#1Famous people · Holywell, Clwyd
17 famous people were born in Holywell, most of them in the 20th century
At the top of the list is the Welsh actor Jonathan Pryce, covered in 48 languages. Mike England, the Welsh footballer and manager, comes second, with Ron Davies third. For every 10,000 residents there are 22 on the list, well above the typical Clwyd town’s 6.2. From Sarah Edith Wynne to Gareth Jelleyman, the births on the list run from 1842 to 1980.
Born here
17
notable people
Best known
Jonathan Pryce
in 48 Wikipedia languages
First
1842
Sarah Edith Wynne
Youngest
1980
Gareth Jelleyman
Most common field
Sports
9 people
What stands out about Holywell’s famous people
★ What stands out · The best known
Born in Holywell
The three are covered in 48, 16 and 11 languages: Jonathan Pryce, Mike England and Ron Davies.
#1
#2Sports
Mike England
born 1941Welsh footballer and manager (born 1941)
16 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
RD#3
Through the years
When Holywell’s famous people were born
No decade has more births than the 1930s, at 5.
SportsWriting & ArtsMusicFilm, TV & StageScience & MedicinePolitics & Law
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Known for
What Holywell is known for
Writers and artists stand out most, at 1.5 times the usual share.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Holywell
14 more, 7 of them athletes.
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Around it, Heswall has the most people on record, 18 of them.
Questions about famous people from Holywell
Who is the most famous person from Holywell?
Jonathan Pryce (Welsh actor (born 1947)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 48 languages. Next come Mike England and Ron Davies.
How many famous people were born in Holywell?
17 people born in Holywell have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 20 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Holywell known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 9 of the 17. That is 53% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Holywell?
Sarah Edith Wynne, born in 1842. The youngest on the list was born in 1980.
Who counts as from Holywell?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Holywell’s built-up area (the ONS 2022 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 the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary (Office for National Statistics, 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 (10)
- Jonathan Pryce: Greg2600, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Mike England: Rob Mieremet / Anefo, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- Teresa Helena Higginson: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Sarah Edith Wynne: Thomas, John,, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Jennifer Toye: Houston Rogers (1902-1970) or John Blomfield (per-page credits), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Alwyn Sheppard Fidler: Elliott & Fry, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- John Peel: JP_BBC.jpg: Arno Matthias derivative work: January, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Joanna Scanlan: Marcus Liversedge, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Tim Hunt: Machmit (Machmit), CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Houghton: No machine-readable author provided. Kaihsu assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0, 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.