RE#1
Famous people · Croston, Lancashire
From 1765 to 1899, Croston was the birthplace of 6 famous people
At the top of the list is the footballer Robert Etherington, covered in 6 languages. Billy Hayes and George Rawstorne follow. Most were born in the Victorian era: 5 of them. The list’s best known name, Robert Etherington, dates from 1899.
Born here
6
notable people
Best known
Robert Etherington
in 6 Wikipedia languages
First
1765
Thomas Norris
Youngest
1899
Robert Etherington
Most common field
Sports
4 people
The best known
Born in Croston
Robert Etherington leads with articles in 6 languages, ahead of Billy Hayes (5) and George Rawstorne (3).
#2GR#3
Through the years
When Croston’s famous people were born
More of them were born in the 1890s than in any other ten years, 3 in all.
SportsBusiness
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Known for
What Croston is known for
Compared with the usual town, athletes are the most over-represented field, at 1.4 times.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Croston
3 more names, born between 1765 and 1868.
Thomas Norris
1765–1852English businessman, art collector, natural historian and astronomer, born at Croston in Lancashire (1765-1852)
BusinessWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
The longest list nearby is Leyland’s, with 26.
Questions about famous people from Croston
Who is the most famous person from Croston?
Robert Etherington (footballer (1899-1981)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 6 languages. Next come Billy Hayes and George Rawstorne.
How many famous people were born in Croston?
6 people born in Croston have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace.
What is Croston known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 4 of the 6. That is 67% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Croston?
Thomas Norris, born in 1765. The youngest on the list was born in 1899.
Who counts as from Croston?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Croston’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)
- Billy Hayes: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Leonora Carrington: WendyAvilesR, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Rigby: Matthew, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Nancy Rothwell: Manchester University Maths, CC BY 2.0, 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.