#1Famous people · Billinge, Merseyside
Athletes stand out among the 18 famous people born in Billinge
At the top of the list is the British drummer Ken Owen, covered in 12 languages. Second place goes to the British cyclist Lauren Bate, third to Colin Greenall. Most were born since 1970: 13 of them. From Oswald Littler in 1907 to Joe Shorrocks in 1999, the births cover 92 years.
Born here
18
notable people
Best known
Ken Owen
in 12 Wikipedia languages
First
1907
Oswald Littler
Youngest
1999
Joe Shorrocks
Most common field
Sports
16 people
What stands out about Billinge’s famous people
★ What stands out · Through the years
When Billinge’s famous people were born
The 1990s top the chart, with 6 births in the decade.
SportsMusicWriting & Arts
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Known for
What Billinge is known for
Billinge has 1.8× the usual share of athletes.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
The best known
Born in Billinge
Ken Owen, Lauren Bate and Colin Greenall are written about in 12, 10 and 6 languages.
#1
#2CG#3
Everyone
Everyone else born in Billinge
A further 15 follow, born between 1907 and 1999.
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Close by, the fullest list is Wigan’s, at 327 names.
Wigan · 4 miLeon Osman & 326 more
St Helens · 3 miDavid Yates & 223 more
Newton-le-Willows · 4 miRick Astley & 24 more
Orrell · 3 miCatherine Ashton & 23 moreJCAshton-in-Makerfield · 3 miJune Croft & 13 more
Haydock · 2 miEdmund Arrowsmith & 11 moreJASkelmersdale · 5 miJohn Anderton & 8 more
Platt Bridge and Abram · 5 miSydney Battersby & 6 moreQuestions about famous people from Billinge
Who is the most famous person from Billinge?
Ken Owen (British drummer (born 1970)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 12 languages. Next come Lauren Bate and Colin Greenall.
How many famous people were born in Billinge?
18 people born in Billinge have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 21 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Billinge known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 16 of the 18. That is 89% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Billinge?
Oswald Littler, born in 1907. The youngest on the list was born in 1999.
Who counts as from Billinge?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Billinge’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 (13)
- Ken Owen: Shadowgate, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Lauren Bate: Nicola, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- David Lynn: Pvt pauline, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Joe Shorrocks: Fleets, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Lee Mitchell: Photo by: Rob Lawton from Warrington, United Kingdom derivative work: This deal is getting worse all the time., CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Josh Ganson: Fleets, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Matty Costello: Fleets, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Leon Osman: The Bohs, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- David Yates: Joella Marano, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Rick Astley: Wjack12, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Catherine Ashton: ©House of Lords / photography by Roger Harris, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Edmund Arrowsmith: Arrowsmith, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Sydney Battersby: photographer of IOC, 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.