TL#1
Sports
Ted Lindsay
1925–2019Canadian ice hockey player
20 Wikipedia and sister-site articlesWikipedia ↗
Famous people · Renfrew, Ontario
Most of the 30 famous people born in Renfrew came into the world between Confederation and 1913
Most widely known is Ted Lindsay, the Canadian ice hockey player, with articles in 20 languages. The Canadian politician Charlotte Whitton ranks second, ahead of Alan Letang. For every 10,000 residents the town has 34.4, while at least half the towns in Ontario list nobody born there. From John Alfred McAndrew in 1859 to Alan Letang in 1975, the births cover 116 years.
Born here
30
confirmed by Wikipedia
Best known
Ted Lindsay
20 Wikipedia and sister-site articles
First
1859
John Alfred McAndrew
Youngest
1975
Alan Letang
Most common field
Sports
17 people
The best known
Born in Renfrew
Counted by languages, Ted Lindsay is ahead of Charlotte Whitton and Alan Letang: 20, 15 and 9.
#2Politics & Law
Charlotte Whitton
1896–1975Canadian politician
15 Wikipedia and sister-site articlesWikipedia ↗
#3Through the years
When Renfrew’s famous people were born
The 1880s saw the most births of any decade: 6.
SportsPolitics & LawNotableMusicWriting & ArtsFilm, TV & Stage
One dot per person, piled up by decade of birth.
Known for
What Renfrew is known for
No other field is as far above the usual share as athletes, at 1.5 times.
Compared with the usual town (everyone listed in Canadian towns, split by field). Tap a field to see the people in it.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Renfrew
27 more, from 1859 to 1973.
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Of the towns nearby, only Admaston/Bromley has a name on its list.
Questions about famous people from Renfrew
Who is the most famous person from Renfrew?
By our measure the best known is Ted Lindsay (Canadian ice hockey player); the spotlight above gives the details. Next come Charlotte Whitton and Alan Letang.
How many famous people were born in Renfrew?
Wikidata has 36 born here; the ones not shown have no article that agrees, or none at all.
What is Renfrew known for?
57% here, set against 38% for Canadian towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Renfrew?
John Alfred McAndrew (1859). At the other end, the youngest was born in 1975.
Who counts as from Renfrew?
Anyone Wikidata records as born at a place inside Renfrew’s municipal boundary (Statistics Canada’s 2021 census subdivision), hospitals and districts within it included, whose English or French Wikipedia article confirms it. People who only lived here, adult performers and people known mainly for crimes are left out.
Why is someone missing?
Some have no birthplace below the province on Wikidata, some were born in a hamlet without a page here, and some have an article that names another place or none at all. The page lists only what Wikidata and Wikipedia agree on, and it follows their corrections at each 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 (12)
- Charlotte Whitton: Harris & Ewing, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Alan Letang: Roberta F., CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jim Peplinski: 5of7, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Ambrose O'Brien: Arthur George Racey, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Mildred Doran: SDASM Archives, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Chief Jones: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Jack McVicar: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Billy Hughes: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Jack Fraser: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Joseph S. McCallum: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- John Alfred McAndrew: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Oren Frood: 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).