EG#1
Famous people · Ferryhill, County Durham
Of the 22 famous people born in Ferryhill, an unusual share are athletes
Eric Gates, the English footballer, is the most widely known, written about in 9 languages. Second and third on the list are Fred Barber and Bill Sheppard. In the 20th century, 19 were born, the most of any period. Born in 1834, John Clark is the first name on record, and Graeme Aldred, born in 1966, the most recent.
Born here
22
notable people
Best known
Eric Gates
in 9 Wikipedia languages
First
1834
John Clark
Youngest
1966
Graeme Aldred
Most common field
Sports
18 people
What stands out about Ferryhill’s famous people
★ What stands out · Known for
What Ferryhill is known for
Ferryhill has 1.7× the usual share of athletes.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
The best known
Born in Ferryhill
Ranked by languages covered: Eric Gates with 9, then Fred Barber with 6 and Bill Sheppard with 5.
FB#2
Sports
Fred Barber
born 1963English association footballer (born 1963)
6 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
BS#3
Through the years
When Ferryhill’s famous people were born
More were born in the 1900s than in any other decade: 5.
SportsPolitics & LawWriting & ArtsScience & Medicine
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Ferryhill
Of the other 19, 15 are athletes.
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Around it, Spennymoor has the most people on record, 18 of them.
Spennymoor · 2 miJohn Bain & 17 more
Sedgefield · 4 miMark Gatiss & 14 more
Newton Aycliffe · 4 miJason Steele & 7 moreAMCoxhoe · 3 miAndy Mitchell & 3 moreHBCoundon and Leeholme · 4 miHarry Bruce & 3 moreTDCornforth · 2 miTommy Duff & 2 more
Bishop Middleham · 3 miHenry Taylor & 2 morePWFishburn · 5 miPaul Ward & 1 moreQuestions about famous people from Ferryhill
Who is the most famous person from Ferryhill?
Eric Gates (English footballer (born 1955)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 9 languages. Next come Fred Barber and Bill Sheppard.
How many famous people were born in Ferryhill?
22 people born in Ferryhill have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 23 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Ferryhill known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 18 of the 22. That is 82% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Ferryhill?
John Clark, born in 1834. The youngest on the list was born in 1966.
Who counts as from Ferryhill?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Ferryhill’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 (8)
- John McManners: Hugh McManners, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Alexander Carmichael Bruce: Arthur Griffiths, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Jack Vitty: Hannahvitty, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Clark: "The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, UT)., Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- John Bain: FlamingCow TV, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Mark Gatiss: zeropuntosedici (Sara Zizza), CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jason Steele: Jon Candy from Cardiff, Wales, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Henry Taylor: Julia Margaret Cameron, Public domain, 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.