#1Sports
Rob Blake
born 1969Canadian ice hockey player and executive
21 Wikipedia and sister-site articlesWikipedia ↗
Famous people · Simcoe, Ontario
Leaders stand out among the 70 famous people born in Simcoe
Rob Blake, the Canadian ice hockey player and executive, is the most widely known, written about in 21 languages. Second and third on the list are Wilfred Lucas and Red Kelly. Between Confederation and 1913, 20 were born, the most of any period. Half or more of the towns in Ontario have no one on record, but this one has 9.3 for every 10,000 residents.
Born here
70
confirmed by Wikipedia
Best known
Rob Blake
21 Wikipedia and sister-site articles
First
1803
Egerton Ryerson
Youngest
2000
Rory Dodd
Most common field
Politics & Law
26 people
What stands out about Simcoe’s famous people
★ What stands out · Known for
What Simcoe is known for
No other field is as far above the usual share as leaders, at 1.7 times.
For comparison, the usual town: how the people listed across Canadian towns split by field. Tap a field to list its people.
Through the years
When Simcoe’s famous people were born
No decade has more births than the 1880s, at 7.
Politics & LawSportsWriting & ArtsScience & MedicineFilm, TV & StageMusicMilitaryNotableFaith
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
The best known
Born in Simcoe
Counted by languages, Rob Blake is ahead of Wilfred Lucas and Red Kelly: 21, 19 and 17.
#1
#2Film, TV & Stage
Wilfred Lucas
1871–1940Actor, Film director
19 Wikipedia and sister-site articlesWikipedia ↗
#3Sports
Red Kelly
1927–2019Canadian ice hockey player and coach
17 Wikipedia and sister-site articlesWikipedia ↗
Everyone
Everyone else born in Simcoe
A further 67 follow, born between 1803 and 2000.
Jack Pickersgill
1905–1997Canadian federal politician based out of Newfoundland
Politics & LawWikipedia ↗
Martin Elliott Sowden
1887–1962NotableWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
Questions about famous people from Simcoe
Who is the most famous person from Simcoe?
The top name is Rob Blake (Canadian ice hockey player and executive), going by Wikipedia coverage. Next come Wilfred Lucas and Red Kelly.
How many famous people were born in Simcoe?
91 are placed here on Wikidata; the rest have no article to confirm it.
What is Simcoe known for?
Across Canadian towns the figure is 22%; here, 37%.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Simcoe?
The earliest is Egerton Ryerson, born in 1803, and the latest birth listed is 2000.
Who counts as from Simcoe?
Wikidata’s record must put the birth inside Simcoe’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?
Often Wikidata names only Canada or a province as the birthplace, or a rural area, a hamlet or another town; sometimes the Wikipedia article names somewhere else, or nowhere. A person appears here once both agree, so a correction on either site reaches this page 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 (36)
- Rob Blake: Ivan Makarov, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Wilfred Lucas: Photoplay Publishing Co., Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Red Kelly: Ralston-Purina, maker of Chex cereals, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Robert F. Hill: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Paul Hellyer: Arthur Roy, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- R. Scott Bakker: Roberta F., CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Dwayne Roloson: Michael Miller, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Edward Brownlee: Hess, A. L., Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Jassen Cullimore: Hockeybroad, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Axford: Johnmaxmena2, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Egerton Ryerson: Théophile Hamel, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Jack Pickersgill: Government of Canada, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Edmund Vance Cooke: Photographer not named., Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Geordie Kinnear: TheAHL, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- William L. Walsh: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Alexander M. Hardy: An Illustrated Congressional Manual. The United States Red Book, 1896, (detail), Collection of U.S. House of Representatives, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Derek Sloan: Brian Chard, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Eva Brook Donly: Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Charles Berkeley Powell: John Alexander Cooper, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- David Strangway: The Official CTBTO Photostream, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Earl Frederick Crabb: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- James Pitt Mabee: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Leslie Hotson: Unknown (yearbook staff or photographer), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Toby Barrett: Ontario Legislature, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Andrew Penner: TheAHL, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Elaine Chuli: John Mac, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Eric Hoskins: Rocco Rossi, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John A. Schweitzer: HeatherBlack, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Harrison O'Donnell: Cochrane, William, 1831-1898, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Win Kellum: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Edwin Clarendon Carpenter: William Cochrane (1831-1898) and John Castell Hopkins (1864-1923), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Frederick Cope: James Skitt Matthews, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Glen Gray: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Ryan Horvat: TheAHL, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Thomas Gilroy: Cochrane, William, 1831-1898; Hopkins, J. Castell (John Castell), 1864-1923, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Ward Bowlby: 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).