List of people from Devon
Appearance
This is a list of people from Devon, a county in South West England. The demonym of Devon is Devonian. This list is arranged alphabetically by surname.
A more complete listing is at Category:People from Devon.
A
- Henry Avery (1659 β after 1696), pirate
B
- Charles Babbage (1791β1871), inventor
- Baldwin of Exeter (d. 1190), Archbishop of Canterbury
- W. N. P. Barbellion: pen name of Bruce Frederick Cummings, diarist
- Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet (1740β1810), banker
- Sabine Baring-Gould (1834β1924), scholar, clergyman, novelist and antiquary
- Sue Barker (born 1956), tennis player and television presenter
- Kenneth Barnes (1878β1957), director of RADA
- Cliff Bastin (1912β1991), Arsenal and England footballer
- Phil Beer (born 1953), musician and composer (born at Exminster)
- Matthew Bellamy (born 1978), guitarist, pianist, and vocalist of rock band Muse
- John Bidlake (1755β1814), clergyman, author, artist
- John Carne Bidwill (1815β1853), botanist, first Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
- Margaret Bingham (1740β1814), countess, painter and writer[1]
- Sir Thomas Bodley (1545β1613), diplomat and founder of the Bodleian Library at Oxford
- Zachary Bogan (1625β1659), English scholar
- Saint Boniface (c. 675β754), patron saint of the Netherlands and Germany
- Sir John Bowring (1792β1872), political economist and Governor of Hong Kong
- Henry de Bracton (d. 1268), jurist
- Eustace Budgell (1686β1737), writer
- Tony Burrows (born 1942), pop singer
- Richard Burton (1821β1890), explorer and linguist
C
- Michael Caines (b. 1969), chef and restaurateur
- Edward Capern (1819β1894), poet
- Mary Carpenter (1807β1877), educational and social reformer
- William Benjamin Carpenter (1813β1885), physiologist and naturalist
- Pearl Carr (1921-2020), entertainer and runner up in Eurovision 1959, born in Exmouth
- Raymond Cattell (1905β1998), psychology pioneer
- Jim Causley (b. 1980, Heavitree), folk singer and radio presenter
- Jimmy Cauty (b. 1956), pop musician
- Henry Chadwick (1824β1908), journalist, "the father of baseball"
- Sir Francis Chichester (1901β1972), aviator and sailor
- Agatha Christie (1890β1976), novelist
- Lady Mary Chudleigh (1656β1710), early feminist and poet
- William Kingdon Clifford (1845β1879), mathematician
- Eleanor Coade (1733β1821), inventor of Coade stone
- Lily Cole (b. 1988), supermodel and actress
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772β1834), poet
- David Collins (1756β1810), first Governor of Van Diemens Land (Tasmania)
- Peter Cook (1937β1995), comedian, born in Torquay
- William Cookworthy (1705β1780), pharmacist and industrialist
- Tommy Cooper (1921β1984), comedian, was born in Caerphilly but lived in Exeter from the age of 3
- Samuel Cousins (1801β1887), engraver
- Edmund Crispin (1921β1978), novelist and composer
- Lisa Cross (b. 1978), IFBB professional bodybuilder
- William Crossing (1847β1928), author
- Richard Cosway (1742-1821), miniature painter
D
- Thomas Daley (born 1994), diver
- Sharron Davies (born 1962), Olympic swimmer and television presenter
- David Rodgers (born 1952), Former TSW Presenter and Radio Station owner
- Roger Deakins (born 1949), cinematographer
- Kristian Digby (b. 1977 Torquay. d. 2010 London), television presenter
- Francis Drake (c. 1540β1596), sailor
- Thomas d'Urfey (1653β1723), dramatist
E
- Charles Lock Eastlake (1793β1865), artist
- Marc Edworthy (born 1972), footballer
- Samuel Eyles Pierce (1746β1829), preacher, theologian, and Calvinist divine
- Henry Every (c. 1653/59β?), pirate
- Sir Richard Eyre (born 1943), theatre, television, and film director
F
- Percy Fawcett (1867β1925), archaeologist and explorer
- Michael Foot (1913β2010), Labour politician
- Trevor Francis (born 1954), professional footballer
- Dawn French (born 1957), comedian
- George Friend (born 1987), professional footballer for Middlesbrough F.C.
- Luke Friend (born 1996), X Factor finalist
G
- John Gay (1685β1732), poet and dramatist
- Geraint (died 710), King of Dumnonia
- Beth Gibbons (b. 1965), singer with Portishead
- Humphrey Gilbert (c. 1539β1583), sailor and explorer
- John Glanville (1542β1600), MP and High Court Judge
- Matthew Goode (b. 1978), actor in such movies as Brideshead Revisited and Watchmen
- Dan Gosling (born 1990), English footballer
- Francis Carruthers Gould (1844β1925), caricaturist and politician
- William Greening, politician
- Richard Grenville (1542β1591), sailor and explorer
H
- George Hakewill (1578β1649), clergyman and author
- William Hakewill (1574β1655), legal antiquarian
- Carl Harbord (1908β1958), film actor
- Theodore Bayley Hardy (1863β1918), Army chaplain and VC
- Hannah Harper (b. 1982), erotic actress
- Miranda Hart (b. 1972), actress and comedian
- Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen (1834-1923), English topographer, geologist, naturalist and surveyor
- Harriet Hawkins (b. 1980), professor of cultural geography
- Matt Harvey, poet
- Benjamin Haydon (1786β1846), painter and writer
- Francis Hayman (1708β1776), Rococo artist
- Oliver Heaviside (1850β1925), mathematician
- Nicholas Hilliard (c. 1547β1619), portraitist
- Christopher Hitchens (1949β2011), writer, journalist, and literary critic
- James Holman (1786β1857), noted blind traveller
- John Hooker (c. 1527β1601), constitutionalist
- Richard Hooker (1554β1600), Anglican theologian
- W. G. Hoskins (1908β1992), historian of the English landscape
- Ben Howard (b. 1987), folk musician
- Dominic Howard (b. 1977), musician, drummer of rock band Muse
- Thomas Hudson (1701β1779), portrait painter
- Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (b. 1987), model
J
- Bradley James (born 1983 or 1984), actor
- Thomas B. Jeffery (1845β1910), automotive pioneer who emigrated to the United States
- Richard Roach Jewell (1810β1891), architect
- Joseph of Exeter (12th century), poet
K
- Fred Karno (1866β1941), comedy pioneer and impresario
- Benjamin Kennicott (1718β1783), Hebrew scholar
- Peter King, 1st Baron King (1669β1734), Lord Chancellor
- Charles Kingsley (1819β1875), novelist
- Steve Knightley (born 1954), musician (born in Poole, Dorset)
- George Knight-Bruce (1853β1896), clergyman becoming Bishop of Bloemfontein, then translated to be the first Bishop of Mashonaland
L
- Seth Lakeman (b. 1977), folk musician (Born in Frome, Somerset to Cornish parents)
- William Elford Leach (1791β1836), scientist
- Jon Lee (b. 1982 Newton Abbot), singer with S Club 7
- Zion Lights (b. 1984), writer
- Chris Lintott (b. 1980), scientist and writer
- Matthew Locke (ca. 1621β1677), baroque composer.
M
- Chris Martin (b. 1977), singer with Coldplay
- Jane McGrath (1966β2008), co-founder of the McGrath Foundation and late wife of fast bowler Glenn
- Liam Mooney (b. 1972), entrepreneur
- Penny Mordaunt (b. 1973), politician
- Clare Morrall (b. 1952), novelist
- Ian Mortimer (b. 1967), historian
- Dean Moxey (b. 1986), professional footballer for Crystal Palace
- Jerri Mumford (1909β2002), British-born Canadian servicewoman during World War II
- Dermot Murnaghan (b. 1957), TV journalist and news presenter
N
- Ben Nealon (b. 1966), actor
- Luke Newberry (b. 1990), actor
O
- Simon Ockley (1678β1720), orientalist
- Ponsonby Ogle (1855β1902), British writer and journalist
P
- Richard Parker (1767β1797), sailor and mutineer
- James Parsons (1705β1770), physician, antiquary and author
- Jo Pavey (b. 1973), Olympic Runner
- William Peryam (1534βafter 1603), lawyer
- St Petroc (c. 468 β c. 564), saint
- Sergio Pizzorno (b. 1980), guitarist from the band Kasabian
- John Prince (1643β1723), clergyman and biographer
- Poker Alice (1851β1930), American frontier gambler
- John Skinner Prout (1805β1876), writer and artist in Tasmania
- Samuel Prout (1783β1852), watercolour artist
R
- John Rainolds (1549β1605), Puritan scholar
- Sir Walter Raleigh (1552β1618), sailor and writer
- Chris Read (b. 1978), English test cricket wicket-keeper
- Joshua Reynolds (1723β1792), influential English painter
- Peter Richardson (b. 1952), actor, comedian, director and writer
- Philip Hutchins Rogers (1794β1853), artist
- Sir Henry Rosewell (1590β1656), Puritan, of Forde Abbey, adventurer of the Dorchester Company
- John Rowe (1715β1787), merchant and owner of ship involved in the Boston Tea Party
- John "Jack" Russell (1795β1883), eponymous dog-breeder and a founder member of the Kennel Club
- Lobsang Rampa (1910β1981), author and plumber
S
- Robert Falcon Scott (1868β1912), RN officer and Antarctic explorer
- Sir Nicholas Slanning (1606β1643), MP, Royalist soldier in the English Civil War
- Wayne Sleep (b. 1948), dancer and choreographer
- Lilly Martin Spencer (1822β1902), US painter
- Samuel Stennett (1727β1795), Baptist minister and hymnwriter
- John Stockham (1765β1814), naval officer
- Robert Stone (1516β1613), composer and member of the Chapel Royal.
- Henrietta Anne Stuart (1644β1670), daughter of King Charles I
- Anthony Sullivan (b. 1969), TV commercial pitchman, and co-star of the show Pitchmen on Discovery Channel
- Sam Simmonds (b. 1994), Exeter Chiefs and England rugby player
T
- Liam Tancock (b. 1985), Olympic swimmer
- William Temple (1881β1944), Archbishop of Canterbury
- Clive Toye (b. 1932), first general manager of New York Cosmos[1]
V
- Irene Vanbrugh (1872β1949), actress
- Phil Vickery (b. 1976), rugby player
- David Vine (1935β2009), TV sports presenter
W
- Snowy White (b. 1948), guitarist
- William John Wills (1834β1861), explorer
- Chris Wolstenholme (b. 1978), musician, bass player for the band Muse
- Rebecca Worthley (b. 1981), singer-songwriter
- Rosemary West (b. 1953), serial killer with Fred West
- Josh Widdicombe (b. 1983), comedian
Y
- Thomas Yalden (1670β1736), poet
See also
References
Further reading
- Burton, S. H. Great Men of Devon. (Men of the Counties Series; no. 8.) London: John Lane, 1956