#1Famous people · Mayfield, Midlothian
10 famous people from Mayfield, many of them athletes
At the top of the list is the Scottish footballer Billy Ritchie, covered in 9 languages. The largest group, 7, was born in the 20th century. Per 10,000 residents, the town has 7, close to the 8.5 of the typical Midlothian town. From Bob Reid in 1887 to Gary O'Connor in 1974, the births cover 87 years.
Born here
10
notable people
Best known
Billy Ritchie
in 9 Wikipedia languages
First
1887
Bob Reid
Youngest
1974
Gary O'Connor
Most common field
Sports
10 people
What stands out about Mayfield’s famous people
The best known
Born in Mayfield
By how many languages cover them, Billy Ritchie comes first (9), then David Pryde (4) and Bob Reid (3).
#1DP#2
BR#3
Through the years
When Mayfield’s famous people were born
The busiest decade was the 1930s, with 4 births.
Sports
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Mayfield
Still to come: 7 more, from 1937 to 1974.
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Of the towns around it, Edinburgh has the most on record: 2,695.
Edinburgh · 8 miArthur Conan Doyle & 2,694 more
Musselburgh · 5 miHenry Yule & 70 more
Dalkeith · 2 miPeter Guthrie Tait & 32 more
Penicuik · 7 miCharles Thomson Rees Wilson & 13 more
Tranent · 6 miGelie Duncan & 10 moreACGorebridge · 2 miAnnette Crosbie & 9 more
Bonnyrigg · 2 miMichael Leslie & 9 moreAYLoanhead · 4 miAlex Young & 8 moreQuestions about famous people from Mayfield
Who is the most famous person from Mayfield?
Billy Ritchie (Scottish footballer (1936-2016)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 9 languages. Next come David Pryde and Bob Reid.
How many famous people were born in Mayfield?
10 people born in Mayfield have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 11 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Mayfield known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 10 of the 10. That is 100% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Mayfield?
Bob Reid, born in 1887. The youngest on the list was born in 1974.
Who counts as from Mayfield?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Mayfield’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 (7)
- Billy Ritchie: Behrens, Herbert / Anefo, CC0, 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
- Michael Leslie: Benutzer:Bill da Flute, CC BY-SA 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.