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
Sort By

Showing 34 of 1,751 notable people

0002 ACTIVIST

Emmeline Pankhurst

1858 - 1928

Preview
0030 ENGINEER

Elihu Thomson

1853 - 1937

Preview
0052 PHYSICIST

John Henry Poynting

1852 - 1914

Preview
0253 PHYSICIAN

Eduard Arning

1855 - 1936

Preview
0262 COMPOSER

Julian Edwards

1855 - 1910

Preview
0380 PRIEST

Alexander Boddy

1854 - 1930

Preview
0457 HISTORIAN

Spenser Wilkinson

1853 - 1937

Preview
0467 ZOOLOGIST

William Evans Hoyle

1855 - 1926

Preview
0521 JOURNALIST

William Arthur Dunkerley

1852 - 1941

Preview
0524 CLERGY

George Garrett (inventor)

1852 - 1902

Preview
0554 POLITICIAN

Thomas Ashton, 1st Baron Ashton of Hyde

1855 - 1933

Preview
0570 PHYSICIST

Arthur Mason Worthington

1852 - 1916

Preview
0604 WRITER

Jessie Fothergill

1851 - 1891

Preview
0637 AUTHOR

William Henry Meadowcroft

1853 - 1937

Preview
0714 CHEMIST

Julius B. Cohen

1859 - 1935

Preview
0727 CRICKET

Lindsay Bury

1857 - 1935

Preview
0730 PAINTER

Edwin Mackinnon Liébert

1858 - 1908

Preview
0753 POLITICIAN

Sir John Benn, 1st Baronet

1850 - 1922

Preview
0889 POLITICIAN

William Flinn

1851 - 1924

Preview
0957 LITERARY

C. H. Herford

1853 - 1931

Preview
0981 PAINTER

John Henry Henshall

1856 - 1928

Preview
1104 POLITICIAN

Gordon Harvey

1858 - 1922

Preview
1169 PAINTER

William Gilbert Foster

1855 - 1906

Preview
1429 SCOUT

James Boland

1856 - 1895

Preview
1454 AUTHOR

Thomas D. West

1851 - 1915

Preview
1477 ACTOR

William Cowper (attore)

1853 - 1918

Preview
1494 ENGINEER

Alfred Gaedertz

1853 - 1907

Preview
1495 CRICKET

Harry Thornber

1851 - 1913

Preview
1502 LEGISLATIVE

George Agnew (Australian politician)

1853 - 1934

Preview
1514 CHESS

James Grundy (chess player)

1855 - 1919

Preview
1673 CRICKET

William Barker (Surrey cricketer)

Born 1857

Preview
1705 GEOGRAPHICAL

William Birkinshaw Wilkinson

1854 - 1927

Preview
1712 CIVIL SERVANT

David Haworth Hill

1851 - 1926

Preview
1725 LEGISLATIVE

George Jackson (Australian politician)

1856 - 1938

Preview