#1Sports
Grant Holt
born 1981English professional footballer (born 1981)
29 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Famous people · Carlisle, Cumbria
Carlisle leads Cumbria with 198 famous people
At the top of the list is the English professional footballer Grant Holt, covered in 29 languages. Second place goes to the English association football player Jarrad Branthwaite, third to Mike Figgis. The largest group, 88, was born in the 20th century. Births since 1970 account for 60 of the names.
Born here
198
notable people
Best known
Grant Holt
in 29 Wikipedia languages
First
1270
Henry of Harclay
Youngest
2002
Joe White
Most common field
Sports
97 people
What stands out about Carlisle’s famous people
★ What stands out · Through the years
When Carlisle’s famous people were born
More were born in the 1950s than in any other decade: 23.
SportsWriting & ArtsPolitics & LawFilm, TV & StageMusicScience & MedicineMilitaryFaithNotableBusiness
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
The best known
Born in Carlisle
Athletes take two of the three places.
#1
#2Sports
Jarrad Branthwaite
born 2002English association football player (born 2002)
27 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
#3Film, TV & Stage
Mike Figgis
born 1948English filmmaker, musician, and composer
27 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Known for
What Carlisle is known for
Athletes are the most numerous, 97 of them.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Carlisle
Another 195, the earliest born in 1270.
Mandell Creighton
1843–1901English historian and clergyman (1843–1901); bishop of the Church of England from 1897 to 1901
Writing & ArtsWikipedia ↗
Edward Courtney Boyle
1883–1967Royal Navy officer, 1915 recipient of the Victoria Cross (1883–1967)
MilitaryWikipedia ↗
David Gilpin
1863–1952Australian schoolteacher, businessman, accountant and local government politician
BusinessWikipedia ↗
David Beamish
born 1952Former Clerk of the Parliaments, the chief clerk of the House of Lords, in the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Politics & LawWikipedia ↗
Joseph Peascod Harper
1861–1951NotableWikipedia ↗
Miriam Violet Griffith
1911–1989British engineer, heat pump expert (1911-1989)
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
The best known from each town within 12 miles of Carlisle, with how many people each has.
Questions about famous people from Carlisle
Who is the most famous person from Carlisle?
Grant Holt (English professional footballer (born 1981)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 29 languages. Next come Jarrad Branthwaite and Mike Figgis.
How many famous people were born in Carlisle?
198 people born in Carlisle have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 223 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Carlisle known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 97 of the 198. That is 49% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Carlisle?
Henry of Harclay, born in 1270. The youngest on the list was born in 2002.
Who counts as from Carlisle?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Carlisle’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 (70)
- Grant Holt: Jon Candy, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jarrad Branthwaite: Pete from Liverpool, UK, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Mike Figgis: Annie Mole, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Kevin Beattie: Tony Grunberg, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Nicki French: Christopher Matthew Thiemann, Columbus, Ohio, CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons
- Mandell Creighton: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Peter Thompson: Eric Koch for Anefo, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl, Wikimedia Commons
- Eleanor Dickinson: Nicola, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Graham Stuart: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Edward Tiffin: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Jancis Robinson: Financial Times, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Melvyn Bragg: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Helen Skelton: Photographer: Ruth Crafer, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Lauren Smith: Nardisoero, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Paul Huntington: Sir-Nobby, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Roxanne Pallett: See the ticket in the Permission field below., CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Beatrix Campbell: Open Media Ltd., CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Bernard Barton: Unknown (published by Hall, Virtue, and Co, 1849), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Ryan Bowman: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sophiethesax/, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Steve Harkness: Chensiyuan, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- David King: David W. Carmichael, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Matt Jansen: Mark Locke, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Paul Nixon: SGGH at English Wikipedia, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Sawrey Gilpin: William Daniell, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- Stephen Robson: Apostleship of the Sea, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Steve Borthwick: Fearless Fred, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Alex MacDowall: Robk23oxf, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Thomas Farrell: User:Christophe95, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Pam McConnell: Councillors_McConnell,_Bailão_and_Fragedakis_at_levee.jpg: The City of Toronto from Toronto, Canada derivative work: Skeezix1000, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Paul Simpson: David Nelson from Great Britain, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- Thomas Baty: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Greg Ridley: Jim Summaria, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Mark Boyd: Mattythewhite, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Rose Kemp: Greg Neate, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Adelina de Lara: Talma Studios, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Anne Howard, Countess of Arundel: Wenceslaus Hollar, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Gavin Skelton: Alasdair Middleton from Rothesay, Scotland, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Cowans: Unknown. Official British Military photograph, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- John Mulcaster Carrick: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Lee Brennan: Unreal7, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Roger Liddle: Policy Network, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- David Hill: Mrkhlopov, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Metcalf: Dan Harasymchuk, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Myers: Fighting_Talk.jpg: {{{1}}} derivative work: The JPS, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Margaret Canovan: Latersoundchimp, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Maud Mary Brindley: UK Government's Criminal Record Office c. 1914, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Mike Harrison: BlueBreezeWiki, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Rob Miller: Fanny Schertzer, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- William Pether: William Pether, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Edward Courtney Boyle: Ernest Brooks, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- James Sawyer: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- James Woodrow: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- John Leighton Nanson: unknown (studio photographer?), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- John Thomas: Joshua Reynolds, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Julie Minns: ©House of Commons / Roger Harris, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Margaret Graham: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Margery Jackson: William Brown (active 1811–1837), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- David Gilpin: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- John Studholme: Studholme family, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Owen Moxon: MilesaMFC, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- Alex Templeton-Ward: Okokokokij, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- David Beamish: UK Parliament, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Ewan Dowes: Mortonstalker, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Helen Housby: Amy Martin Photography, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Irene Baird: Yousuf Karsh, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Jane Pearson: unknown but in 1817, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Joseph Peascod Harper: JUPEM, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Martin Elbourne: Cassandra Elbourne, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- Stuart Stockdale: Mark Mawston, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Darwin Shaw: SilentKisses1, CC0, 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.