WA#1
Famous people · Willington, County Durham
Athletes stand out among the 11 famous people born in Willington
At the top of the list is the English footballer William Ashurst, covered in 9 languages. Close behind are Martin Burleigh and Dickie Dale. In the Victorian era, 6 were born, the most of any period. Per head, the list is long: 19.3 for every 10,000 residents, where the typical town in County Durham has 12.7.
Born here
11
notable people
Best known
William Ashurst
in 9 Wikipedia languages
First
1877
Thomas Renton Elliott
Youngest
1951
Martin Burleigh
Most common field
Sports
9 people
What stands out about Willington’s famous people
★ What stands out · Known for
What Willington is known for
The field furthest above the usual share is athletes, at 1.7 times.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
The best known
Born in Willington
All three are athletes.
MB#2
DD#3
Through the years
When Willington’s famous people were born
The 1890s top the chart, with 4 births in the decade.
SportsMilitaryScience & Medicine
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Willington
The other 8 span the years 1877 to 1913.
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Close by, Bishop Auckland counts 95 famous people, the most of its neighbours.
Bishop Auckland · 4 miRoss Turnbull & 94 more
Crook · 2 miJack Greenwell & 21 more
Spennymoor · 4 miJohn Bain & 17 moreGBBrandon · 4 miGeorge Bertram & 8 more
Ushaw Moor and Bearpark · 5 miSammy Crooks & 8 moreAAEsh Winning · 4 miAlf Agar & 7 moreTAWest Auckland · 6 miTom Alderson & 6 moreAHTow Law · 6 miAlbert Ernest Hillary & 5 moreQuestions about famous people from Willington
Who is the most famous person from Willington?
William Ashurst (English footballer (1894-1947)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 9 languages. Next come Martin Burleigh and Dickie Dale.
How many famous people were born in Willington?
11 people born in Willington have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace.
What is Willington known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 9 of the 11. That is 82% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Willington?
Thomas Renton Elliott, born in 1877. The youngest on the list was born in 1951.
Who counts as from Willington?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Willington’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 (5)
- Thomas Renton Elliott: Basil, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Ross Turnbull: Ross_Turnbull_in_2009.jpg: p_a_h from United Kingdom derivative work: Ytoyoda, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jack Greenwell: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- John Bain: FlamingCow TV, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Sammy Crooks: 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.