List of people from the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan
This is a list of people from Wigan, in North West England. The demonym of Wigan is Wiganer; however, this list may include people from the wider Metropolitan Borough of Wigan—from Ashton-in-Makerfield, Hindley, Ince-in-Makerfield, Atherton, Greater Manchester, Leigh, and Tyldesley and other outlying areas from Wigan. This list is arranged alphabetically by surname:
| Table of contents: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
A
- James Anderton, former Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police.[1]
- Richard Ashcroft, Lead singer of The Verve[2] Born in Billinge.
- Bill Ashurst, rugby league footballer of the 1960s and '70s for Great Britain, Wigan, Penrith Panthers, and Wakefield Trinity
- Chris Ashton- England rugby league and rugby union international.
B
- Tom Billington, professional wrestler under the ring name 'Dynamite Kid', one half of tag-team 'The British Bulldogs' with Davey Boy Smith.
- Margery Booth, opera singer and World War II spy.[3]
E
- Shaun Edwards, rugby league player and coach of London Wasps rugby union coach. Also Wales national rugby union team defence coach.[4]
- Greg Ellis, actor and voice over artist.[5]
F
- Georgie Fame, real name Clive Powell, R & B singer and keyboard player was born in Leigh.[6]
- Andrew Farrell, former international rugby player of both codes, born and raised in Wigan [7]
- Brian Finch, Wigan-born script-writer who contributed 151 episodes of Coronation Street over a period of 12 years.[8]
- Henry Finch (1633-1704) - Presbyterian minister ejected from Church of England. Born in Standish.[9]
- John Finch Wigan born singer who won the TV talent show, "Stars In Their Eyes" performing as Marti Pellow in July 1994.
- George Formby, Jr., comedian, ukulele player and actor[10]
G
- Joe Gormley, former president of the National Union of Mineworkers.[11]
- Mike Gregory, former Great Britain national rugby league team and Warrington Wolves captain and former Wigan Warriors coach was born in Wigan,[12]
- Andy Gregory, former Wigan rugby league player, born and lives in Wigan [13]
- John Elisha Grimshaw, Recipient of the Victoria Cross of "6 VCs before breakfast" fame [14]
- Lucy Gaskell, British actress.
H
- Eddie Halliwell, DJ[15]
- Roger Hampson (1925 – 1996), artist, printmaker and teacher was born in Tyldesley.[16]
- Thomas Highs(1718–1803), inventor of cotton spinning machinery. Born in Leigh.[17]
I
- James Lawrence Isherwood, prolific impressionist/expressionist painter[18]
J
- Jennifer James, actress who has played a role in television soap Coronation Street.[19]
- Nikki Jayne, pornographic actress who was raised in Wigan.[20]
K
- Thomas Kershaw (1819-1898) - Pioneer in creating imitation marble. Born in Standish [21]
- Shaun Keaveny was born in Leigh, and on 11 February 2011, broadcast his BBC 6 Music breakfast show live from Leigh Library.[22]
- Roy Kinnear, comedy actor born in Wigan.[23]
L
- Eric Laithwaite, electrical engineer who developed the linear induction motor and Maglev rail system was born in Atherton.[24]
- James Lindsay, 24th Earl of Crawford (1783–1869)- Earl of Balcarres - built Haigh Hall.[25]
- Limahl, real name Christopher Hamill - pop rock/dance vocalist- lead singer of Kajagoogoo.[26]
I
M
- Stuart Maconie writer, DJ and presenter, attended St John Rigby school and has a star on the Wigan Walk.
- Ken Major (1928–2009), architect, author and molinologist, attended the Boy's Grammar School, Leigh from 1939-45.
- AJ Makin, Actor, grew up in Ashton-In-Makerfield, attended Byrchall High School, appearing in the 2013 film The Hooligan Factory
- Paul Mason, journalist and broadcaster was born in Leigh in 1960.[27]
- Jennifer Moss, actress who has played a role in television soap Coronation Street.[19]
O
- Edward Ormerod, mining engineer, inventor of the Ormerod safety link. Born in Church,Accrigton but lived in Atherton [28]
- Leon Osman, footballer for Everton
P
- Chloe Prescott - English Actress, Living in and born in Springfield. Has appeared in Waterloo Road [UK] and Grange Hill [UK] between 2005-2009.
- Sacha Parkinson - Living in Tyldesley. Born in Salford, actress who plays Sian Powers in UK Soap Opera Coronation Street.
R
- Frank Randle, comedian.[29] Born in Aspull.
- Ted Ray, comedian, born in Wigan but taken to Liverpool when a few days old and brought up there. [30]
- John Roby, folklorist[31]
- Kalon Round, Student at Carmel College and National lottery winner
S
- Danny Sonner, Wigan-born association football player who has represented Northern Ireland national football team.[32]
- Davey Boy Smith, Former professional wrestler for the WWF and WCW as The British Bulldog.
- Rob Speak, multiple BriSCA Formula 2 Stock Cars World Champion and National Points Champion is from Tyldesley.
- Brian Simpson, MEP Chair of the Transport and Tourism Committee European Parliament
- John Stopford, Baron Stopford of Fallowfield,FRS, physician and anatomist, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester. Born in Hindley Green.[33]
T
- Georgia Taylor, actress who has played a role in television soap Coronation Street.[19]
- Simon Tong, bass guitarist with The Verve, Blur and Gorillaz. Born in Wigan.[34]
W
- Charles Walmesley (1722-1797) - Roman Catholic Titular Bishop of Rama. Born in Langtree.[9]
- Dave Whelan, businessman with the nickname "Mr Wigan" as a result of his involvement in the town's sport. Founder of JJB Sports, owner of Wigan Athletic, and former owner of Wigan Warriors.[35][36]
- Gerrard Winstanley, the founder of the 17th century Diggers, was born in Wigan.[37]
- Danny Wilson, Wigan-born association football player and manager,[38]
See also
References
Notes
- ^ God's Cop : Biography of James Anderton (Michael Prince, 1989). New English Library Ltd. ISBN 0-450-49362-8
- ^ http://www.information-britain.co.uk/famousbrits.php?id=1727
- ^ "WWII knicker spy Margery Booth photos to be auctioned". BBC news. 10 September 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
- ^ Sue Mott (16 February 2008), Fear of failure spurs Shaun Edwards, The Daily Telegraph
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) Retrieved on 8 December 2008. - ^ [1]
- ^ Georgie Fame bisgraphy
- ^ https://www.wiganwarriors.com/news_full.asp?newsid=1144
- ^ Anthony Hayward (30 June 2007), Brian Finch, The Independent
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) Retrieved on 8 December 2008. - ^ a b "A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6 - Standish with Langtree". British History Online. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
- ^ Richards, Jeffrey (2004), "Formby, George (1904–1961)", [[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]], Oxford University Press, retrieved 2008-12-16
{{citation}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help) - ^ Joe Gormley (1982). Battered cherub. Hamilton. ISBN 0-241-10754-7.
- ^ Dave Hadfield (21 November 2007), Mike Gregory: Inspirational Warrington and Great Britain rugby league forward, The Independent
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) Retrieved on 5 December 2008. - ^ http://www.wiganwarriors.com/SquadMember.asp?teamid=5&id=193
- ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20070305115542/http://www.gallipoli-association.org/6VCs_Before_Breakfast.htm
- ^ Radio 1 announces new dance show The Residency, BBC Online, 5 May 2005
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) Retrieved on 21 December 2008. - ^ Roger Hampson 1925–1996 Nationality: British, BBC and the Public Catalogue Foundation, retrieved 10 October 2012
- ^ "Inventions and inventors". Manchester City Cpouncil. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ James Lawrence Isherwood, Wessexgallery.com.au Retrieved on 8 December 2008.
- ^ a b c Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council, 25 things you never knew about Wigan, Wigan.gov.uk Retrieved on 22 December 2008.
- ^ http://www.nikkijayneonline.com/nikki-jayne-biography.php
- ^ "Explore The World Of Painters & Stainers At Bolton Museum". Retrieved 2012-08-20.
- ^ , BBC6Music http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00y48px/, retrieved 2011-02-11
{{citation}}: Missing or empty|title=(help); Unknown parameter|unused_data=ignored (help) - ^ http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=kinnearroy
- ^ Eric Laithwaite Biography
- ^ Earls of Balcarres
- ^ Limahl biography
- ^ Paul Mason, BBC Newsnight
- ^ Ormerod link
- ^ Richards, Jeffrey (2004), "Randle, Frank (1901–1957)", [[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]], Oxford University Press, retrieved 2008-12-16
{{citation}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help) - ^ Midwinter, Eric (2004), "Ray, Ted (1905–1977)", [[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]], Oxford University Press, retrieved 2008-12-16
{{citation}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help) - ^ Old Bryn Hall, Wigan Archaeological Society Retrieved on 8 December 2008.
- ^ Danny Sonner, The Guardian
{{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) Retrieved on 8 December 2008. - ^ Attention: This template ({{cite pmid}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by PMID 13771330, please use {{cite journal}} with
|pmid=13771330instead. - ^ "Simon Tong". BBC. Retrieved 2011-04-27.
- ^ Brian Viner (18 October 2003), Dave Whelan: Whelan's millions have set Wigan buzzing, The Independent
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) Retrieved on 8 December 2008. - ^ Whelan sells stake in JJB Sports, BBC Online, 8 June 2007
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) Retrieved on 8 December 2008. - ^ Gerrard Winstanley, ElmbridgeMuseum.org.uk Retrieved on 5 December 2008.
- ^ Rob Stewart (26 August 2008), Hartlepool manager Danny Wilson putting experience to good use in Carling Cup clash, The Daily Telegraph
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) Retrieved on 8 December 2008.