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
Anthony Charles Robinson
Born 1952
R. Sands
-
John Bulmer (Independent minister)
1784 - 1857
Charles Halton (public servant)
1932 - 2013
Ben Prosser
1878 - 1936
John Lawson (footballer)
1925 - 1990
Gerard Jones (football)
Born 1989
Cliff Calvert
Born 1954
Thomas Atkinson (Royal Navy officer)
1767 - 1836
John Womersley
1896 - 1962
Steven Taylor (cricketer, born 1963)
Born 1963
Steve Lyons (rugby league)
-
Alan Borwell
Born 1937
Andrew Brewster
Born 1997
Harry Wilson (Worcestershire cricketer)
1873 - 1906
William Kaye
1813 - 1890
Sarah Wykes
Born 1965
Sue Hilliam
-
Christopher Gale
1670 - 1735
Reg Stockill
1913 - 1995
Richard Dawson (footballer, born 1962)
Born 1962
Charlie Taylor (rugby league)
1921 - 2013
George Norman (pentathlete)
Born 1927
Charlie Lister
Born 1940
Arthur W. Robinson
Born 1880
Don Peattie
Born 1963
Josué Waddington
1792 - 1876
Simon Clark (broadcaster)
Born 1960
Thomas Wilkinson (VC 1855)
1831 - 1887
Paul Cooper (speedway rider)
Born 1982
Alfred Lee Smith
1838 - 1917
Simon Line
Born 1971
Leonard Day
1859 - 1943
Ronald William Turner
1896 - 1919
Christy Willstrop
Born 1963
Valerie Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers
Born 1939
Amanda Radnage
Born 1951
Martin Fowler (footballer)
Born 1957
Norm Marlborough
Born 1945
Stan Cowman
1923 - 2003
James Redfearn
1836 - 1916
Nick Hendry
1887 - 1949
Tommy Maskill
1903 - 1956
John Hawksby
Born 1942
Malcolm Robinson
1857 - 1933
Barbara Boyce
-
Eric Grantham
1913 - 1989
Charles Howroyd
1867 - 1917
Charles Clayforth
-
Barnard Foord Bowes
1769 - 1812
Barry Tait
Born 1938
Frank Davies (rugby league)
-
Richard Langley (martyr)
Died 1586
Christopher Chappell (rugby league)
-
Robert Ellin
Born 1837
Robert Bainbridge (footballer)
Born 1931
Johnny Jordan (rugby league)
1931 - 1957
Mike Brown (Badminton)
Born 1957
Richard Holmes (Connecticut settler)
1637 - 1704
Frank Wade (cricketer)
1871 - 1940
Pippa Wells
Born 1964
George Sharpe (footballer)
1912 - 1984
Herbert Haslegrave
1902 - 1999
Neil Smallwood
Born 1966
Elizabeth Arnold (singer)
-
Richard Clayton (academic)
Died 1676
Andy Leaf
Born 1962
Oli Denton
Born 1990
Jim Waterson
-
David Spofforth
Born 1969
Paul Brough (footballer)
Born 1965
Peter Tait (footballer)
1936 - 1990
Paula Darwish
-
George Maskill
1906 - 1969
Ben Sowrey
Born 1991
George Schofield
Born 1893
Rae Joyce
Born 1976
Charlie Ware (footballer)
Born 1931
Walter Camidge
1912 - 1987
Jeff Pears
1920 - 2003
Eric Miller (industrialist)
1882 - 1958
Fred Hargraves
1884 - 1960
Geoff De Mulder
1930 - 2009
Peter Popely
Born 1943
Leonard Burnett
1845 - 1932
George Clementson
1842 - 1903
George Hyde (RAF officer)
Born 1893
Stephen Lawn
1966 - 2016
George Craven (footballer)
Born 1917
John Gray (Australian politician)
1841 - 1914
Bernard Fisher (footballer)
Born 1930
Blessed John Talbot
1550 - 1600
John Gargan (footballer)
1928 - 2007
Fred Ambler
1894 - 1983
John West (cricketer, born 1844)
1844 - 1890
Don Barker (politician)
1904 - 1956
Peter Gedge
1910 - 1993
William Cortis
1847 - 1909
Arthur Higgins (rugby league)
-
Joan Scruton
1918 - 2007
Joseph Dixon (Australian politician)
1911 - 2002
Eddie Pearson
1928 - 1978
Richie Corner
Born 1962
James Reginald Colley
1880 - 1968
Alastair Mackie
1922 - 2018
Edward Hale (seigneur)
Died 1862
James T. Oliver
1849 - 1923
Frank Utterton
1844 - 1908
Kristian Keinhorst
-
Neville Willford
1882 - 1947
Ernest Lawford
1870 - 1940
George Henry Tomlinson Jr.
1896 - 1963
Rachel Ford Thompson
1856 - 1906