#1Famous people · Loyalist, Ontario
8 famous people from Loyalist, many of them leaders
Best known of all is Gord Downie, written about in 9 languages. Most were born before Confederation: 7 of them. 7 of them were born before Confederation, the first Peter Perry in 1792. Half or more of the towns in Ontario have no one on record, but this one has 4 for every 10,000 residents.
Born here
8
confirmed by Wikipedia
Best known
Gord Downie
9 Wikipedia and sister-site articles
First
1792
Peter Perry
Youngest
1964
Gord Downie
Most common field
Politics & Law
4 people
★ What stands out · Through the years
When Loyalist’s famous people were born
More of them were born in the 1860s than in any other ten years, 2 in all.
Politics & LawWriting & ArtsMusicScience & Medicine
Dots are people, stacked in the decade of their birth.
Known for
What Loyalist is known for
The field furthest above the usual share is leaders, at 2.3 times.
For comparison, the usual town: how the people listed across Canadian towns split by field. Tap a field to list its people.
The best known
Born in Loyalist
Counted by languages, Gord Downie is ahead of James Lapum and William Metzler: 9, 3 and 3.
#1
#2Politics & Law
James Lapum
1819–1879Canadian politician
3 Wikipedia and sister-site articlesWikipedia ↗
#3Science & Medicine
William Metzler
1863–1943Canadian mathematician
3 Wikipedia and sister-site articlesWikipedia ↗
Everyone
Everyone else born in Loyalist
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Of the towns around it, Kingston has the most on record: 280.
Questions about famous people from Loyalist
Who is the most famous person from Loyalist?
The top name is Gord Downie (Canadian musician, writer), going by Wikipedia coverage. Next come James Lapum and William Metzler.
How many famous people were born in Loyalist?
Of the 15 Wikidata puts here, the rest have no English or French article that confirms it.
What is Loyalist known for?
Across Canadian towns the figure is 22%; here, 50%.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Loyalist?
Peter Perry, born in 1792. The youngest on the list was born in 1964.
Who counts as from Loyalist?
Wikidata’s record must put the birth inside Loyalist’s municipal boundary (Statistics Canada’s 2021 census subdivision) or one of its hospitals or districts, and an English or French Wikipedia article must agree. The list leaves out adult performers, people known mainly for crimes and anyone born elsewhere.
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 (6)
- Gord Downie: Sarah Naegels from Ottawa, Canada, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- James Lapum: William James Topley, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- William Metzler: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Allen Edwin Thompson: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Sidney Badgley: Cleveland Engineering Society, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Bryan Adams: Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0, 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).