#1Film, TV & Stage
Marie Dressler
1868–1934Canadian-American actress
56 Wikipedia and sister-site articlesWikipedia ↗
Famous people · Cobourg, Ontario
Scientists and doctors stand out among the 36 famous people born in Cobourg
Marie Dressler, the Canadian-American actress, is the most widely known, written about in 56 languages. The list reaches back to Charles Perry, born in 1818, one of 15 born before Confederation. The largest group, 15, was born before Confederation. Fewer than a quarter of the 386 towns in Ontario with famous people list more.
Born here
36
confirmed by Wikipedia
Best known
Marie Dressler
56 Wikipedia and sister-site articles
First
1818
Charles Perry
Youngest
1998
Kate Current
Most common field
Politics & Law
13 people
★ What stands out · Known for
What Cobourg is known for
The field furthest above the usual share is scientists and doctors, at 2.4 times.
Compared with the usual town (everyone listed in Canadian towns, split by field). Tap a field to see the people in it.
The best known
Born in Cobourg
#1
#2Military
John Murray
1841–1914Scottish oceanographer, marine biologist and limnologist
23 Wikipedia and sister-site articlesWikipedia ↗
#3Science & Medicine
Alice Wilson
1881–1964Canadian geologist and paleontologist
21 Wikipedia and sister-site articlesWikipedia ↗
Through the years
When Cobourg’s famous people were born
The 1840s saw the most births of any decade: 6.
Politics & LawSportsWriting & ArtsScience & MedicineFilm, TV & StageMilitaryFaith
Every person is a dot in the column of the decade they were born.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Cobourg
33 more, from 1818 to 1998.
Henry Norlande Ruttan
1848–1925Canadian engineer and Canadian Army officer
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
Lachlan Taylor Burwash
1874–1940Science & MedicineWikipedia (French) ↗
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
The longest list nearby is Port Hope’s, with 24.
Questions about famous people from Cobourg
Who is the most famous person from Cobourg?
Marie Dressler (Canadian-American actress) comes first, by the number of Wikipedia languages that cover them. Next come John Murray and Alice Wilson.
How many famous people were born in Cobourg?
Wikidata places 47 here in all, and those missing from the list lack a confirming article.
What is Cobourg known for?
36% of the list, where Canadian towns come to 22%.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Cobourg?
Charles Perry, from 1818; the most recent birth on the list is from 1998.
Who counts as from Cobourg?
Wikidata has to place the birth inside Cobourg’s municipal boundary (Statistics Canada’s 2021 census subdivision), counting its hospitals and districts, and an English or French Wikipedia article has to say the same. Adult performers, people known mostly for crimes and anyone who only lived here stay off the list.
Why is someone missing?
Wikidata may give their birthplace only as Canada or a province, as a rural area or hamlet without a page here, or as another town; or their article may name a different place, or none. Only people both sources agree on are listed, and a fix on Wikidata or Wikipedia shows up here at the next refresh.
Birthplaces, descriptions, years, occupations and the count of Wikipedia and sister-site articles come from Wikidata (CC0). Each birthplace is checked against the person’s English Wikipedia article, or the French one where English says nothing or has no article; the articles are linked, never quoted. Wikidata’s Statistics Canada code, the place’s name or its point inside the 2021 census outline puts a birth in a town, and a birth given only as a split city stays on that city’s page. Fields are read from the description and occupations, and the list runs by number of articles. “The usual town” is everyone listed across Canadian towns. Portraits: each person’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Photo credits (20)
- Marie Dressler: MGM, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- John Murray: New York: Popular Science Pub. Co., publisher, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Alice Wilson: Yousuf Karsh, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Justin Williams: Michael Miller, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Mandy Bujold: Rob Murray, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Larry O'Connor: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Edgar Benson: House of Commons of Canada, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Francis P. Duffy: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Agnes Dunbar Moodie Fitzgibbon Chamberlin: William James Topley, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- W. A. Hewitt: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Kate Current: Løken, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Charles Perry: William James Topley, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- George Guillet: William James Topley, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Virna Sheard: Photographer unattributed, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Nicolas Dubois Dominic Beck: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Bill Laird: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Henry Norlande Ruttan: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- John T. Gerin: The original uploader was Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) at English Wikipedia ., Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- William Sowden Sims: RJHall, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Mina Benson Hubbard: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).