41.2889° S, 174.7773° E

WELLINGTON

Most Famous People Born in Wellington, New Zealand

Notable people
814
Peak decade
1980s
Median birth year
1956
Most distinctive
Cricket 10.8×

Wellington's profile splits clean between cricket and cinema. The Basin Reserve and generations of Black Caps drive an outsized Cricket bench, and a harbor-club Rower scene has produced Olympic medalists out of all proportion to the city's size. The quieter story is the Miramar film industry — Weta Workshop turned Wellington into the southern hemisphere's effects capital, which is why the roster also leans heavily on screenwriters and directors.

Through the Decades

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

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1980s with 126 notable births.

What Wellington Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Player is Wellington's biggest profession — 21% of all notables (167).

Wellington over-indexes on cricket — 10.8× the global rate.

Wellington under-produces football — only 0.5× the global rate.

  1. Player167
  2. Cricket112
  3. Actor50
  4. Politician47
  5. Football42
  6. Sport17
  7. Writer16
  8. Rower12
  1. Cricket11210.8×
  2. Player16710.5×
  3. Rower124.0×
  4. Swimmer92.3×
  5. Diplomat81.7×
  1. Football420.5×
  2. Painter100.5×
  3. Politician470.5×
  4. Writer160.6×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

1550160016501700175018001850190019502000
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  • Politics & Law
  • Film & TV
  • Science
  • Writing
  • Music
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Showing 27 of 814 notable people

0003 WRITER

Katherine Mansfield

1888 - 1923

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0059 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Diamond Jenness

1886 - 1969

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0098 SOLDIER

Alfred Shout

1882 - 1915

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0167 POLITICIAN

Rex Mason

1885 - 1975

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0221 ACADEMIC

Una Lucy Fielding

1888 - 1969

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0289 PLAYER

Fred Roberts (rugby union)

1881 - 1956

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0306 CRICKET

Peter Randall Johnson

1880 - 1959

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0338 COMPOSER

Arnold Trowell

1887 - 1966

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0366 ANTHROPOLOGIST

George Leslie Adkin

1888 - 1964

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0422 SOLDIER

Thomas Duncan MacGregor Stout

1885 - 1979

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0539 LAWYER

William Henry Cunningham

1883 - 1959

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0550 CRICKET

David Collins (New Zealand cricketer)

1887 - 1967

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0564 PLAYER

John Spencer (rugby)

1880 - 1936

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0577 CRICKET

James Condliffe

1888 - 1945

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0578 LAWYER

Alfred Brandon (RAF officer)

1883 - 1974

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0609 PLAYER

Henry Avery (rugby union)

1885 - 1961

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0636 DIPLOMAT

Thomas Hislop (mayor)

1888 - 1965

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0649 CRICKET

Alex Bruce (rugby union)

1887 - 1970

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0670 CRICKET

Walter Strang

1888 - 1944

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0676 CRICKET

William Cullen (cricketer)

1887 - 1945

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0711 ROWER

Pat Hannan

1886 - 1957

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0712 REPRESENTATIVE

Grafton Francis Bothamley

1880 - 1956

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0735 CRICKET

Frederick Midlane

1883 - 1976

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0796 PLAYER

Norman Peach

1889 - 1974

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0807 PLAYER

Peter Buchanan (rugby union)

1889 - 1957

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0809 CHESS

Alfred William Gyles

1888 - 1967

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0810 PLAYER

William Smith (rugby union)

1881 - 1945

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