#1Famous people · Bonnyrigg, Midlothian
Scientists and doctors stand out among the 10 famous people born in Bonnyrigg
At the top of the list is the Scottish snooker player Michael Leslie, covered in 5 languages. The largest group, 4, was born in the Victorian era. The list comes to 5.5 for every 10,000 residents, below the 8.5 of the typical town in Midlothian. From Richard Baird Smith to Michael Leslie, the births on the list run from 1818 to 1993.
Born here
10
notable people
Best known
Michael Leslie
in 5 Wikipedia languages
First
1818
Richard Baird Smith
Youngest
1993
Michael Leslie
Most common field
Sports
6 people
What stands out about Bonnyrigg’s famous people
★ What stands out · Known for
What Bonnyrigg is known for
The field furthest above the usual share is scientists and doctors, at 5.4 times.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
The best known
Born in Bonnyrigg
By how many languages cover them, Michael Leslie comes first (5), then Eleanor Pairman (4) and Jimmy Ross (3).
#1EP#2
JR#3
Through the years
When Bonnyrigg’s famous people were born
The 1890s saw the most births of any decade: 3.
SportsScience & Medicine
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Bonnyrigg
7 more, from 1818 to 1963.
John Hislop
1821–1904New Zealand teacher, school inspector, educationalist, public servant (1821–1904)
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
The best known from each town within 12 miles of Bonnyrigg, with how many people each has.
Edinburgh · 6 miArthur Conan Doyle & 2,694 more
Musselburgh · 5 miHenry Yule & 70 more
Dalkeith · 2 miPeter Guthrie Tait & 32 more
Penicuik · 5 miCharles Thomson Rees Wilson & 13 more
Tranent · 8 miGelie Duncan & 10 more
Mayfield · 2 miBilly Ritchie & 9 moreACGorebridge · 3 miAnnette Crosbie & 9 moreAYLoanhead · 2 miAlex Young & 8 moreQuestions about famous people from Bonnyrigg
Who is the most famous person from Bonnyrigg?
Michael Leslie (Scottish snooker player) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 5 languages. Next come Eleanor Pairman and Jimmy Ross.
How many famous people were born in Bonnyrigg?
10 people born in Bonnyrigg have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 14 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Bonnyrigg known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 6 of the 10. That is 60% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Bonnyrigg?
Richard Baird Smith, born in 1818. The youngest on the list was born in 1993.
Who counts as from Bonnyrigg?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Bonnyrigg’s locality (the NRS 2022 locality 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 National Records of Scotland’s Census 2022 locality boundaries (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 (8)
- Michael Leslie: Benutzer:Bill da Flute, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Richard Baird Smith: George Dance, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Arthur Conan Doyle: Walter Benington, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Henry Yule: Theodore Blake Wirgman, c. 1890, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Peter Guthrie Tait: George Reid, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Charles Thomson Rees Wilson: The American Institute of Physics credits the photo [1] to AB Lagrelius & Westphal, which is the Swedish company used by the Nobel Foundation for most photos of its book series Les Prix Nobel., Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Gelie Duncan: Carolyn Sutton, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Billy Ritchie: Behrens, Herbert / Anefo, CC0, 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.