#1Famous people · Beeston, Nottinghamshire
From 1611 to 1973, Beeston was the birthplace of 17 famous people
Henry Ireton, the English politician, is the most widely known, written about in 27 languages. The list’s best known name, Henry Ireton, dates from 1611. Per 10,000 residents, the town has 3.2, close to the 3.8 of the typical Nottinghamshire town. More are athletes than anything else, 10 in all.
Born here
17
notable people
Best known
Henry Ireton
in 27 Wikipedia languages
First
1611
Henry Ireton
Youngest
1973
Paul Wright
Most common field
Sports
10 people
The best known
Born in Beeston
Henry Ireton leads with articles in 27 languages, ahead of Barry Foster (17) and Anne Briggs (8).
#1
#2Film, TV & Stage
Barry Foster
1927–2002British film and television actor (1927–2002)
17 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
AB#3
Through the years
When Beeston’s famous people were born
Count by decade and the 1840s come out on top, with 3 births.
SportsPolitics & LawFilm, TV & StageMusicWriting & ArtsScience & Medicine
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Known for
What Beeston is known for
10 of them work in Sports, the biggest field.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Beeston
A further 14 follow, born between 1840 and 1973.
William Gidley Emmett
1887–1985British industrial chemist, educationalist and academic author
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
The neighbour with the most names is Nottingham, at 997.
Nottingham · 4 miM. Stanley Whittingham & 996 more
Long Eaton · 3 miLaura Knight & 19 moreJSRuddington · 4 miJohn Sharpe & 14 more
West Bridgford · 4 miEllie Brazil & 10 more
Clifton · 2 miViv Anderson & 7 moreLPBreaston and Draycott · 4 miLawrence Plackett & 7 more
Stapleford · 2 miSir John Borlase Warren, 1st Baronet & 6 more
Wilford · 3 miHenry Cursham & 5 moreQuestions about famous people from Beeston
Who is the most famous person from Beeston?
Henry Ireton (English politician (1611-1651)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 27 languages. Next come Barry Foster and Anne Briggs.
How many famous people were born in Beeston?
17 people born in Beeston have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 23 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Beeston known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 10 of the 17. That is 59% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Beeston?
Henry Ireton, born in 1611. The youngest on the list was born in 1973.
Who counts as from Beeston?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Beeston’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 (10)
- Henry Ireton: Attributed to Robert Walker / After Samuel Cooper / After Anthony van Dyck, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Barry Foster: W. Punt for Anefo, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl, Wikimedia Commons
- Paul Wright: CyclocrossUK, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- William Gidley Emmett: Fred W Tussell, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- M. Stanley Whittingham: Stanford Energy, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Laura Knight: Prabaasi Patrika, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Ellie Brazil: James Boyes from UK, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Viv Anderson: Koen Suyk / Anefo, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- Sir John Borlase Warren, 1st Baronet: Daniel Orme, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Henry Cursham: 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.