Share Famous people · Blackburn, Lancashire Of the 269 famous people born in Blackburn, none is better known than Ian McShane Ian McShane, the English actor, has articles in 88 languages. Born in 1572, Robert Bolton is the first name on record, and Adam Wharton, born in 2004, the most recent. In the 20th century, 112 were born, the most of any period. Athletes make up the largest group, 155 of them.
#1 best known Ian McShane Film, TV & Stage · born 1942 +265more Born here
269
notable people
Best known
Ian McShane
in 88 Wikipedia languages
Most common field
Sports
155 people
What stands out about Blackburn’s famous people ★ What stands out · The best known Born in Blackburn Two of the three are performers.
#1 Film, TV & Stage Ian McShane born 1942 English actor (born 1942)
#2 Film, TV & Stage Michael Winterbottom born 1961 British film director (born 1961)
#3 Sports Adam Wharton born 2004 English footballer (born 2004)
Through the years When Blackburn’s famous people were born No decade has more births than the 1940s, at 24.
Before the Georgians Georgian Victorian The 20th century Today 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 Ian McShane
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Known for What Blackburn is known for Blackburn has 1.5× the usual share of ministers and preachers.
Sports 155 people 58%about usual Film, TV & Stage 27 people 10%about usual Science & Medicine 21 people 8%about usual Writing & Arts 18 people 7%below usual Politics & Law 17 people 6%about usual Music 8 people 3%below usual Faith 7 people 3%1.5× usual Notable 6 people 2% Business 6 people 2%about usual Military 4 people 1%below usual
Everyone Everyone else born in Blackburn 266 more; the 197 best known are listed here.
All · 197 Politics & Law · 10 Military · 2 Sports · 124 Music · 6 Film, TV & Stage · 19 Writing & Arts · 9 Science & Medicine · 14 Business · 4 Faith · 6 Notable · 3
Any time Before the Georgians · 2 Georgian · 2 Victorian · 59 The 20th century · 84 Today · 48
John Morley 1838–1923 British statesman, writer and journalist (1838–1923)
Anthony Pilkington born 1988 Irish footballer
Diana Vickers born 1991 British singer and actress
Tasos Donis born 1996 Greek footballer
John Garstang 1876–1956 British archaeologist (1876-1956)
Bob Crompton 1879–1941 English footballer (1879–1941)
Bryan Douglas born 1934 English footballer (1934–)
Frank Fielding born 1988 English association football player (born 1988)
Carl Fogarty born 1965 English motorcycle racer
Steve Pemberton born 1967 British actor and comedian (born 1967)
Leighton Clarkson born 2001 English association football player (born 2001)
Tony Ashton 1946–2001 British musician (1946–2001)
Joe Garner born 1988 English association football player
Brett Ormerod born 1976 Football player (born 1976)
Edgar Chadwick 1869–1942 Association football player from England (1869–1942)
Robert Cornthwaite born 1985 Australian soccer player (born 1985)
William Townley 1866–1950 English football player and manager (1866 – 1950)
Jack Southworth 1866–1956 English footballer (1866-1956)
Gareth Ainsworth born 1973 English professional footballer (born 1973)
Herby Arthur 1863–1930 English footballer (1863-1930)
Jack Reynolds 1869–1917 Footballer (1869–1917)
Sajjad Karim born 1970 Politician (born 1970)
A. N. Hornby 1847–1925 Cricket player of England. (1847-1925)
FP Fred Pickering 1941–2019 England footballer (1941-2019)
JW Jon Walmsley born 1956 British actor-singer
KH Kathleen Harrison 1892–1995 English actress (1892–1995)
MB Michael Billington 1941–2005 British actor (1941–2005)
PD Peter John Haworth Doyle born 1944 Catholic bishop
BG Barry Gray 1908–1984 British musical composer, arranger and conductor (1908–1984)
CM Connor Mahoney born 1997 English association football player (born 1997)
JB Joe Beverley 1856–1897 English footballer (1856-1897)
Kevin O'Connor born 1982 Irish footballer
MS Malcolm Shepherd, 2nd Baron Shepherd 1918–2001 British Baron (1918-2001)
Richard Holden born 1985 British Conservative politician
Alan Haworth, Baron Haworth 1948–2023 British politician (1948–2023)
FB Fred Blackburn 1878–1951 British association football player (1879-1951)
FH Fred Hargreaves 1858–1897 English footballer (1858-1897)
HA Harry Abbott born 1883 Football player (1883-?)
James Brown 1862–1922 English association football player of the Victorian era (1862-1922)
John Yates 1861–1917 English footballer (1861–1917)
KD Keith Duckworth 1933–2005 British mechanical engineer (1933-2005)
Louis Almond born 1992 English association football player (born 1992)
RS Ronald Stevenson 1928–2015 British composer, pianist, and writer about music (1928–2015)
AJ Alex Jones born 1964 English professional footballer (born 1964)
AW Alfred Wainwright 1907–1991 English walker and writer
BM Billy McOwen 1871–1950 British footballer (1871-1950)
JH Jack Hacking 1897–1955 English footballer and manager (1897-1955)
JB Jimmy Baldwin 1922–1985 Association football player (1922-1985)
JB John Barton 1866–1910 English footballer (1866-1910)
Justin Tomlinson born 1976 British politician (born 1976)
MB Margaret Bert 1896–1971 American actress (1896-1971)
MH Michael Hindley born 1947 British politician (born 1947)
RH Raheem Hanley born 1994 English association football player (born 1994)
RB Ray Byrom 1935–2020 English footballer (1935-2020)
SW Scott Wharton born 1997 Association football player (born 1997)
Will Greenwood born 1972 English rugby union footballer
AJ Odudu born 1988 British television presenter
AC Albert Clough 1901–1957 English professional association footballer (1901-1957)
Bradley Brooks born 2000 English darts player
DW Dorothy Whipple 1893–1966 English novelist (1893–1966)
Farakh Ajaib born 1991 English Pakistani snooker player
FB Fred Bedford 1902–1972 English professional footballer (1902-1972)
HP H. B. Parkinson 1884–1970 Film director, film producer (1884–1970)
HC Henry Chippendale 1870–1952 English footballer (1870-1952)
HH Henry Healless 1893–1972 English footballer (1893–1972)
HA Herbert Ashton 1885–1927 English footballer (1887-1927)
JC Jackie Chew 1920–2002 English footballer (1920-2002)
Jimmy Forrest 1864–1925 English footballer (1864-1925)
JK Joe Kinloch born 1864 English footballer (1864-?)
NW Neil Wilkinson 1955–2016 Footballer (1955-2016)
PE P. E. Easterling 1934–2026 British classical scholar
PD Peter Devine born 1960 English footballer (born 1960)
RH Ronald Haworth 1901–1973 English footballer (1901-1973)
Serhat Tasdemir born 2000 Azerbaijani footballer
AH Alex Hartley born 1993 Cricketer (born 1993)
Andrew Bolton born 1966 British art museum curator
AK Andrew Kennedy born 1949 English cricketer (born 1949)
AB Andy Bell born 1984 British football player, born 1984
Andy Taylor born 1986 English footballer (born 1986)
AD Arnold D'Arcy 1933–2025 English footballer (born 1933)
AC Arthur Cowell 1886–1959 English footballer (1886-1959)
AD Arthur Dawson 1882–1951 British association football player (1882-1951)
BC Bernard Cafferty born 1934 British chess player
BH Bryn Haworth born 1948 English singer and guitarist
Danny Pilkington born 1990 British footballer
DF David Fowler 1937–2004 British mathematician
DG Doctor Greenwood 1860–1951 English footballer (1860-1951)
EC Edgar Chadwick 1891–1963 English footballer and manager (1891-1963)
Iain Balshaw born 1979 English rugby union footballer
Jack Walker 1929–2000 British industrialist and businessman (1929-2000)
JL Joe Lofthouse 1865–1919 English footballer (1865-1919)
JB John Byrom born 1944 English footballer (born 1944)
JH John Hargreaves 1860–1903 English footballer (1860–1903)
JS John Skehel born 1941 British biologist and virologist, Emeritus Scientist at The Francis Crick Institute
KH Kelly Houlker 1872–1962 English footballer (1872-1962)
LB Lawson Bennett 1938–2011 English footballer (1938-2011)
MC Marcus Carver born 1993 English footballer (born 1993)
OR Oliver Rathbone born 1996 English footballer
PE Phil Eastwood born 1978 Professional footballer (born 1978)
Philip Dawid born 1946 British Bayesian statistician (born 1946)
Robert Bolton 1572–1631 English clergyman & theologian (1572-1631)
SM Sarah Martin born 1974 British musician
Sophie Scott born 1966 British neuroscientist (born 1966)
TB Thomas Burgess 1888–1974 Umpire (1888-1974)
TC Thomas Crossley born 1967 English footballer (born 1967)
TE Thomas Edge 1587–1624 British explorer
WA Willie Almond 1868–1942 Footballer (1868-?)
AB Aidan Baker born 1964 English cricketer (born 1964)
Andrew Procter born 1983 English footballer (born 1983)
AG Anthony Green born 1970 British actor
AV Anthony Valentine 1939–2015 British actor (1939-2015)
BW Bertie Wright 1871–1960 British actor (1871-1960)
BF Brian Flowers, Baron Flowers 1924–2010 British physicist (1924-2010)
DR David Ross born 1945 English theatre, cinema and television actor
GT Gary Talbot 1937–2019 English footballer (1937-2019)
HJ Harry Jackson 1918–1984 British association football player (1918-1984)
IG Ian Gillibrand 1948–1989 English footballer (1948-1989)
JE Jack Eastham 1883–1932 English footballer (1883-1932)
Jimmy Townley 1902–1983 English footballer (1902-1983)
JD Joe Duckworth 1898–1965 English footballer (1898-1965)
John Packer born 1946 British Anglican bishop (born 1946)
JB Joseph Baldwin English footballer
KG Ken Garrity 1935–2016 English footballer (1935-2016)
MD Mark Dunbar born 1961 British wrestler
ME Mark Eggleston born 1963 English cricket umpire (born 1963)
MN Mick Newell born 1965 English cricketer (born 1965)
PH Proctor Hall 1882–1957 English footballer
RD Robert Dodd English footballer
Robert Haworth 1879–1961 English footballer (1879-1961)
TD Thomas Cantrell Dugdale 1880–1952 British painter (1880–1952)
Timothy Leighton born 1963 British specialist in ultrasonics and underwater acoustics (born 1963)
TO Tony O'Neill born 1978 British writer
Wendi Peters born 1968 British actress
WC Wilf Crompton 1908–1971 Footballer (1908-1971)
WF William Fielding 1875–1946 New Zealand artist, architect and lawn bowls competitor
Adam Morgan born 1988 British Touring Car Championship driver
AB Alex Bain born 2001 English actor
AW Alison Wilding born 1948 English sculptor (born 1948)
AM Andrew Mercer born 1979 English cricketer (born 1979)
AP Archie Procter born 2001 English association football player
Arthur Gostick Shorrock 1861–1945 Pioneer Baptist missionary in China for 40 years
BB Bill Byrom 1915–1989 English football player (1915-1989)
BH Billy Harper 1897–1982 English footballer (1897-1982)
CS Cat Simmons born 1981 British actress
DW David Weitzman 1898–1987 British politician (1898-1987)
Debbie Travis born 1960 British-Canadian television personality, self-taught interior decorator, and former fashion model
ES Eddie Stanford born 1985 English footballer (born 1985)
FH Frank Hindle 1925–2013 Footballer (1925-2013)
GG Geoff Gould born 1945 British association football player (born 1945)
GP George Peckham born 1942 Disc cutting engineer
GP Greg Pope born 1960 British politician (born 1960)
HF Harry Fecitt 1865–1946 English footballer (1865-1946)
JW Jack Walsh 1901–1965 English footballer (1901-1965)
JD James Dean 1985–2021 English footballer
James Jackson 1771–1829 British businessman (1771-1829)
Janice M. Morse born 1945 New Zealand-born anthropologist
JT Jennette Threlfall 1821–1880 British hymn writer, religious poet
JC Joe Campbell 1894–1976 English footballer (1894–1976)
JO Joe O'Neill born 1982 English footballer
John Metcalfe 1901–1982 Australian librarian (1901-1982)
KK Karen Kay born 1947 British entertainer
MH Madge Hindle born 1938 English television actress
Marc Murtra i Millar born 1972 Spanish businessman, executive chairman of Telefónica
MJ Mark Jones born 1968 Association football player from England born 1968
MC Miles Chadwick 1880–1940 English footballer
NP Nathan Peel born 1972 English footballer (born 1972)
ON Oliver Newby born 1984 English cricketer (born 1984)
Percy Thompson Dean 1877–1939 Recipient of the Victoria Cross (1877-1939)
QG Quintin Gill born 1959 Politician (born 1959)
RI Roy Isherwood 1934–2024 British association football player (born 1934)
RE Russell Edmonds born 1977 English cricketer (born 1977)
Russell Harty 1934–1988 English television presenter (1934-1988)
SM Stuart Metcalfe born 1950 English footballer (born 1950)
TB Tom Brandon 1893–1956 English footballer
Trevor Haworth 1931–2014 Australian entrepreneur
VB Vincent Billington 1904–1976 English Roman Catholic bishop
William Woodruff 1916–2008 British economic historian (1916–2008)
AW Albert Walmsley 1885–1964 Footballer (1885-?)
AC Alice Clarke born 2001 English cricketer
AR Archie Ratcliffe 1893–1981 English footballer
BW Bernard Whittaker 1865–1957 English footballer (1865-?)
BH Bob Hacking 1918–2001 (1918-2001)
Dave Helliwell 1948–2003 British association football player (1948-2003)
DB David Behan born 1955 British business person
DW Derek Walker 1929–2015 British architect
DG Don Godden 1936–2011 Motorcycle rider
DW Duncan Whalley born 1979 English cricketer (born 1979)
EF Eric Fawcett 1927–2000 British physicist
FM Frank Brian Mercer 1927–1998 British engineer
GP Geoffrey Phillips born 1931 Cricketer (born 1931)
GR George Ridsdale born 1878 English footballer (1878-?)
GD Graham Duff born 1964 British actor, writer and producer
GS Guy Shuttleworth 1926–2021 (born 1926)
JM James Mullineux born 1872 English footballer (1872-?)
JP James Pitts 1877–1955 Recipient of the Victoria Cross (1877–1955)
JS James Southworth 1864–1940 English footballer (1864-1940)
JS James Stothert born 1870 English footballer (1870-?)
No one matches both filters.
Show all 197 Next door Famous people from the towns next door The best known from each town within 12 miles of Blackburn, with how many people each has.
Questions about famous people from Blackburn Who is the most famous person from Blackburn? Ian McShane (English actor (born 1942)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 88 languages. Next come Michael Winterbottom and Adam Wharton.
How many famous people were born in Blackburn? 269 people born in Blackburn have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 298 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Blackburn known for? Among its famous people, athletes: 155 of the 269. That is 58% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Blackburn? Robert Bolton, born in 1572. The youngest on the list was born in 2004.
Who counts as from Blackburn? People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Blackburn’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 (69) Ian McShane: Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0 , Wikimedia Commons Michael Winterbottom: Ukrainian Film Festival Ltd., CC BY-SA 3.0 , Wikimedia Commons Adam Wharton: MichaelEmilio, CC BY 4.0 , Wikimedia Commons John Morley: W. & D. Downey, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons Anthony Pilkington: NCFCQ, CC0 , Wikimedia Commons Diana Vickers: The original uploader was Sumeet 92 at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0 , Wikimedia Commons Tasos Donis: Jeollo von http://www.vfb-exklusiv.de, CC BY-SA 3.0 , Wikimedia Commons John Garstang: Jhajdu at English Wikipedia, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons Bob Crompton: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons Bryan Douglas: Eskil Malmberg, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons Frank Fielding: Timmy96, CC0 , Wikimedia Commons Carl Fogarty: The Rambling Man, CC BY-SA 4.0 , Wikimedia Commons Steve Pemberton: Spods, CC BY-SA 4.0 , Wikimedia Commons Leighton Clarkson: Werner100359, CC BY-SA 4.0 , Wikimedia Commons Tony Ashton: Menerbes, CC BY-SA 3.0 , Wikimedia Commons Joe Garner: Ncadc2004, CC BY-SA 4.0 , Wikimedia Commons Brett Ormerod: Jon Candy from Cardiff, Wales, CC BY-SA 2.0 , Wikimedia Commons Edgar Chadwick: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons Robert Cornthwaite: Camw, CC BY-SA 3.0 , Wikimedia Commons William Townley: Oalexander-En at en.wikipedia, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons Jack Southworth: The original uploader was Daemonic Kangaroo at English Wikipedia., Public domain, Wikimedia Commons Gareth Ainsworth: Comanchewwfc, CC BY-SA 3.0 , Wikimedia Commons Herby Arthur: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons Jack Reynolds: UnknownUnknown ; original uploader was ChrisTheDude at en.wikipedia, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons Sajjad Karim: Dave Sale, CC BY-SA 3.0 , Wikimedia Commons A. N. Hornby: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons Kevin O'Connor: Jeff Anderson from Harrow, Middx, CC BY 2.0 , Wikimedia Commons Richard Holden: ©House of Commons, CC BY 3.0 , Wikimedia Commons Alan Haworth, Baron Haworth: Roger Harris, CC BY 3.0 , Wikimedia Commons James Brown: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons John Yates: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons Louis Almond: Mattythewhite, CC BY-SA 4.0 , Wikimedia Commons Justin Tomlinson: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0 , Wikimedia Commons Will Greenwood: https://www.flickr.com/photos/findafuture, CC BY 2.0 , Wikimedia Commons AJ Odudu: JaceMerlyn, CC BY-SA 4.0 , Wikimedia Commons Bradley Brooks: Sven Mandel, CC BY-SA 4.0 , Wikimedia Commons Farakh Ajaib: BennyOnTheLoose, CC BY 4.0 , Wikimedia Commons Jimmy Forrest: Not known, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons Serhat Tasdemir: Kocaelispor Kulübü, CC BY 2.0 , Wikimedia Commons Andrew Bolton: UKinUSA, CC BY-SA 2.0 , Wikimedia Commons Andy Taylor: Jon Candy, CC BY-SA 2.0 , Wikimedia Commons Danny Pilkington: Mattythewhite, CC BY-SA 3.0 , Wikimedia Commons Iain Balshaw: Original - Ozzzie, Derivative - User:Hamedog, CC BY 2.0 , Wikimedia Commons Jack Walker: Tom Whitehead, CC BY 2.0 , Wikimedia Commons Philip Dawid: Duncan.Hull, CC BY-SA 4.0 , Wikimedia Commons Robert Bolton: Gustavus Ellinthorpe Sintzenich, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons Sophie Scott: Sophiescott, CC BY-SA 3.0 , Wikimedia Commons Andrew Procter: Spiderone, CC0 , Wikimedia Commons Jimmy Townley: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons John Packer: TSP, CC BY-SA 4.0 , Wikimedia Commons Robert Haworth: Thebees1889, CC BY-SA 4.0 , Wikimedia Commons Timothy Leighton: Royal Society uploader, CC BY-SA 4.0 , Wikimedia Commons Wendi Peters: Celialearmomth, CC BY-SA 4.0 , Wikimedia Commons Adam Morgan: Robk23oxf, CC BY-SA 3.0 , Wikimedia Commons Arthur Gostick Shorrock: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons Debbie Travis: Randstad Canada, CC BY 2.0 , Wikimedia Commons James Jackson: Unknown authorUnknown author (Bust by Victor Fontan; 19th-century photographer unknown)., Public domain, Wikimedia Commons Janice M. Morse: DenVanShan, CC BY-SA 4.0 , Wikimedia Commons John Metcalfe: Sydney Riley Studios, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons Marc Murtra i Millar: Noticias Bancarias, CC BY-SA 4.0 , Wikimedia Commons Percy Thompson Dean: BROOM ALBERT (MRS), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons Russell Harty: Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0 , Wikimedia Commons Trevor Haworth: AnthonyHaworth, CC BY-SA 4.0 , Wikimedia Commons William Woodruff: Helga Woodruff, CC BY-SA 3.0 , Wikimedia Commons Dave Helliwell: Unknown, these photos were posted in an article of 'The Stacey West' website., CC BY-SA 4.0 , Wikimedia Commons Jon Anderson: Stéphane Gallay, CC BY 2.0 , Wikimedia Commons John Cryer: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0 , Wikimedia Commons Mina Anwar: Steve Bowbrick from Radlett, United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0 , Wikimedia Commons Alan Walsh: division, CSIRO, CC BY 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.
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