#1Famous people · Tonypandy, Mid Glamorgan
Most of the 40 famous people born in Tonypandy came into the world in the 20th century
The best known is the Welsh novelist Rhys Davies, with articles in 10 languages. Only 5 of the 36 towns in Mid Glamorgan with anyone on record list more. The earliest on the list is William Evans, born in 1892, and the youngest Sophie Evans, born in 1993. Athletes make up the largest group, 24 of them.
Born here
40
notable people
Best known
Rhys Davies
in 10 Wikipedia languages
First
1892
William Evans
Youngest
1993
Sophie Evans
Most common field
Sports
24 people
What stands out about Tonypandy’s famous people
The best known
Born in Tonypandy
Three names lead: Rhys Davies (10 languages), Lynette Davies (7) and Alex Lawless (6).
#1LD#2
#3Sports
Alex Lawless
born 1985Welsh association football player (born 1985)
6 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Through the years
When Tonypandy’s famous people were born
The busiest decade was the 1900s, with 9 births.
SportsWriting & ArtsPolitics & LawFilm, TV & StageScience & Medicine
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Known for
What Tonypandy is known for
Compared with the usual town, leaders 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 Tonypandy
Here are 37 more, born from 1892 to 1993.
Catherine Glyn Davies
1926–2007Welsh historian of philosophy and linguistics, and a translator (1926-2007)
Writing & ArtsWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Porth leads the towns around it, with 51 names.
TEPorth · 2 miTrevor Edwards & 50 more
Rhondda · 2 miLeanne Wood & 47 moreDDTreorchy · 4 miDonald Davies & 20 more
Ferndale · 3 miStanley Baker & 9 moreGBMaerdy · 4 miGeorge Baker & 7 more
Tonyrefail · 3 miMatthew Rees & 5 more
Nant-y-moel · 4 miLynn Davies & 2 more
Tylorstown and Pontygwaith · 2 miPaul Whitehouse & 1 more
Rhondda · 2 miLeanne Wood & 47 moreDDTreorchy · 4 miDonald Davies & 20 moreFerndale · 3 miStanley Baker & 9 moreGBMaerdy · 4 miGeorge Baker & 7 moreTonyrefail · 3 miMatthew Rees & 5 moreNant-y-moel · 4 miLynn Davies & 2 moreTylorstown and Pontygwaith · 2 miPaul Whitehouse & 1 moreQuestions about famous people from Tonypandy
Who is the most famous person from Tonypandy?
Rhys Davies (Welsh novelist (1901-1978)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 10 languages. Next come Lynette Davies and Alex Lawless.
How many famous people were born in Tonypandy?
40 people born in Tonypandy have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 44 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Tonypandy known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 24 of the 40. That is 60% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Tonypandy?
William Evans, born in 1892. The youngest on the list was born in 1993.
Who counts as from Tonypandy?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Tonypandy’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 (17)
- Rhys Davies: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Alex Lawless: Mattythewhite, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Danny Winter: Harry Sagers / Anefo, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl, Wikimedia Commons
- Emrys Hughes: unknown copyright claim by East Ayrshire Council despite 70 years passed, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Sophie Evans: Robert Clarke, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Tommy Jones: Unknown photographer; cropped using GIMP by U+003F? 22:13, 1 March 2012 (UTC), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Buffy Williams: Senedd Cymru - Welsh Parliament, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Christine James: Llywelyn2000, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Gwyn Martin: Gwyn Martin, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Dai Davies: Unknown (Crown Studios of Wellington), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Scott Young: Jon Candy from Cardiff, Wales, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Young Allsopp: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Leanne Wood: National Assembly for Wales, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Stanley Baker: Eli Chen, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Matthew Rees: National Assembly for Wales from Wales, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Lynn Davies: Unknown (Asahi Shinbun), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Paul Whitehouse: Marcus Liversedge, 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.