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.

Through the Decades

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 novelist2.8× the global rate.

York under-produces singer — only 0.6× the global rate.

  1. Football89
  2. Politician63
  3. Actor46
  4. Player37
  5. Writer30
  6. Cricket22
  7. Priest20
  8. Painter18
  1. Novelist82.8×
  2. Player372.7×
  3. Botanist72.4×
  4. Cricket222.4×
  5. Mathematician82.3×
  6. Officer102.1×
  7. Diplomat81.9×
  8. Priest201.9×
  1. Singer90.6×

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.

15001550160016501700175018001850190019502000
  • Sports
  • Politics & Law
  • Writing
  • Science
  • Film & TV
  • Art & Design
  • Other
All713
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Showing 16 of 713 notable people

0099 CONDUCTOR

Joseph Barnby

1838 - 1896

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0105 PAINTER

Henry Moore (painter)

1831 - 1895

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0123 BARRISTER

Edwin Pears

1835 - 1919

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0131 MATHEMATICIAN

Thomas Archer Hirst

1830 - 1892

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0136 CHOCOLATIER

Joseph Rowntree (philanthropist)

1836 - 1925

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0220 PRIEST

George Forrest Browne

1833 - 1930

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0268 POLITICIAN

William Rolleston

1831 - 1903

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0283 CRICKET

William Prest

1832 - 1885

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0350 OFFICER

Henry Pulleine

1838 - 1879

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0441 BEEKEEPER

William Broughton Carr

1837 - 1909

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0467 POLITICIAN

William Hemmant

1837 - 1916

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0522 POLICE

William Pinchbeck

1831 - 1893

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0629 SOLDIER

Thomas Wilkinson (VC 1855)

1831 - 1887

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0631 POLITICIAN

Alfred Lee Smith

1838 - 1917

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0641 CRICKET

James Redfearn

1836 - 1916

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0655 SCULPTOR

Robert Ellin

Born 1837

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