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Famous people · Sherburn, County Durham

4 famous people were born in Sherburn from 1841 to 2003

Josh Charlton, the British cyclist, is the most widely known, written about in 10 languages. The English footballer Don Cowan ranks second, ahead of John Wile. The list’s best known name, Josh Charlton, dates from 2003. Athletes make up the largest group, 3 of them.

#1 best knownJosh CharltonSports · born 2003
Born here
4
notable people
Best known
Josh Charlton
in 10 Wikipedia languages
First
1841
Samuel Storey
Youngest
2003
Josh Charlton
Most common field
Sports
3 people
The best known

Born in Sherburn

Ranked by languages covered: Josh Charlton with 10, then Don Cowan with 5 and John Wile with 4.

Josh Charlton#1
Sports

Josh Charlton

born 2003

British cyclist

10 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
DC#2
Sports

Don Cowan

1931–2024

English footballer (born 1931)

5 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
JW#3
Sports

John Wile

born 1947

English footballer-manager (born 1947)

4 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Through the years

When Sherburn’s famous people were born

The 2000s top the chart, with 1 births in the decade.

VictorianThe 20th centuryToday1850190019502000Samuel StoreyJohn WileJosh Charlton
SportsPolitics & Law

Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.

Known for

What Sherburn is known for

No other field is as far above the usual share as athletes, at 1.5 times.

The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.

Everyone

Everyone else born in Sherburn

1 more, best known first.

SS

Samuel Storey

1841–1925

British politician

Politics & LawWikipedia ↗
Next door

Famous people from the towns next door

Around it, Durham has the most people on record, 225 of them.

Questions about famous people from Sherburn

Who is the most famous person from Sherburn?

Josh Charlton (British cyclist) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 10 languages. Next come Don Cowan and John Wile.

How many famous people were born in Sherburn?

4 people born in Sherburn have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace.

What is Sherburn known for?

Among its famous people, athletes: 3 of the 4. That is 75% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.

Who is the earliest-born famous person from Sherburn?

Samuel Storey, born in 1841. The youngest on the list was born in 2003.

Who counts as from Sherburn?

People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Sherburn’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 (4)

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.