53.9542° N, 1.0834° W
YORK
Most Famous People Born in York, United Kingdom
- Notable people
- 713
- Peak decade
- 1960s
- Median birth year
- 1924
- Most distinctive
- Novelist 2.8×
A cathedral city whose deep bench reads like a thirteen-century ledger, from Alcuin onward: a thick Priest cohort sitting beside an unusually literary Novelist and Mathematician showing, with a Cricket bench that over-indexes in the way only a certain kind of English county town manages. It is the sort of place where the medieval and the Victorian lecture hall somehow share the same page.
One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in York during each.
Notable Births by Decade
Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1960s with 59 notable births.
What York Is Known For
Click any row to filter the list of people below.
Football is York's biggest profession — 12% of all notables (89).
York over-indexes on novelist — 2.8× the global rate.
York under-produces singer — only 0.6× the global rate.
Profession Mix Over Time
Each band shows a profession family's share of York's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.
- Sports
- Politics & Law
- Writing
- Science
- Film & TV
- Art & Design
- Other
Judi Dench
Born 1934
Guy Fawkes
1570 - 1606
W. H. Auden
1907 - 1973
John Barry (composer)
1933 - 2011
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
1545 - 1567
Alcuin
740 - 804
John Snow
1813 - 1858
Mark Addy
Born 1964
David Davis (British politician)
Born 1948
Vince Cable
Born 1943
William Etty
1787 - 1849
Martin Rees
Born 1942
David Bradley (English actor)
Born 1942
Laurence Fox
Born 1978
Branwell Brontë
1817 - 1848
Gladwyn Jebb
1900 - 1996
Kate Atkinson
Born 1951
Olly Alexander
Born 1990
Henry Scott Tuke
1858 - 1929
Christina Pickles
Born 1935
William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse
1800 - 1867
John Flaxman
1755 - 1826
Mary Ward (nun)
1585 - 1645
Christopher Hill (historian)
1912 - 2003
Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington
1694 - 1753
Smith Wigglesworth
1859 - 1947
John Oxley
1785 - 1828
Patric Knowles
1911 - 1995
Eric Knight
1897 - 1943
Margaret Clitherow
1555 - 1586
Myles Coverdale
1488 - 1569
Elizabeth Montagu
1718 - 1800
Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds
1632 - 1712
Francis Matthews (actor)
1927 - 2014
George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax
1633 - 1695
Christopher Cradock
1862 - 1914
Robert Aske (political leader)
1500 - 1537
Nicola Griffith
Born 1960
Reynold A. Nicholson
1868 - 1945
Maimie McCoy
Born 1980
John Wood, the Elder
1704 - 1754
Albert Joseph Moore
1841 - 1893
William of York
Died 1154
Lewis Cook (footballer, born 1997)
Born 1997
Frank Dobson
1940 - 2019
Nicholas Saunderson
1682 - 1739
Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond
Born 1945
Henry Savile (Bible translator)
1549 - 1622
Alister MacKenzie
1870 - 1934
Alfred Fowler
1868 - 1940
Roger of Hoveden
Died 1201
Alan Webb (actor)
1906 - 1982
Faith Brook
1922 - 2012
Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron
1584 - 1648
Michael Grandage
Born 1962
Seebohm Rowntree
1871 - 1954
Benjamin Francis Leftwich
Born 1989
Sir Thomas Herbert, 1st Baronet
1606 - 1682
Silvanus P. Thompson
1851 - 1916
Eugene Aram
1704 - 1759
Robert Monckton
1726 - 1782
Caroline John
1940 - 2012
William Tuke
1732 - 1822
Lyndon Brook
1926 - 2004
The Thrillseekers
Born 1973
Frankie Howerd
1917 - 1992
Lynne Dawson
Born 1956
Thomas Rymer
1641 - 1713
John Roddam Spencer Stanhope
1829 - 1908
Garry Kilworth
Born 1941
Amlaíb Cuarán
920 - 981
Peter Woodthorpe
1931 - 2004
William Harcourt (politician)
1827 - 1904
William Wales (astronomer)
1734 - 1798
Karl J. Friston
Born 1959
Matthew Kilgallon
Born 1984
Veronica Carlson
Born 1944
Mark Simpson (journalist)
Born 1965
Thomas Turton
1780 - 1864
Dave Taylor (wrestler)
Born 1957
Arnold Cooke
1906 - 2005
Charlie Taylor (footballer, born 1993)
Born 1993
Isaac Fotu
Born 1993
Reginald Beckwith
1908 - 1965
Pawel Abbott
Born 1982
Michael Wigglesworth
1631 - 1705
Timothy Barnes
Born 1942
John Alan Robinson
1930 - 2016
Vincent Franklin
Born 1966
Sarah Scott
1720 - 1795
Kjartan Poskitt
Born 1956
Hewett Watson
1804 - 1881
Alan Haselhurst
Born 1937
Richard Sykes (biochemist)
Born 1942
Lolita Chakrabarti
Born 1969
Pat Hutchins
1942 - 2017
Jennifer Jayne
1931 - 2006
Daniel Newman (British actor)
Born 1976
Joseph Barnby
1838 - 1896
Catherine Aird
Born 1930
Alex Kershaw
Born 1966
Peter Harrison (architect)
1716 - 1775
Brian Walton (bishop)
1600 - 1661
Eille Norwood
1861 - 1948
Henry Moore (painter)
1831 - 1895
Jamie Hopcutt
Born 1992
Reginald Kell
1906 - 1981
John Aislabie
1670 - 1742
H. N. Brailsford
1873 - 1958
Isaac Allerton
1586 - 1659
Medwyn Goodall
Born 1961
John Hare (actor)
1844 - 1921
Mary Rosse
1813 - 1885
Rodney Hill
1921 - 2011
Juliet Barker
Born 1958
Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron Grantham
1695 - 1770
Joseph Hansom
1803 - 1882
John Earle (bishop)
1601 - 1665
Peter Smithers
1913 - 2006
Gordon Cummins
1914 - 1942
Michael Woods (footballer)
Born 1990
George Abbot (author)
1600 - 1648
Edwin Pears
1835 - 1919
Andy Haldane
Born 1967
Robert Yewdall Jennings
1913 - 2004
Edna Manley
1900 - 1987
Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray
1856 - 1927
Tomas Francis
Born 1992
Beilby Porteus
1731 - 1809
Hugh Sykes Davies
1909 - 1984
Thomas Archer Hirst
1830 - 1892
William Joseph Rainbow
1856 - 1919
Isaac Henry Burkill
1870 - 1965
Daniel Hack Tuke
1827 - 1895
Fiona Kelly
Born 1959
Joseph Rowntree (philanthropist)
1836 - 1925
R. O. Morris
1886 - 1948
Wilfred Hudleston Hudleston
1828 - 1909
John of Thoresby
1295 - 1373
Daniel Denton
1626 - 1703
Simon Dyson
Born 1977
Lucy Frazer
Born 1972
Charles Whiting
1926 - 2007
Sarban (author)
1910 - 1989
Edward Oldcorne
1561 - 1606
Pit Corder
1918 - 1990
Matthew Poole
1624 - 1679
Ann Jellicoe
1927 - 2017
Robert Pashley
1805 - 1859
Allan Mallinson
Born 1949
Ian Bousfield
Born 1964
James Thompson (racing driver)
Born 1974
Alan Brown (racing driver)
1919 - 2004
Arthur Terry
1927 - 2004
Fiona Wood
Born 1958
Bobby Mimms
Born 1963
David Brierly
1935 - 2008
Judith Mackay
Born 1943
W. F. Harvey
1885 - 1937
Harvey Smith (equestrian)
Born 1938
Christopher Levett
1586 - 1630
Charles Cecil
Born 1962
Andrew Martin (novelist)
Born 1962
Mary Fisher (missionary)
1623 - 1698
Richard A. Fletcher
1944 - 2005
Jonathon Riley (British Army officer)
Born 1955
Trevor Watts
Born 1939
Joe Van Moyland
Born 1983
Arthur Penty
1875 - 1937
Thomas Fairfax, 1st Lord Fairfax of Cameron
1560 - 1640
Samuel Tuke (reformer)
1784 - 1857
George Swindin
1914 - 2005
Lincoln Kennedy
Born 1971
Ian McKeever (artist)
Born 1946
Paolo Attivissimo
Born 1963
Richard Dodds
Born 1959
Edward Douglas-Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn
1800 - 1886
Mary Ellen Best
1809 - 1891
Brenda Jagger
1936 - 1986
Rob Webber
Born 1986
Christopher Fox (composer)
Born 1955
Danielle McCormack
Born 1983
Ashley Hugill
Born 1994
Kenneth Murray (biologist)
1930 - 2013
Julian Sturdy
Born 1971
Simon Heslop
Born 1987
Ian Kelsey
Born 1966
Harold A. Wilson (physicist)
1874 - 1964
Ben Godfrey
Born 1998
Jane R. Goodall
Born 1951
Peter Whitehead (racing driver)
1914 - 1958
Rob Heaps
-
Twinnie-Lee Moore
Born 1987
Findlay Brown
Born 1980
Margaret Barber
1869 - 1901
Marianne Williams
1793 - 1879
Jay Appleton
1919 - 2015
Robert Nares
1753 - 1829
Aveline de Forz, Countess of Aumale
1259 - 1274
Alan Gray
1855 - 1935
Philip Graves (triathlete)
Born 1989
Stephen Mennell
Born 1944
Bo Poraj
Born 1973
Amanda Coe
Born 1965
John Hingston
1606 - 1683
Norman Bottomley
1891 - 1970
Walter Welford
1868 - 1952
Charles Spencer (pianiste)
Born 1955
William Pickering (governor)
1798 - 1873
Staz Johnson
Born 1965
Alan White (novelist)
Born 1924
William Doughty (painter)
1755 - 1782
Elizabeth Bennett (actress)
Born 1944
Rick Dickinson
1956 - 2018
Ian Hogbin
1904 - 1989
Ernest Greenwood
1884 - 1955
Maurus Corker
1636 - 1715
Nick Culkin
Born 1978
Tom Allan (footballer)
Born 1994
George Forrest Browne
1833 - 1930
William Hepworth Thompson
1810 - 1886
Helen Grime
Born 1981
Elizabeth Howe
1635 - 1692
Andy Harter
Born 1961
Richard Leonard (Scottish politician)
Born 1962
Giles Munby
1813 - 1876
Patricia Wilson
1929 - 2005
James Strangeways
Born 1415
Harold Stuart
1860 - 1923
Rhoderick McGrigor
1893 - 1959
Sabrepulse
-
Jason Goodall
Born 1967
Thomas Ward, Baron Ward
1809 - 1858
Thomas W. Bradley
1844 - 1920
Richard Atcherley
1904 - 1970
Bilge Ebiri
Born 1973
James Backhouse (botanist, 1825–1890)
1825 - 1890
Stephen Hester
Born 1960
Andy Smith (speedway rider)
Born 1966
Joseph Creswell
1557 - 1623
George Goldie (architect)
1828 - 1887
Wilfrid Roberts
1900 - 1991
Kenneth Allsop
1920 - 1973
Samuel S. Lewis
1874 - 1959
Arthur Ingram
1565 - 1642
Barnett Parker
1886 - 1941
Henry Gower
1278 - 1347
Martin Bladen
1680 - 1746
Edna Walling
1895 - 1973
Isobel Varley
1937 - 2015
John Brayshaw Kaye
1841 - 1909
Shaun Pearson
Born 1989
Syd Dale
1924 - 1994
Allan Whitwell
Born 1954
William Nicholson Jennings
1860 - 1946
Charles Alfred Payton
1843 - 1926
William Nott-Bower
1849 - 1939
Vic Hoyland
Born 1945
Jeff Wooller
Born 1940
Ralph Thompson (illustrator)
1913 - 2009
Thomas Elmhirst
1895 - 1982
Will Ashton
1881 - 1963
Mike Jones (canoeist)
1952 - 1978
Arthur Munby
1828 - 1910
Tempest Anderson
1846 - 1913
John Elderfield
Born 1943
Richard Terrick
1710 - 1777
William Rolleston
1831 - 1903
Gillian Lovegrove
Born 1942
Harland Miller
Born 1964
Stuart Bailey
Born 1973
Thomas Nettleship Staley
1823 - 1898
Joseph Williamson (philanthropist)
1769 - 1840
Tim Robinson (cartographer)
1935 - 2020
Peter Toon
1939 - 2009
Milo Twomey
Born 1971
Philip Knapton
1788 - 1833
Simon Metcalfe
1735 - 1794
Rory Watson
Born 1996
Andrew Milne
Born 1990
David Blair (dancer)
1932 - 1976
Lauren Winfield
Born 1990
William Prest
1832 - 1885
Nicola Cornick
Born 1965
Charles Wood, 3rd Earl of Halifax
Born 1944
George Okill Stuart Jr.
1807 - 1884
Peter Watt
Born 1969
George Leeman
1809 - 1882
Thomas Everett Thompson
1933 - 1990
Robert Smith (equestrian)
Born 1961
Nigel Cumberland
Born 1967
T. D. Richardson
1887 - 1971
Paul Banks (musician, born 1973)
Born 1973
Josephine Flood
Born 1936
Lord William Lennox
1799 - 1881
Harry Smart
Born 1956
Paul Hyde
Born 1955
Keith Drinkel
Born 1944
Charles Aitken
1869 - 1936
Eddie Robson
Born 1978