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Famous people · Hexham, Northumberland

72 famous people were born in Hexham, more of them soldiers and sailors than in most towns

Fraser Forster, the English association football player, is the most widely known, written about in 42 languages. Behind the leader come Peter Beardsley and Pete Doherty. Among the 36 towns in Northumberland with famous people on record, the town ranks 2nd. The list comes to 65.8 for every 10,000 residents, against 6.2 in the typical town in Northumberland.

#1 best knownFraser ForsterSports · born 1988
+68more
Born here
72
notable people
Best known
Fraser Forster
in 42 Wikipedia languages
First
1110
Aelred of Rievaulx
Youngest
2002
Jack Newman
Most common field
Sports
40 people

What stands out about Hexham’s famous people

★ What stands out · Through the years

When Hexham’s famous people were born

No decade has more births than the 1980s, at 12.

Before the GeorgiansGeorgian1100120013001400150016001700180019002000Fraser ForsterAelred of Rievaulx
SportsWriting & ArtsFilm, TV & StageMusicMilitaryFaithPolitics & LawScience & MedicineNotableBusiness

Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.

The best known

Born in Hexham

Two of the three are athletes.

Fraser Forster#1
Sports

Fraser Forster

born 1988

English association football player (born 1988)

42 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Peter Beardsley#2
Sports

Peter Beardsley

born 1961

English footballer

36 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Pete Doherty#3
Music

Pete Doherty

born 1979

English musician, actor and poet (born 1979)

34 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Known for

What Hexham is known for

Compared with the usual town, ministers and preachers are the most over-represented field, at 2.4 times.

The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.

Everyone

Everyone else born in Hexham

Another 69, 38 of them athletes.

Aelred of Rievaulx

Aelred of Rievaulx

1110–1166

English monk, author and saint (1110–1167)

Robson Green

Robson Green

born 1964

British actor and musician

Film, TV & StageWikipedia ↗
Jak Alnwick

Jak Alnwick

born 1993

English footballer (born 1993)

William Hewson

William Hewson

1739–1774

British physiologist

Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
Keith Ward

Keith Ward

born 1938

British philosopher, theologian, priest and scholar

Writing & ArtsWikipedia ↗
Glenn Brown

Glenn Brown

born 1966

British artist (born 1966)

Writing & ArtsWikipedia ↗
Wilfrid Wilson Gibson

Wilfrid Wilson Gibson

1878–1962

British poet (1878–1962)

Writing & ArtsWikipedia ↗
William Peel

William Peel

1875–1945

British colonial administrator (1875-1945)

Politics & LawWikipedia ↗
MW

Mick Waitt

born 1960

New Zealand football manager (born 1960)

JD

Jonjo Dickman

born 1981

English association football player (born 1981)

Kyle Cameron

Kyle Cameron

born 1997

British association football player

CG

Chris Guthrie

born 1953

English footballer (born 1953)

HJ

Helen Jackson

1867–1940

British tennis player (1867–1940)

W. Neil Carmichael

W. Neil Carmichael

born 1961

British Conservative politician (born 1961)

Politics & LawWikipedia ↗
AC

Albert Chester

1886–1943

English professional football player (1886-1943)

BP

Brad Potts

born 1994

English association football player (born 1994)

AD

Andy Duncan

born 1977

English soccer player (born 1977)

AB

Arthur Bolton

1912–2001

Association football player (1912-2001)

JH

Jill Hunter

born 1966

British athletics competitor

Next door

Famous people from the towns next door

The most names next door are in Corbridge: 21.

Questions about famous people from Hexham

Who is the most famous person from Hexham?

Fraser Forster (English association football player (born 1988)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 42 languages. Next come Peter Beardsley and Pete Doherty.

How many famous people were born in Hexham?

72 people born in Hexham have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 81 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.

What is Hexham known for?

Among its famous people, athletes: 40 of the 72. That is 56% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.

Who is the earliest-born famous person from Hexham?

Aelred of Rievaulx, born in 1110. The youngest on the list was born in 2002.

Who counts as from Hexham?

People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Hexham’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 (28)

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.