List of English people

This is a partial list of English people of note and of some notable individuals born there, alphabetically within categories:

Actors/Actresses

• Dame Julie Andrews
• Tom Baker, (born 1933)
• Sean Bean, (born 1959)
• Orlando Bloom, (born 1977)
• Dame Judi Dench (born 1934)
• Ralph Fiennes (born 1962)
• George Formby, (1904-1961)
• Sir Michael Gambon, (born 1940)
• Sir John Gielgud, (1904-2000)
• John Gregson, (1919-1975)
• Rupert Grint, (born 1988)
• Sir Alec Guinness, (1914-2000)
• Will Hay, (1888-1949)
• Jude Law
• Jack Hawkins, (1910-1973)
• Dame Wendy Hiller, (1912-2003)
• Stanley Holloway, (1890-1982)
• Leslie Howard, (1893-1943)
• Charles Laughton, (1899-1962)
• Joanna Lumley, (born India 1946)
• Margaret Lockwood, (1916-1990)
• Hayley Mills, (born 1946)
• John Mills, (1908-2005)
• Sir Roger Moore, (born 1928)
• Kenneth More, (1914-1982)
• Anthony Newley, (1931-1999)
• Sir Laurence Olivier, (1907-1989)
• Cecil Parker, (1897-1971)
• Daniel Radcliffe, (born 1989)
• Miranda Richardson, (born 1958)
• Sir Ralph Richardson, (1902-1983)
• Dame Margaret Rutherford, (1892-1972)
• Peter Sellers, (1925-1980)
• Dame Maggie Smith, (born 1934)
• Dame Elizabeth Taylor, (born 1932)
• Emma Thompson, (born 1959)
• Sir Peter Ustinov (English-born), (1921-2004)
• Jack Warner, (1896-1981)
• Emily Watson, (born 1967)
• Emma Watson, (born 1990)
• Michael Wilding, (1912-1979)
• Googie Withers, (born 1917)
• Cary Grant
• Audrey Hepburn, (Belgian-born to Anglo-Irish-Dutch descent).
• Emma Thompson, (born 1959)
• Sir Peter Ustinov (English-born), (1921-2004)
• Jack Warner, (1896-1981)
• Emily Watson, (born 1967)
• Emma Watson, (born 1990)
• Michael Wilding, (1912-1979)
• Googie Withers, (born 1917)
• Cary Grant
• Audrey Hepburn, (Belgian-born to Anglo-Irish-Dutch descent).
• Joely Richardson
• Keira Knightly
• Sienna Miller
• Will Hay, (1888-1949)
• Jude Law
• Jack Hawkins, (1910-1973)
• Dame Wendy Hiller, (1912-2003)
• Stanley Holloway, (1890-1982)
• Leslie Howard, (1893-1943)
• Dame Julie Andrews
• Charles Laughton, (1899-1962)
• Margaret Lockwood, (1916-1990)
• Hayley Mills, (born 1946)
• John Mills, (1908-2005)
• Sir Roger Moore, (born 1928)
• Kenneth More, (1914-1982)
• Anthony Newley, (1931-1999)
• Sir Laurence Olivier, (1907-1989)
• Cecil Parker, (1897-1971)

Archaeologists and Anthropologists

• Mick Aston
• Richard Atkinson
• Churchill Babington
• Howard Carter
• Grahame Clark
• David Clarke
• Barry Cunliffe
• Glyn Daniel
• John Disney, (1779-1857), barrister and archaeologist
• E. E. Evans-Pritchard, (1902-1973), social anthropologist
• Cyril Fox
• Dorothy Garrod
• William Greenwell
• Kathleen Kenyon
• John Leland, (1502-1552), antiquary
• John Lubbock, (1834-1913), banker, politician, naturalist and archaeologist
• John Robert Mortimer
• Colin Renfrew, (born 1937), archaeologist
• E.B. Tylor, (1832-1917), anthropologist
• Mortimer Wheeler
• Charles Darwin,(12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882)

Architects

• Charles Barry, (1795-1860), architect (Houses Of Parliament)
• George Basevi
• William Burges, (1827-1881), architect and interior designer
• William Butterfield, (1814-1900), leader in Gothic revival movement
• William Chambers, (1723-1796), (Kew Gardens pagoda and Somerset House)
• Sir Norman Foster, (born 1935), architect
• Nicholas Hawksmoor, (1661-1736), architect
• Inigo Jones, (1573-1652), architect
• Denys Lasdun, (1914-2001), architect
• Edwin Lutyens, (1869-1944), architect
• William Morris, (1834-1896), architect, author
• John Nash, (1752-1835), (Regent's Park, St. Jame's Park, Trafalgar Square)
• Joseph Paxton, (1801-1865), (Great Exhibition Building, London)
• August Pugin, (1812-1852), architect (Houses Of Parliament)
• Richard Rogers, (born 1933), (the Pompidou Centre)
• Gilbert Scott, (1880-1960), Waterloo Bridge, also supervised rebuilding of House Of Commons, London)
• John Vanbrugh, (1664-1726), Baroque architect (Blenheim Palace)
• Alfred Waterhouse, (1830-1905), (National History Museum, London)
• William Wilkins, (1778-1839), (National Gallery, London)
• Christopher Wren, (1632-1723), architect

Artists

• Sophie Gengembre Anderson, (1823-1903), painter.
• William Blake, (1757-1827), painter, poet
• John Constable, (1776-1837), landscape painter.
• Thomas Gainsborough, (1727-1788), painter
• Elizabeth Gaskell, (1810-1865), novelist
• David Hockney, (born 1937), painter
• Sir Edwin Landseer, (1802-1873), animal painter.
• Henry Moore, (1898-1986), sculptor
• Sir Joshua Reynolds, (1723-1792), portrait painter.
• J.M.W. Turner, (1775-1851), landscape and marine artist
• Flora Twort, (1893-1985), painter

Criminals

• Myra Hindley, (1942-2002), Moors murderer
• Ian Huntley, (born 1974), Soham murderer
• The Kray twins, (Ronald 1933-1995, Reginald 1933-2000), East London gangsters
• Harold Shipman, (1946-2004), serial killer
• Peter Sutcliffe, (born 1946), Yorkshire Ripper
• Fred West, (1941-1995), serial killer
• Graham Young, (1947-1990), The Teacup Poisoner
• Jack the Ripper
• Vincent Huson

Economists

• William Beveridge, (1879-1963), economist and social reformer
• John Maynard Keynes, (1883-1946), economist
• Thomas Malthus, (1766-1834), demographer
• Alfred Marshall, (1842-1924), economist
• John Stuart Mill, (1806-1873), economist, philosopher

Engineers

• Sir Benjamin Baker, (1840-1907), civil engineer
• Sir Henry Bessemer, (1813-1898), metallurgy engineer
• James Brindley, (1716-1772), canal engineer
• Isambard Kingdom Brunel, (1806-1859), transport engineer
• Sidney Camm (1894-1966), aeronautical engineer
• William Tierney Clark, (1783-1852), civil engineer
• Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, (1882 - 1965), aeronautical engineer
• Sir John Ambrose Fleming, (1848-1945), electrical engineer
• R.J. Mitchell, (1895-1937), aeronautical engineer
• Sir Samuel Morton Peto, (1809-1889), civil engineer
• Sir Henry Royce, (1863-1933), engineer
• Nevil Shute, (1899-1960), aeronautical engineer and author
• George Stephenson, (1781-1848), railway engineer
• Sir Barnes Wallis, (1887-1978), engineer
• Sir Frank Whittle, (1907-1996), aeronautical engineer
• Sir Joseph Whitworth, (1803-1887), engineer

Entrepreneurs

• Sir Richard Branson (born 1950)
• Abraham Darby (c. 1678-1717), ironmaster
• Sir Freddie Laker (1922-2006), Pioneer of cheap air travel
• William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield (1877-1963)
• Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795), industrialist

Filmmakers

• Lindsay Anderson (1923-1994)
• Roy Boulting (1913-2001)
• Charlie Chaplin, (1889-1977)
• Mike Figgis (born 1948)
• Lewis Gilbert (born 1920)
• David Hare (born 1947)
• Alfred Hitchcock, (1899-1980)
• Stan Laurel (1890-1965)
• David Lean (1908-1991)
• Mike Leigh (born 1943)
• Ken Loach (born 1936)
• Anthony Minghella (born 1954)
• Mike Newell (born 1942)
• Nick Park (born 1958)
• Michael Powell (1905-1990)
• Ken Russell (born 1927)
• Ridley Scott (born 1942)
• Michael Winner (born 1935)
• John Boorman (born 1933)

Humorists

• Rowan Atkinson (born 1955)
• John Cleese (born 1939)
• Peter Cook (1937-1995)
• Les Dawson (1931-1993)
• Ken Dodd (born 1929)
• Ben Elton (born 1959)
• Tony Hancock, (1924-1968)
• Eric Morecambe (1926-1984)
• Frank Muir (1920-1998)
• Denis Norden (born 1922)
• Michael Palin (born 1943)
• Ernie Wise (1925-1999)
• Jasper Carrott(born Robert Davis, 1945)
• Dawn French
• Jennifer Saunders

Inventors

• Christopher Cockerell, (1910-1999), inventor of the hovercraft
• William Congreve, (1772-1828) rocketry pioneer
• Abraham Darby, (c. 1678-1717), ironmaster
• James Hargreaves, (1720-1778), weaver and inventor
• John Harrison, (1693-1776), clockmaker
• Rowland Hill, (1795-1879), inventor of the modern postal service
• Thomas Newcomen, (1664-1729), inventor
• Isaac Newton, (1642-1727), founder of modern physics, inventor of the reflector telescope
• James Starley, (1831-1881), bicycle pioneer
• George Stephenson, (1781-1848), engineer
• Charles Wheatstone, (1802-1975), inventor
• Frank Whittle, (1907-1996), co-inventor of the jet engine

Military men and women

• Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, (1883-1963), Field Marshal, CIGS during World War II
• Sir Alexander John Ball, (1759-1809), admiral, governor of Malta
• George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, (1608-1670), Civil War era General
• Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, (1891-1969), Field Marshal, World War II hero
• Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst of Montreal, (1717-1797), General
• Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, (1768-1854), General, Hero of the Napoleonic Wars
• Sir Claude Auchinleck, (1884-1981), World War II commander
• Robert Baden-Powell, (1857-1941), soldier
• Sir Douglas Bader, (1910-1982), fighter pilot
• William Riddell Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood, (1865-1951), General, World War I
• Robert Blake, (1599 - 1657), reforming Royal Navy Admiral
• Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, (1819-1904), Commander in Chief
• James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, (1797-1888), Commander of the Light Brigade
• Sir Winston Churchill, (1874-1965), British prime minister
• Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, (1738-1805), General
• Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, (1721-1765), Captain-General, victor of Culloden
• Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, (1882-1970), RAF Commander in World War II
• Sir Francis Drake, (1540-1596), sailor
• Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, (1782-1859)
• Charles George Gordon, (1833-1885), "Chinese Gordon", killed at Khartoum
• John Manners, Marquess of Granby, (1721-1770), General
• Sir Arthur Travers Harris, (1892-1984), Marshal of the Royal Air Force, airman
• Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, (1726-1799), Admiral
• William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, (1729-1814), General in American Revolutionary War
• John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe (1859-1935), Admiral, World War I
• Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, (1850-1916), Field Marshal
• John Ligonier, 1st Earl Ligonier, (1680-1770), General
• George Charles Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan, (1800-1888), Commander of cavalry at the Battle of Balaclava
• John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, (1650-1722), soldier
• Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein ("The Desert Rat"), (1887-1976), Field Marshal and hero of World War II
• Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, (1900-1979), statesman, sailor
• Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson of the Nile, (1758-1805), sailor, Admiral
• Fitzroy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan, (1788-1855), British commander in the Crimean War
• Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts of Kandahar, (1832-1914), Field Marshal, last Commander in Chief of the Forces
• Siegfried Sassoon, (1886-1967), war poet
• Henry Seymour Conway, (1721-1795), General
• William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, (1897-1970), Commander in Burma during World War II, Governor-General of Australia.
• Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, (1858-1930), General, World War I
• Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard, (1873-1956), father of the RAF and first Chief of the Air Staff
• Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, (1883-1950), World War II general, second to last Viceroy of India
• Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington ("The Iron Duke"), (1769-1852), Commander-in-Chief of the British Army (see also his entry under Politicians)
• James Wolfe, (1727-1759), General, hero of Quebec
• Prince Frederick, Duke of York, (1763-1827), son of King George III, commander in French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
• John French, 1st Earl of Ypres, (1852-1925), World War I general and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

Monarchs

• Alfred The Great, (849?-899), English monarch
• Queen Anne, (1665-1714), also Queen of Scotland, then Queen of Great Britain after 1707
• King Charles II, (1660-1685), also King of Scotland
• King Edward I, (1272-1307), English monarch
• King Edward III, (1327-1377), English monarch
• King Edward IV, (1461-1470 and 1471-1483), English monarch
• King Edward V, (1470-1483?), English monarch
• King Edward VI, (1547-1553), first English Protestant monarch
• King Edward VII, (1841-1910)
• King Edward VIII, (1894-1972), (formerly Edward VIII)
• Queen Elizabeth I, (1558-1603), Protestant queen and first Supreme Governor of the Church of England
• Queen Elizabeth II, (born 1926) reigning monarch
• King George III, (1801-1820), English, British monarch
• King George IV, (1762-1830)
• King George V, (1910-1936), English, British monarch
• King George VI, (1895-1952), of England
• King Henry III, (1207-1272), English monarch
• King Henry IV, (1367-1413), English monarch
• King Henry VI, (1421-1471), English monarch
• King Henry VIII, (1491-1547), separated English Catholicism from link with the Roman Catholic Church
• Queen Mary I, (1553-1558), Roman Catholic queen
• Queen Mary II, (1662-1694)
• Queen Victoria, (1819-1901)
• King William IV, (1765-1837)

Musicians and Bands

• Duran Duran
• Malcolm Arnold, (born 1921), composer
• John Barbirolli, (1899-1970), conductor
• David Bedford, (born 1937), composer and musician
• Thomas Beecham, (1879-1961), conductor
• Harrison Birtwistle, (born 1934), composer
• Adrian Boult, (1889-1983), conductor
• Havergal Brian, (1876-1972), composer
• Benjamin Britten, (1913-1976), composer and pianist
• The Rolling Stones
• William Byrd, (1543-1623), composer
• Andrew Davis, (born 1944), conductor
• Colin Davis, (born 1927), conductor
• Frederick Delius, (1862-1934), composer
• David Bowie
• John Dowland, (c. 1563-c. 1626), composer of songs
• John Dunstable, (c. 1383-1453), composer
• Edward Elgar, (1857-1934), composer
• Orlando Gibbons, (1583-1625), composer
• Ron Goodwin, (1925-2003) composer and conductor
• George Harrison, (1943-2001), composer, member of The Beatles
• Gustav Holst, (1874-1934), composer
• John Ireland, (1879-1962), composer
• Sir Elton John, (born 1947), pop star and composer
• Olivia Newton-John, (born 1948), pop star
• Nigel Kennedy, (born 1956), violinist
• Albert Lee, (born 1945), guitarist
• John Lennon, (1940-1980), pop star, co founder of The Beatles
• Andrew Lloyd Webber, (born 1948), composer of musicals
• Peter Maxwell Davies, (born 1934), composer
• Sir Paul McCartney, (born 1942), pop star, co-founder of The Beatles
• Thomas Morley, (c. 1557-1602), consort composer
• Mike Oldfield, (born 1953), composer and instrumentalist
• Peter Pears, (1910-1986), tenor
• Jacqueline du Pré, (1945-1987), cellist
• Henry Purcell, (1659-1695), composer
• Simon Rattle, (born 1955), conductor
• Malcolm Sargent, (1895-1967), conductor
• Ringo Starr, (born 1940), composer, member of The Beatles
• Thomas Tallis, (c. 1505-1585), composer
• Lionel Tertis, (1876-1975), violist
• Michael Tippett, (1905-1998), composer
• Ralph Vaughan Williams, (1872-1958), composer
• William Walton, (1902-1983), composer
• Thomas Weelkes, (c.1575-1623), composer
• John Wilbye, (1574-1638), composer
• Henry Wood, (1869-1944), conductor
• Roger Waters, (born 1943) founder of Pink Floyd
• Sugababes
• The Beatles
• Robbie Williams
• Spice Girls
• The Bee Gees
• Ozzy Osbourne
• Coldplay
• Liam Gallagher (lead singer in Oasis)
• Girls Aloud
• Queen

Philosophers

• Francis Bacon, (1561-1626), philosopher and essayist
• Jeremy Bentham, (1748-1832), philosopher
• Robert Boyle, (1627-1691), philosopher and physicist
• Thomas Hobbes, (1588-1679), philosopher
• John Locke, (1632-1704), philosopher
• John Stuart Mill, (1806-1873), economist, philosopher
• William of Ockham (c. 1285-1349), philosopher
• Bertrand Russell, (1872-1970), philosopher
• William Whewell, (1794-1866), philosopher
• Alfred North Whitehead, (1861-1947), mathematician
• Bernard Williams, (1929-2003), philosopher

Politicians

• Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, (1757-1844)
• Herbert Henry Asquith, (1852-1928), British prime minister
• Clement Attlee, (1883-1967), British prime minister
• Stanley Baldwin, British prime minister
• Ernest Bevin
• Margaret Bondfield
• Rab Butler
• George Canning, (1770-1827), politician
• William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire
• William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland
• Sir Austen Chamberlain, (1863-1937)
• Joseph Chamberlain, (1836-1914)
• Neville Chamberlain, (1869-1940), British prime minister
• Lord Randolph Churchill, (1849-1895)
• Winston Churchill, (1874-1965), British prime minister
• Kenneth Clarke
• Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington
• Sir Stafford Cripps
• George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, (1859-1925)
• Archibald Dalzel, (1740-1811), Governor of the Gold Coast
• Spencer Compton Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire, (1833-1908)
• Edward Geoffrey Smith Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, (1799-1869)
• Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby, (1826-1893)
• Benjamin Disraeli, (1804-1881), British prime minister
• Alec Douglas-Home, (1903-1995)
• Anthony Eden, (1897-1977), British prime minister
• Hugh Gaitskell, (1906-1963)
• William Ewart Gladstone, (1809-1898), British prime minister
• Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton
• Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville
• George Grenville, British prime minister
• William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Lord Grenville
• Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey
• Denis Healey
• Edward Heath, British prime minister
• John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley
• George Lansbury, (1859-1940)
• Nigel Lawson
• Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool
• John Lubbock, (1834-1913), banker, politician, naturalist and archaeologist
• Harold Macmillan, British prime minister
• John Major, (born 1943), British prime minister
• Reginald Maudling
• William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne
• Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle
• Frederick North, Lord North
• Sir Robert Peel, British prime minister
• Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, British prime minister
• Henry Pelham
• Spencer Perceval
• William Pitt (the Elder), 1st Earl of Chatham, (1708-1778)
• William Pitt the Younger, (1759-1806), British prime minister
• Enoch Powell
• Cecil Rhodes, (1853-1902), imperialist
• Frederick John Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon, (1782-1859)
• Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham
• John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
• Michael Hicks-Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn, (1837-1916)
• Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, (1830-1903)
• John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon, (1873-1954)
• Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden of Ickornshaw, (1864-1937)
• Margaret Thatcher, (born 1925), British prime minister
• Sir Robert Walpole, British prime minister
• Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1769-1852), British prime minister
• William Wilberforce, (1759-1833), abolitionist
• Henry Willink, (1894-1973), politician
• Harold Wilson, (1916-1995), British prime minister

Scientists

• Arthur Aikin, (1773-1854), chemist and mineralogist
• Charles Babbage, (1791-1871), mathematician
• Joseph Banks, (1743-1820), naturalist
• Thomas Bayes, (c. 1702-1761), mathematician
• Tim Berners-Lee, (born 1955), computer scientist
• George Boole, (1815-1864), mathematician
• Robert Boyle, (1627-1691), philosopher and physicist
• Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett, (1897-1974), physicist
• Isaac Barrow, (1630-1677), mathematician
• Henry Cavendish, (1731-1810), scientist
• Sir George Cayley, (1773-1857), polymath and aviator
• Francis Crick, (1916 - 2004), molecular biologist
• John Dalton, (1766-1844), chemist and physicist
• Charles Darwin, (1809-1882), Founder of The Theory of Evolution
• Horace Donisthorpe (1870-1951), entomologist, myrmecologist and coleopterist
• Paul Dirac, (1902-1984), physicist
• Arthur Eddington, (1882-1944), physicist
• Michael Faraday, (1791-1867), scientist
• Ronald Fisher, (1890-1962), geneticist and statistician
• Rosalind Franklin, (1920-1958), molecular biologist
• J. B. S. Haldane, (1892-1964), geneticist
• Stephen Hawking, (born 1942), cosmologist
• Oliver Heaviside, (1850-1925), physicist
• C. A. R. Hoare, computer scientist
• Robert Hooke, (1635-1703), scientist
• John Herschel, (1792-1871), mathematician and astronomer
• Edward Jenner, (1749-1823), doctor
• R. V. Jones, (1911-1997), physicist
• James Prescott Joule, (1818-1889), physicist
• Joseph Lister, (1827-1912), surgeon
• Bernard Lovell, astronomer
• James Lovelock, (born 1919), scientist
• Martin Lowry, (1874-1936), chemist
• John William Lubbock, (1803-1865), banker, mathematician and astronomer
• Sir Charles Lyell, (1797-1875), geologist
• John Maynard Smith, geneticist
• Desmond Morris, (born 1928), zoologist
• Roger Needham, (1935-2003), computer scientist
• Isaac Newton, (1642-1727), founder of modern physics, last of the alchemists
• Roger Penrose, (born 1931), cosmologist
• Joseph Prestwich, (1812-1896), geologist
• Joseph Priestley, (1733-1804), chemist
• Adam Sedgwick, (1785-1873), geologist
• Joseph Wilson Swan, (1828-1914), physicist and chemist
• J. J. Thomson, (1856-1940), physicist
• Henry Tizard, scientist
• Alan Turing, (1912-1954), mathematician
• Alfred Russel Wallace, (1823-1913), naturalist
• Alfred North Whitehead, (1861-1947), mathematician
• Maurice Vincent Wilkes, (born 1913), computer scientist
• James H. Wilkinson, (1919-1986), mathematician
• William Hyde Wollaston, (1766-1828), chemist
• Thomas Young, (1773-1829), scientist

Sportsmen/sportswomen

• Harold Abrahams (1899-1978), athlete, one of the two subjects of Chariots of Fire
• Chris Adams (1955-2001), pro wrestler and judoka
• Neil Adams (born 1958), judoka and two-time silver medalist in Judo (1980 and 1984). Younger brother of Chris Adams
• Tony Adams (Born 1966), football player
• Roger Bannister (born 1929), first sub-four-minute miler
• Alan Ball (born 1945), 1966 football World Cup winner
• Gordon Banks (born 1937), goalkeeper of 1966 World Cup winning team
• David Beckham (born 1975), football player
• Ian Botham (born 1955), cricketer
• Geoffrey Boycott (born 1940), cricketer
• Sir Bobby Charlton (born 1937), 1966 football World Cup winner
• Jack Charlton (born 1935), 1966 football World Cup winner
• Don Cockell (born 1928), heavyweight boxer
• Sir Henry Cooper (born 1934), heavyweight boxer
• John Deacon (1962-2001), motorcycle endurance racer
• Christopher Dean (born 1958), figure skater (ice dance)
• Jonathan Edwards (born 1966), athlete (triple jump)
• Godfrey Evans (1920-1999), cricketer (wicket-keeper)
• James Figg, Boxing's first world champion
• Bob Fitzsimmons (1863-1917), boxing's first world champion in three divisions
• Paul Gascoigne (born 1967), football player
• Sir Steve Redgrave (born 1962), rower, winner of gold medal in five consecutive Olympics
• W. G. Grace (1848-1915), cricketer
• Ricky Hatton (born 1978), highly touted boxing prospect
• Sir Geoff Hurst (born 1941), 1966 football World Cup winner
• Len Hutton (1916-1990), cricketer
• Martin Johnson (born 1970), rugby player
• Dougie Lampkin, (born 1976), Motorcycle Trials World Champion
• Gary Lineker (born 1960), football player
• George Mallory (1886-1924), mountaineer
• Nigel Mansell (born 1953), racing driver, F1 and CART champion
• Alan Minter (born 1951), world champion boxer
• Bobby Moore (1941-1993), captain of 1966 soccer World Cup winning team
• Michael Owen (born 1979), football player
• Fred Perry (1909-1995), Wimbledon champion tennis player
• Martin Peters (born 1943), 1966 football World Cup winner
• Paula Radcliffe (born 1973), athlete (distance runner)
• Sir Gordon Richards (1904-1988), jockey
• Alan Shearer (born 1970), football player
• Nobby Stiles (born 1942), football World Cup winner
• Jayne Torvill (born 1957), figure skater (ice dance)
• Randolph Turpin (1928-1966), middleweight boxer
• Michael Vaughan (born 1974), cricketer player
• Virginia Wade (born 1945), tennis player
• Jonny Wilkinson (born 1979), rugby player
• Justin Wilson (Born 1978), Champ Car Racer

Writers

• Matthew Arnold, (1822-1888), poet
• J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter author
• Ian Fleming, James Bond author
• David Attenborough, (born 1926), naturalist and broadcaster
• W. H. Auden, (1907-1973), poet
• Jane Austen, (1775-1817), novelist
• Alan Ayckbourn, (born 1939) playwright
• Pam Ayres, (born 1947), poet
• Hilaire Belloc, (1870-1953), writer and poet
• John Betjeman, (1906-1984), poet laureate
• Enid Blyton, (1897-1968), author
• William Blake, (1757-1827), painter, poet
• Robert Bolt, (1924-1995), dramitist and screenwriter. Wrote A Man For All Seasons
• Anne Bronte, (1820-1849), author
• Charlotte Bronte, (1816-1855), author
• Emily Bronte, (1818-1848), author
• Rupert Brooke, (1887-1915), poet
• Elizabeth Barrett Browning, (1806-1861), poet
• Robert Browning, (1812-1889), poet
• Anthony Buckeridge, (1912-2004) children's author
• John Bunyan, (1628-88), author
• Samuel Butler (1612-1680), poet and satirist
• Samuel Butler (1835-1902), writer and satirist
• George Gordon, Lord Byron
• Lewis Carroll, (1832-1898), author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
• Geoffrey Chaucer, (c. 1343-1400), poet, author of The Canterbury Tales.
• G. K. Chesterton, (1874-1936), author essayist
• Dame Agatha Christie, (1891-1976), mystery writer
• Winston Churchill, (1874-1965), British prime minister, author
• John Clare, (1793-1864), poet.
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge, (1772-1834), poet
• Wilkie Collins, (1824-1889), novelist
• William Congreve, (1670-1729), poet
• Walter de la Mare, (1873-1956),poet and novelist
• Daniel Defoe (or De Foe), (1660?–1731), writer
• Charles Dickens, (1812-1870), author
• John Donne, (1572-1631), poet.
• John Dryden, (1631-1700), poet
• Daphne Du Maurier, (1907–89), novelist
• George Eliot, (1819-1880), (Mary Ann Evans)
• T. S. Eliot, (1888-1965), poet, playwright and Nobel prizewinner
• C.S. Forester, 1899-1966) author
• E.M. Forster, (1879-1970), author
• Christopher Fry, (1907-2005), dramatist
• John Galsworthy, (1867-1933) author and dramatist
• Elizabeth Gaskell, novelist
• William Golding, writer, Nobel prizewinner
• Kenneth Grahame, (1859-1931), author
• Robert Graves, (1895-1985), author
• Thomas Gray, (1716-1771), poet
• Graham Greene, (1904-1991), author, writer
• Thomas Hardy, (1840-1928), poet
• William Hazlitt, (1778-1830)
• Gerard Manley Hopkins, (1884-1889), poet
• Nick Hornby, (born 1957), novelist
• A. E. Housman, (1859-1936),poet and scholar.
• Ted Hughes, 1930-1998), poet laureate.
• Leigh Hunt, (1784-1859), poet
• Aldous Huxley, (1884-1963), writer
• Thomas Henry Huxley, (1825-1895), coiner of the term agnosticism
• Jerome K. Jerome, (1859-1927), humorist and playwright
• Samuel Johnson, (1709-1784), poet
• Ben Jonson, (1573-1637), poet
• John Keats, (1795-1821), poet
• Rudyard Kipling, (1865-1936), author
• Philip Larkin, (1922-1985), poet
• D.H. Lawrence, (1885-1930), poet
• Edward Lear, (1812-1888), artist, humorist and poet
• Thomas Malory, (c. 1430-c. 1471), author of Le Morte d'Arthur
• Andrew Mango, (born 1926), author
• Christopher Marlowe, (1564-1593), playwright
• Eric Maschwitz, (1901-1969), writer, lyricist and entertainer
• John Masefield, (1878-1967), poet laureate, and novelist
• William Somerset Maugham, (18741965), writer
• A. A. Milne, (1882-1956), author and poet
• John Milton, (1608-1674), poet
• Nancy Mitford, (1904-1973), novelist
• William Morris, (1834-1896), architect, author
• Kim Richard Nossal, professor, author
• William Ralph Inge, clergyman, writer, mysticist
• Joe Orton, (1933-1967), dramatist
• George Orwell, (1903-1950), (Eric Blair), journalist and novelist
• John Osborne, (1929-1994), dramatist, wrote Look Back In Anger
• Wilfred Owen, (1893-1918), war poet
• Samuel Pepys, (1633-1703), diarist and public official in 17th century England
• Harold Pinter, (born 1930), playwright
• Alexander Pope, (1688-1744), poet
• Beatrix Potter, (1866-1943),author and illustrator
• J. B. Priestley, (1894-1984), dramatist and novelist
• Philip Pullman, (born 1946), author
• Arthur Ransome, (1884–1967), author,
• Christina Rossetti, (1830-1894), poet
• Dante Gabriel Rossetti, (1828-1882), poet
• John Ruskin, (1819-1900), writer, critic and reformer
• Siegfried Sassoon, (1886-1967), war poet
• Dorothy L. Sayers, (1893-1957), mystery writer
• William Shakespeare, (c. 1564-1616), poet
• Mary Shelley, (1797-1851), author
• Percy Bysshe Shelley, (1792-1822), poet
• Philip Sidney, (1554-1586), poet and soldier
• Edmund Spenser,(c. 1552-1599), poet. Wrote The Faerie Queene
• Nevil Shute, (1899-1960), aeronautical engineer and author
• Stevie Smith, (1902-1971), poet and novelist
• Robert Southey, (1774-1843), Poet Laureate 1813
• Algernon Swinburne, (1837-1909), poet
• Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate
• William Makepeace Thackeray, (1811-193), novelist
• Anthony Trollope, (1815-1882), novelist
• Evelyn Waugh, (1903-1966), novelist
• John Webster, (died 1630), poet
• Gilbert White, (1720-1795)
• P. G. Wodehouse, (1881-1975), humorous author
• Mary Wollstonecraft, (1759-1797), pioneer feminist known for her work A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
• Virginia Woolf, (1882-1941), author and feminist.
• William Wordsworth, (1770-1850), Romantic poet
• J. R. R. Tolkien (1892 – 1973), author of The Lord of the Rings

Other Notables

• Prince William, second in line to the throne
• Douglas Adams (1952-2001), author, comic and radio dramatist
• Pope Adrian IV (c. 1100 - 1159)
• Lisa Andreas, represented Cyprus in Eurovision 2004 (English father, Greek-Cypriot mother)
• Marlen Angelidou, singer in Greece (of English and Greek-Cypriot extraction)
• David Attenborough, (born 1926), naturalist and broadcaster
• Robert Blake, (1599 - 1657), reforming Royal Navy Admiral
• Capability Brown, (1715–83), landscape gardener
• William Camden, (1551-1623), historian
• William Caxton, (c. 1422-c. 1491), printer
• Sir Malcolm Campbell, (1885–1949), automobile and speedboat racer.
• Sir Francis Chichester, (1901-1972), yachtsman.
• James Cook, (1728-1779), British explorer
• Grace Darling, (1815-1842), heroine
• Thomas de Quincey
• Elizabeth Fry, (1780-1845), prison reformer
• Edward Gibbon, (1737-1794), historian
• Gildas, (c. 510 - c.570), monk
• William Godwin, (1756-1836)
• Ebenezer Howard, (1850-1928), urban planner
• Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester (1208?-1265). English statesman and soldier.
• Sir Patrick Moore, (born 1923), Writer, T.V. Presenter, Astronomer.
• Florence Nightingale, (1820-1910), nurse
• Joshua A. Norton, (1811-1880), Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico
• John Reith, (1889-1971), broadcaster
• John Speed, (1542-1629), historian and cartographer
• Wat Tyler, (?-1381), leader of the Peasants' Revolt (1381)
• William Wakefield, (1801-1848), founder of Wellington, New Zealand
• William Wilberforce, (1759-1833), abolitionist

The following were born English, but changed nationality later in their life.

• Alistair Cooke, (1908-2004)
• Bob Hope, (1903-2003)
• Thomas Paine, (1737-1809)
• Jerry Springer

See also

List of people by nationality, List of Britons, List of Cornish people, List of Northern Irish people, List of Scots, List of Welsh people, UK topics