#1Famous people · Rochester, Kent
71 famous people were born in Rochester, more of them performers than in most towns
The best known is the British actress and model Kelly Brook, with articles in 49 languages. Second and third on the list are John Edensor Littlewood and James H. Wilkinson. In the 20th century, 31 were born, the most of any period. The list comes to 10.6 for every 10,000 residents, against 3.1 in the typical town in Kent.
Born here
71
notable people
Best known
Kelly Brook
in 49 Wikipedia languages
First
1606
James Temple
Youngest
1998
Rob Butler
Most common field
Sports
19 people
What stands out about Rochester’s famous people
★ What stands out · Known for
What Rochester is known for
Ministers and preachers stand out most, at 2.4 times the usual share.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
The best known
Born in Rochester
Two of the three are scientists and doctors.
#1
#2Science & Medicine
John Edensor Littlewood
1885–1977English mathematician (1885–1977)
37 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
JW#3
Science & Medicine
James H. Wilkinson
1919–1986English mathematician (1919–1986)
33 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Through the years
When Rochester’s famous people were born
More of them were born in the 1910s than in any other ten years, 10 in all.
SportsFilm, TV & StageWriting & ArtsScience & MedicinePolitics & LawMusicMilitaryFaithNotableBusiness
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Rochester
The other 68 span the years 1606 to 1998.
John Stevens Henslow
1796–1861British botanist, priest and geologist (1796-1861)
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
Martin Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Allington
1856–1937British politician (1856-1937)
Politics & LawWikipedia ↗
Charles Longley
1794–1868Archbishop of Canterbury; Archbishop of York; Bishop of Durham; Bishop of Ripon (1794-1868)
FaithWikipedia ↗
Frank John William Goldsmith
1902–1982English author and survivor of the Titanic (1902-1982)
Writing & ArtsWikipedia ↗
John Oakley
1834–1890British clergyman; Dean of Carlisle and Dean of Manchester (1834-1890)
FaithWikipedia ↗
Frederick Finch
1836–1920Writing & ArtsWikipedia ↗
Isabel Cleghorn
1852–1922British educationist and suffragist (1852–1922)
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
Mildred Ratcliffe
1899–1988Painter, commercial artist & calligrapher (1899–1988)
Writing & ArtsWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
8 towns around it have someone on record.
Questions about famous people from Rochester
Who is the most famous person from Rochester?
Kelly Brook (British actress and model) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 49 languages. Next come John Edensor Littlewood and James H. Wilkinson.
How many famous people were born in Rochester?
71 people born in Rochester have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 86 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Rochester known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 19 of the 71. That is 27% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Rochester?
James Temple, born in 1606. The youngest on the list was born in 1998.
Who counts as from Rochester?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Rochester’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 (30)
- Kelly Brook: RedCarpetReport, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Edensor Littlewood: Credited to "Stearn" (likely refers to Stearn and Sons), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- John Stevens Henslow: Thomas Herbert Maguire, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- John Tovey, 1st Baron Tovey: Royal Navy official photographer, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Ellen Ternan: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Martin Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Allington: Alexander Bassano, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Anne Pratt: English School 19th century, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Enid Bagnold: Unknown photographer, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Charles Longley: George Richmond, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- James William Tutt: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Jim Piddock: Tabercil, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Matthew Warchus: GabboT, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Charles William Jefferys: Melvin Ormond Hammond, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Russell Thorndike: Unknown authorUnknown author Reasonable and exhaustive searches in books, archives and internet, have been made by the uploader for the identity of the author and for any claim to copyright by the au…, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Chris Solly: Bedsaddick, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Carole Lynne: Gainsborough Pictures, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- Charles Wager: Thomas Gibson, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Frank John William Goldsmith: George Grantham Bain Collection, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Kelly Tolhurst: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Charlie Wright: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Josh Phillips: Pfold, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Isaac Newell: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- James Fletcher: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Charles Dalton: Studio of Napoleon Sarony, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Robert Matthews: Katie Chan, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- George Osborn: Charles H Kelly, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Rob Butler: Fleets, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Lee Ryan: Lee_Ryan_2011.jpg: Christoph Henrichs from Germany derivative work: RanZag, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- David Harvey: readingcapital, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Declan Galbraith: Stefan-Xp, 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.