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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  • Film & TV
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  • Writing
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Showing 40 of 814 notable people

0028 WRITER

Tom Neale

1902 - 1977

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0087 LAWYER

Denis Blundell

1907 - 1984

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0152 PSYCHOLOGIST

Ernest Beaglehole

1906 - 1965

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0178 CRICKET

Stewie Dempster

1903 - 1974

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0209 HISTORIAN

John Beaglehole

1901 - 1971

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0260 MALACOLOGIST

Arthur William Baden Powell

1901 - 1987

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0292 ACTOR

Roy Clark (acteur)

1903 - 1993

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0313 WRESTLER

Lofty Blomfield

1908 - 1971

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0331 LIEUTENANT

Gordon Bridson

1909 - 1972

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0348 CRICKET

Frederick Abbott (cricketer)

1901 - 1952

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0351 ASTRONOMER

Frank Bateson

1909 - 2007

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0362 JOURNALIST

Charles Bateson

1903 - 1974

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0365 BOXER

Harold Thomas (boxer)

1909 - 1933

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0396 CRICKET

Barney Wood

1901 - 1941

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0400 ARCHITECT

Brian O'Rorke

1901 - 1974

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0402 COLLECTOR

Kenneth Athol Webster

1906 - 1967

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0443 ACTOR

Rosalind Atkinson

1900 - 1977

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0447 PRIEST

Alwyn Warren (bishop)

1900 - 1988

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0465 PLAYER

Winston McCarthy

1908 - 1984

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0469 CRICKET

Ken James (cricketer)

1904 - 1976

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0476 FARMER

Randolph Rose

1901 - 1989

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0479 ASTRONOMER

Robert Cecil Hayes

1900 - 1977

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0482 PAINTER

Helen Stewart (artist)

1900 - 1983

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0502 PAINTER

Bessie Christie

1904 - 1983

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0507 CRICKET

Henry Foley (New Zealand cricketer)

1906 - 1948

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0580 PAINTER

Una Platts

1908 - 2005

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0604 PHYSICIAN

Muriel Helen Deem

1900 - 1955

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0641 CRICKET

Jack Lamason

1905 - 1961

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0668 CRICKET

Herb Lambert

1900 - 1984

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0716 CRICKET

Cyril Parsloe

1908 - 1989

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0725 PLAYER

Russell Young (tennis)

1902 - 1990

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0738 CRICKET

Basil Vine

1908 - 1965

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0741 CRICKET

Trevor Lyon

1909 - 1984

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0744 PHYSICIAN

Theodora Clemens Hall

1902 - 1980

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0756 RACER

Wally Kilmister

1908 - 1973

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0767 PLAYER

Francis Ward (rugby union)

1900 - 1990

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0769 POLITICIAN

Reg Murray

1909 - 1962

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0785 TRACK AND FIELD

Jack Morgan (athlete)

1907 - 1967

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0801 TEACHER

James Wilson Hogg

1909 - 1997

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0802 PLAYER

Tiny Leys

1907 - 1989

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