#1Politics & Law
Robert Crosser
1874–1957American politician (1874-1957)
6 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Famous people · Holytown, North Lanarkshire
Of the 12 famous people born in Holytown, an unusual share are athletes
Robert Crosser, the American politician, is the most widely known, written about in 6 languages. The next two names are David Miller and Tommy Black. More than half were born in the 20th century, 6 in all. Born in 1870, David Miller is the first name on record, and Harry Cairney, born in 1961, the most recent.
Born here
12
notable people
Best known
Robert Crosser
in 6 Wikipedia languages
First
1870
David Miller
Youngest
1961
Harry Cairney
Most common field
Sports
10 people
What stands out about Holytown’s famous people
★ What stands out · Known for
What Holytown is known for
Compared with the usual town, athletes are the most over-represented field, at 1.7 times.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
The best known
Born in Holytown
Two of the three are athletes.
#1
#2TB#3
Through the years
When Holytown’s famous people were born
The 1870s alone account for 3 of the births charted here.
SportsPolitics & Law
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Holytown
The other 9 span the years 1873 to 1961.
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
The most names next door are in Bellshill: 261.
DMBellshill · 2 miDavid MacMillan & 260 more
Motherwell · 2 miGary McAllister & 137 more
Coatbridge · 3 miMark Millar & 108 more
Airdrie · 3 miBarry Bannan & 86 more
Wishaw · 4 miJohn Higgins & 67 moreJDCleland · 3 miJimmy Delaney & 16 more
Bothwell · 4 miJoanna Baillie & 15 moreJCChapelhall · 2 miJohn Clark & 7 more
Motherwell · 2 miGary McAllister & 137 moreCoatbridge · 3 miMark Millar & 108 moreAirdrie · 3 miBarry Bannan & 86 moreWishaw · 4 miJohn Higgins & 67 moreJDCleland · 3 miJimmy Delaney & 16 moreBothwell · 4 miJoanna Baillie & 15 moreJCChapelhall · 2 miJohn Clark & 7 moreQuestions about famous people from Holytown
Who is the most famous person from Holytown?
Robert Crosser (American politician (1874-1957)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 6 languages. Next come David Miller and Tommy Black.
How many famous people were born in Holytown?
12 people born in Holytown have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace.
What is Holytown known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 10 of the 12. That is 83% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Holytown?
David Miller, born in 1870. The youngest on the list was born in 1961.
Who counts as from Holytown?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Holytown’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)
- Robert Crosser: Harris & Ewing, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- David Miller: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Gary McAllister: Pangalau, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Mark Millar: Luigi Novi, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Barry Bannan: Timmy96, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Higgins: Benwmbc at English Wikipedia, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Joanna Baillie: Mary Ann Knight, 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.