List of people from Lewes

Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England. The following is a list of those people who were either born or live in Lewes, or had some important contribution to make to the town.

A

• John Agard (born 1949), poet, playwright and children's author, lives in Lewes.
• Russell Ash (1946–2010), author of Top 10 of Everything and other non-fiction books
• Daisy Ashford (1881–1972), juvenile novelist
• B. T. S. Atkins (1931–2021), lexicographer
• Lucy Atkins (Born 1968), novelist
• John Authers, financial journalist and writer

B

• Marina Baker (born 1967), former actress/ model, journalist, children's author and politician
• Norman Baker (born 1957), former Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes
• Wynne Edwin Baxter (1844–1920), lawyer, translator, antiquarian and botanist
• Honor Blackman (1925–2020), actor
• Michael Brooks (born 1970), science writer
• Arthur Brown (born 1942), musician, best known for his 1968 hit "Fire"
• Asa Briggs (1921–2016), English Historian, second Vice-Chancellor of University of Sussex and created Baron Briggs of Lewes in 1976
• Ralph Brown (born 1957), actor
• Anthony Buckeridge (1912–2004), children's author, noted for his Jennings series, lived near Lewes from 1962 until his death.

C

• Anna Campbell (born 1991), first British woman to die fighting for the Women's Protection Units
• Philip Carr-Gomm (born 1952), leader of The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids
• Thomas Cobham (died 1327), Archdeacon of Lewes
• Richard Challoner (1691–1781), Roman Catholic bishop
• John Conolly (1794–1866), physician
• Shirley Collins (born 1935), folk singer and collector
• Henry William Crosskey (1826–1893), geologist and Unitarian minister

D

• Nick Davies (born 1953), investigative journalist and author of Flat Earth News, he uncovered the News of the World phone hacking affair
• Henry Dudeney (1857–1930), author and mathematician
• Alice Dudeney (1866–1945), author and diarist
• Roger Dean (born 1944), artist

E

• John Ellman (1753–1832), farmer and stockbreeder
• John Evelyn (1620–1706), writer, gardener and diarist

F

• Julian Fane (1927–2009), author
• Barry Fell (1917–1994), zoologist
• John Fitzalan, 1st Baron Arundel (c. 1348–1379)
• David Ford (born 1978), singer/songwriter
• Julia Foster (born 1943), actress

G

• Eve Garnett (1900–1991), author and illustrator
• Walter Godfrey (1881–1961), architect, historian and antiquarian
• John Sparkes Goldsmith (1878–1942), founder and first editor of The Ringing World
• Sarah Gordy (born c. 1968), actress with Down syndrome
• Sir William Gull, 1st Baronet (1816–1890), physician
• Edward Castres Gwynne (1811–1888), Australian lawyer and politician

H

• Denzil Dean Harber (1909–1966), ornithologist and Trotskyist
• Ed Harcourt (born 1977), singer/songwriter
• Julius Charles Hare (1795–1855), theologian and Archdeacon of Lewes
• Edward Hargraves (1816–1891), Australian gold prospector
• Hugh Harris, musician: guitarist with The Kooks
• Jonathan Harvey (composer) (1939–2012), composer
• John Berry Haycraft (1859–1923), professor of physiology
• George Hutson (1889–1914), Olympic runner

I

• James Iredell (1751–1799), American lawyer and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

J

• Alison Jolly (1937–2014), primatologist
• Arthur M. Jolly (born 1969), writer
• Sir Richard Jolly (born 1934), development economist

K

• Peter Kellner (born 1946), journalist, political commentator, polling expert and president of YouGov
• Paul Austin Kelly (born 1960), opera singer
• Dame Grace Kimmins (1871–1954), social activist

L

• Eleanor of Lancaster (1311–1372), wife of Richard Fitzalan, 10th Earl of Arundel
• Sean Lock (1963–2021), comedian and actor
• Peter Love (died 1610), pirate, said to have been born in Lewes

M

• Gideon Mantell (1790–1852), obstetrician, geologist and palaeontologist
• Joan Maude (1908–1998), actress
• John Maynard Smith (1920–2004), evolutionary biologist and geneticist
• William McCrea (1904–1999), astronomer
• Reginald Medhurst (1920–2009), cricketer

N

• Grace Nichols (born 1950), poet, lives in Lewes.
• William Nicholson (born 1948), writer

O

• Patrick O'Brian (1914–2000), author, novelist and translator, known for the Aubrey/Maturin series of sea stories, spent his childhood in Lewes.

P

• Thomas Paine (1737–1809), revolutionary, inventor and intellectual
• John Peckham (c. 1230–1292), Archbishop of Canterbury
• Pleasance Pendred (1864–1948), suffragette and activist for women's rights
• Brenda Pye (1907–2005), landscape artist

R

• Thomas 'Clio' Rickman (1760–1834), brewer and pamphleteer
• Dick Rees (1894–1951), five-time champion jumps jockey
• Edward Ayearst Reeves (1862–1945), geographer; born in Lewes
• James Reeves (1909–1978), writer and poet
• Richard Russell (1687–1759), physician (water cure)

S

• Louis Francis Salzman (1878–1971), economic historian
• Sir George Shiffner (1762–1842), politician
• Professor Alasdair Smith (born 1949), economist and former Vice-Chancellor, University of Sussex
• Anthony Stapley (1590–1655), Member of Parliament; one of the regicides of King Charles I
• Noel Streatfeild (1895–1986), children's author

T

• Sir John Tomlinson (born 1946), opera singer
• Polly Toynbee (born 1946), journalist and writer
• Nicholas Tucker (living), academic and writer

W

• Edward Perry Warren (1860–1928), art collector
• Margaret Weedon (1854–1930), archer, competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.
• John Jenner Weir (1822–1894), civil servant, entomologist and ornithologist
• Barbara Willard (1909–1994), children's novelist
• Mark Williams (actor) (born 1959), actor and comedian
• Kenneth Woodroffe (1892–1915), first-class cricketer and British Army officer, killed in action in World War I
• Virginia Woolf (1882–1941), novelist and essayist

Y

• Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke (1690–1764), politician
• Nicholas Yonge (c. 1560–1619), singer and publisher

See also

• List of people from Sussex