLITICIAN

John Pratt, 1st Marquess Camden

1759 - 1840

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2864 ADMIRAL

Sir Thomas Troubridge, 1st Baronet

1758 - 1807

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2865 WRITER

Francis Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater

1756 - 1829

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2887 LIEUTENANT

David Collins (lieutenant governor)

1756 - 1810

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2918 POLITICIAN

Thomas Pelham, 2nd Earl of Chichester

1756 - 1826

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2932 LINGUIST

Nathaniel Brassey Halhed

1751 - 1830

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3048 POLITICAL

John J. Beckley

1757 - 1807

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3052 EXPLORER

James Burney

1750 - 1821

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3214 CHEMIST

Thomas Cooper (U.S. politician)

1759 - 1839

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3258 POLITICIAN

Samuel Romilly

1757 - 1818

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3339 POLITICIAN

John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland

1759 - 1841

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3467 PAINTER

Francis Bourgeois

1753 - 1811

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3477 PEER

Frederick Ponsonby, 3rd Earl of Bessborough

1758 - 1844

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3725 AUTHOR

Sophia Lee

1750 - 1824

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4166 ACTOR

George Frederick Cooke

1756 - 1812

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4352 KING

Isabella Ingram-Seymour-Conway, Marchioness of Hertford

1759 - 1834

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4531 POLITICIAN

Edward Clive, 1st Earl of Powis

1754 - 1839

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4679 OPTICIAN

George Adams (1750-1795)

1750 - 1795

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4780 COLLECTOR

Thomas Monro

1759 - 1833

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4899 POLITICIAN

Benjamin Walker (New York)

1753 - 1813

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4964 POLITICS

Archibald Hamilton Rowan

1751 - 1834

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4998 CHEMIST

James Price (chemist)

1752 - 1783

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5019 ROYAL FAMILY

Prince Frederick of Great Britain

1750 - 1765

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5047 WRITER

Harriet Lee

1757 - 1851

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5175 BIOGRAPHER

Cornelia Knight

1757 - 1837

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5310 PAINTER

Samuel Alken

1756 - 1815

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5314 POET

Jane West

1758 - 1852

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5466 POLITICIAN

Lord Hugh Seymour

1759 - 1801

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5593 PUBLISHER

Thomas Bensley

1759 - 1835

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5807 ASSEMBLY

Abraham Furtado

1756 - 1817

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5834 POET

George Dyer (poet)

1755 - 1841

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5890 NOBLE

Thomas Onslow, 2nd Earl of Onslow

1754 - 1827

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5914 ANTIQUARIO

Francis Douce

1757 - 1834

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6191 ENGRAVER

Benjamin Smith (engraver)

1754 - 1833

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6244 POLITICIAN

Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 2nd Earl of Radnor

1750 - 1828

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6259 PAINTER

John Thomas Serres

1759 - 1825

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6334 PRIEST

William Stuart (bishop)

1755 - 1822

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6397 JUDGE

William Osgoode

1754 - 1824

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6412 POLITICIAN

Robert Dallas

1756 - 1824

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6567 ENGRAVER

Robert Laurie (engraver)

1755 - 1836

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6702 COMPOSER

R. J. S. Stevens

1757 - 1837

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6738 POET

Thomas James Mathias

1754 - 1835

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7184 BOTANIST

Agnes Ibbetson

1757 - 1823

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7201 PAINTER

George Brookshaw

1751 - 1823

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7347 PAINTER

Charles Grignion the Younger

1754 - 1804

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7433 CLERGY

George Burder

1752 - 1832

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7537 COMPOSER

Thomas Busby (composer)

1755 - 1838

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7597 SURGEON

James Earle

1755 - 1817

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7611 SON

Henry Harford

1758 - 1835

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7738 SURGEON

John Sheldon (anatomist)

1752 - 1808

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8154 PRIEST

John Milner (bishop)

1752 - 1826

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8352 PAINTER

George Cumberland

1754 - 1848

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8365 TRADER

James Charles Stuart Strange

1753 - 1840

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8376 NOBLE

Robert Shirley, 7th Earl Ferrers

1756 - 1827

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8445 ENGRAVER

Thomas Watson (engraver)

1750 - 1781

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8534 JUDGE

John Reeves (activist)

1752 - 1829

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8603 BUSINESS

Samuel Enderby Junior

1756 - 1829

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8858 POLITICIAN

John Campbell, 1st Baron Cawdor

1753 - 1821

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8937 PAINTER

Charles Catton the younger

1756 - 1819

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9061 ARMY

George Boscawen, 3rd Viscount Falmouth

1758 - 1808

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9137 PAINTER

Robert Dighton

1752 - 1814

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9184 NOBLE

Edward Onslow

1758 - 1829

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9221 OFFICER

Thomas Tingey

1750 - 1829

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9228 POET

Robert Merry

1755 - 1798

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9311 ENGRAVER

James Fittler

1758 - 1835

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9330 MUSIC

John Crosdill

1751 - 1825

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9465 ENGRAVER

James Heath (engraver)

1757 - 1834

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9733 OFFICER

Edmund Lodge

1756 - 1839

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9833 BOWMAKER

John Dodd (bow maker)

1752 - 1839

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10093 ENGRAVER

Peltro William Tomkins

1759 - 1840

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10193 NAVY

Robert Barlow (Royal Navy officer)

1757 - 1843

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10204 PAINTER

Samuel De Wilde

1751 - 1832

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10283 PAINTER

John Nott Sartorius

1759 - 1828

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10570 MILITAR

Francis Peirson

1757 - 1781

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10631 WRITER

Joseph Gurney Bevan

1753 - 1814

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10641 HISTORIAN

Isaac Schomberg

1753 - 1813

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10815 PUBLISHER

John Marshall (publisher)

1756 - 1824

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10821 SOLDIER

Isidore Lynch

1755 - 1838

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10823 EXPLORER

Isaac Smith (Royal Navy officer)

1752 - 1831

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10833 EXPLORER

John Henry Cox

1750 - 1791

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10835 ENGRAVER

Anker Smith

1759 - 1819

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10886 PAINTER

Richard Corbould

1757 - 1831

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10943 PAINTER

Benjamin Vandergucht

1753 - 1794

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11029 PAINTER

John Sanders (painter)

1750 - 1825

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11228 WRITER

Mary Ann Kilner

1753 - 1831

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11272 LAWYER

William Kilty

1757 - 1821

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11350 BANK

William Esdaile

1758 - 1837

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11500 POLITICIAN

Sir Thomas Frankland, 6th Baronet

1750 - 1831

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11569 PAINTER

Charles Wilkin

1750 - 1814

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11571 APOTHECARY

Henry Field (apothecary)

1755 - 1837

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11588 MINISTER

Joseph Nourse

1754 - 1841

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11631 PRIEST

Charles Layard (priest)

1750 - 1803

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11755 PAINTER

Isaac Jehner

1750 - 1818

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11782 ANTIQUARIAN

Craven Ord

1756 - 1832

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11918 PAINTER

Charles Reuben Ryley

1752 - 1798

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12373 ACTOR

Sarah Wewitzer

1750 - 1820

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12421 WRITER

Ann Taylor (writer, born 1757)

1757 - 1830

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13115 POLITICIAN

Morris Robinson, 3rd Baron Rokeby

1757 - 1829

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13428 POLITICIAN

Christian Fueter

1752 - 1844

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13541 NAVY

Thomas Frederick (Royal Navy officer)

1750 - 1799

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14020 POLITICIAN

John Stewart (died 1826)

1755 - 1826

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14171 BANK

John Gray (banker)

1755 - 1829

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15089 CHURCH

Edward Hay-Drummond

1758 - 1829

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15383 OFFICER

Richard Hergest

1754 - 1792

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