PM#1
Writing & Arts
Penelope Mortimer
1918–1999British journalist, biographer and novelist (1918–1999)
10 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Famous people · Rhyl, Clwyd
23 famous people were born in Rhyl, more of them performers than in most towns
Best known of all is Penelope Mortimer, written about in 10 languages. Alexa Davies is second and Ann Jones third. In the 20th century, 12 were born, the most of any period. The list comes to 8.5 for every 10,000 residents, about the same as the typical town in Clwyd, at 6.2.
Born here
23
notable people
Best known
Penelope Mortimer
in 10 Wikipedia languages
First
1857
Robert Jones
Youngest
1995
Alexa Davies
Most common field
Sports
10 people
What stands out about Rhyl’s famous people
★ What stands out · Known for
What Rhyl is known for
No other field is as far above the usual share as performers, at 2 times.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
The best known
Born in Rhyl
Penelope Mortimer leads with articles in 10 languages, ahead of Alexa Davies (7) and Ann Jones (5).
#2
#3Through the years
When Rhyl’s famous people were born
The busiest decade was the 1950s, with 4 births.
SportsFilm, TV & StagePolitics & LawMusicWriting & ArtsScience & MedicineBusinessMilitaryFaith
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Rhyl
20 more names, born between 1857 and 1994.
Chris Ruane
born 1958Welsh Labour Party politician, Member of Parliament (born 1958)
Politics & LawWikipedia ↗
William Roberts
born 1863Welsh footballer who played as a forward in the 1880s and 1890s
SportsWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
The best known from each town within 12 miles of Rhyl, with how many people each has.
St Asaph · 4 miIan Rush & 61 more
Denbigh · 9 miHenry Morton Stanley & 23 moreJPPrestatyn · 3 miJohn Prescott & 22 more
Rhuddlan · 2 miPhilip Jones Griffiths & 6 more
Bodelwyddan · 4 miJade Jones & 6 more
Abergele · 5 miDavid Vaughan & 3 more
Dyserth · 3 miJohn Houghton & 2 moreJSKinmel Bay · 2 miJimmy Sangster & 1 moreQuestions about famous people from Rhyl
Who is the most famous person from Rhyl?
Penelope Mortimer (British journalist, biographer and novelist (1918–1999)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 10 languages. Next come Alexa Davies and Ann Jones.
How many famous people were born in Rhyl?
23 people born in Rhyl have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 30 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Rhyl known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 10 of the 23. That is 43% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Rhyl?
Robert Jones, born in 1857. The youngest on the list was born in 1995.
Who counts as from Rhyl?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Rhyl’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 (11)
- Alexa Davies: MTV UK, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Ann Jones: National Assembly For Wales / Cynulliad Cymru profile, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Chris Ruane: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Robert Jones: Photogravure after Lafayette., CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Eric Mival: Sgerbic, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Ian Rush: AceKindred, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Henry Morton Stanley: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Philip Jones Griffiths: Original uploader was Cantikfotos at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jade Jones: Mohammad Hassanzadeh, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- David Vaughan: Wonker from London, United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0, 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.