53.4668° N, 2.2333° W

MANCHESTER

Most Famous People Born in Manchester, United Kingdom

Notable people
1,751
Peak decade
1960s
Median birth year
1950
Most distinctive
Boxer 3.3×

The first industrial city in the world, and still the one the British music press writes about more than any other. More than a quarter of Manchester's notables are footballers, and the distinctive shelves after that are boxers and actors — the legacy of the Salford and Wythenshawe boxing clubs and a stage tradition that has fed Coronation Street for sixty years. Emmeline Pankhurst, the Pankhurst daughters, David Lloyd George, and the Manchester University labs that built the world's first stored-program computer all belong to this bench too.

Through the Decades

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

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1960s with 202 notable births.

What Manchester Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Football is Manchester's biggest profession — 25% of all notables (437).

Manchester over-indexes on boxer3.3× the global rate.

Manchester under-produces politician — only 0.4× the global rate.

  1. Football437
  2. Actor173
  3. Politician86
  4. Writer63
  5. Singer51
  6. Painter42
  7. Player41
  8. Music35
  1. Boxer233.3×
  2. Football4372.3×
  3. Actor1731.9×
  1. Politician860.4×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

15001550160016501700175018001850190019502000
  • Sports
  • Film & TV
  • Music
  • Writing
  • Science
  • Politics & Law
  • Other
All1,751
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Showing 23 of 1,751 notable people

0191 INVENTOR

Walter B. Woodbury

1834 - 1885

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0242 ACTOR

Henry James Byron

1835 - 1884

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0349 POET

Elizabeth Clarke Wolstenholme Elmy

1834 - 1918

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0413 PAINTER

Thomas Armstrong (painter)

1832 - 1911

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0493 ENGINEER

Henry Wilde (engineer)

1833 - 1919

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0526 COMPOSER

Richard Hoffman (composer)

1831 - 1909

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0769 ART DEALER

Constantine Alexander Ionides

1833 - 1900

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0772 BUSINESS

William Tebb

1830 - 1917

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0803 GOVERNOR

Terence O'Brien (colonial governor)

1830 - 1903

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1017 POLITICIAN

William Shepherd Allen

1831 - 1915

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1106 MEDIA

Edward Hulton (senior)

1838 - 1904

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1279 ACADEMIC

William Roby Fletcher

1833 - 1894

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1376 POLITICIAN

Archibald Buttars

1838 - 1926

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1410 MILITAR

John James (Medal of Honor)

1838 - 1902

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1432 JOCKEY

Tom Chaloner

1839 - 1886

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1439 ENGINEER

David Jones (railway)

1834 - 1906

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1530 POLITICIAN

James Hague

1834 - 1916

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1562 MUSIC

Adolph Behrens

1833 - 1896

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1578 TRADE UNION

Peter Shorrocks

1834 - 1886

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1623 CRICKET

Alfred Ollivant (cricketer)

1839 - 1906

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1669 CRICKET

Henry Casson (cricketer)

1830 - 1902

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1704 JOURNALIST

William Harrison Riley

1835 - 1907

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1708 POLITICIAN

John Michael Peacock

Born 1831

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