#1Science & Medicine
David Dunbar Buick
1854–1929Scottish-American inventor
20 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Famous people · Arbroath, Angus
No town in Angus has more famous people than Arbroath: 72
David Dunbar Buick, the Scottish-American inventor, is the most widely known, written about in 20 languages. The list has 1.9 times the usual share of scientists and doctors, 10 in all. The largest group, 30, was born in the Victorian era. 9 of them were born since 1970.
Born here
72
notable people
Best known
David Dunbar Buick
in 20 Wikipedia languages
First
1654
John Wallace
Youngest
2000
Megan McColl
Most common field
Sports
38 people
What stands out about Arbroath’s famous people
★ What stands out · Known for
What Arbroath is known for
Scientists and doctors stand out most, at 1.9 times the usual share.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
The best known
Born in Arbroath
Two of the three are scientists and doctors.
#1BB#2
#3Science & Medicine
Neil Arnott
1788–1874Scottish physician (1788-1874)
13 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Through the years
When Arbroath’s famous people were born
More of them were born in the 1870s than in any other ten years, 8 in all.
SportsScience & MedicinePolitics & LawWriting & ArtsFilm, TV & StageMusicFaithNotable
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Arbroath
A further 69 follow, born between 1654 and 2000.
William Maxwell
1876–1940Scottish professional footballer and amateur cricketer (1876-1940)
SportsWikipedia ↗
James Chalmers
1782–18531782-1853; alleged Scottish inventor of the adhesive postage stamp
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
Louisa Macdonald
1858–1949Educationist and women's suffragist (1858-1949)
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
James Mason
1864–1924New Zealand doctor and public health administrator (1864–1924)
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
John Ritchie Findlay
1824–1898British newspaper owner and philanthropist (1824-1898)
Politics & LawWikipedia ↗
Alexander Ross
1895–1972Scottish first-class cricketer and civil servant (1895-1972)
SportsWikipedia ↗
Peter MacPherson
1841–1913Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly & Queensland Legislative Council (1841-1913)
Politics & LawWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
The longest list nearby is Montrose’s, with 50.
Questions about famous people from Arbroath
Who is the most famous person from Arbroath?
David Dunbar Buick (Scottish-American inventor) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 20 languages. Next come Bill Brown and Neil Arnott.
How many famous people were born in Arbroath?
72 people born in Arbroath have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 81 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Arbroath known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 38 of the 72. That is 53% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Arbroath?
John Wallace, born in 1654. The youngest on the list was born in 2000.
Who counts as from Arbroath?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Arbroath’s locality (the NRS 2022 locality boundary), a hospital or district within it included, whose English Wikipedia article agrees. People who only lived here, adult performers and people known mainly for crimes aren’t listed.
Why is someone missing?
Their Wikidata birthplace may be a bigger area (“London”), another town, or missing, or their article may give no birthplace. We only list people both sources agree on; editing Wikidata or Wikipedia changes this page at the next refresh.
From Wikidata (CC0: birthplaces, descriptions, years, occupations) and English Wikipedia (each person’s article confirms the birthplace; linked, not quoted). Birthplaces are placed in the town by National Records of Scotland’s Census 2022 locality boundaries (Open Government Licence v3.0). Ranked by how many Wikipedia languages cover each person. Fields are read from Wikidata’s description and occupations. “The usual town”: everyone listed across UK towns. Portraits: each person’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Photo credits (24)
- David Dunbar Buick: Unknown, possibly J. W. Hughes, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Neil Arnott: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- William Maxwell: Unknown (credited to "Thiele, London"), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- George Robert Milne Murray: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Graham Gano: original: Keith Allison derivative: Diddykong1130, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Petrie: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- William Sharpey: Maull & Polyblank (active 1854-1865), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Alexander Stuart Murray: George Henry Story, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- James Chalmers: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- James Mackay, 1st Earl of Inchcape: After Philip de László, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- James Barnet: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Louisa Macdonald: Madame Praeger, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Durward Lely: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- James Mason: Unknown photographer, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Patrick Allan Fraser: Patrick Allan Fraser, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Alexander Adams: unknown photographer, book author James Macrae, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Albert Buick: Reinhold Thiele, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Darren Burnett: Davidmcintosh7654, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Frank Garden: BC NDP History Group, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Kathleen Whyte: Carole Gallaher, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Doug Johnstone: TimDuncan, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Robert Brown: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Robert Watson-Watt: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Ian McDiarmid: Miguel Discart, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.