#1Famous people · Thorne, South Yorkshire
15 famous people were born in Thorne, most of them in the 20th century
Most widely known is Thomas Crapper, the British plumber, with articles in 11 languages. Only 7 of the 54 towns in South Yorkshire with anyone on record list more. William Pool (1783) and James Baxendale (1992) mark the two ends of the list. For every 10,000 residents there are 12.2 on the list, well above the typical South Yorkshire town’s 3.3.
Born here
15
notable people
Best known
Thomas Crapper
in 11 Wikipedia languages
First
1783
William Pool
Youngest
1992
James Baxendale
Most common field
Sports
11 people
The best known
Born in Thorne
Thomas Crapper has articles in 11 languages, Gillian Coultard in 10 and Lesley Garrett in 9.
#1GC#2
#3Music
Lesley Garrett
born 1955English soprano singer, musician, broadcaster and media personality
9 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Through the years
When Thorne’s famous people were born
The 1930s top the chart, with 5 births in the decade.
SportsScience & MedicineMusic
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Known for
What Thorne is known for
Scientists and doctors stand out most, at 2.7 times the usual share.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Thorne
The other 12 span the years 1783 to 1992.
William Pool
1783–1856British inventor, whitesmith, engineer (1783-1856)
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
The longest list nearby is Goole’s, with 20.
Goole · 7 miGavin Bryars & 19 more
Armthorpe · 7 miKevin Keegan & 5 more
Stainforth · 3 miGeorge Porter & 3 more
Dunscroft and Hatfield · 3 miJanet Baker & 3 moreNMKirk Sandall and Edenthorpe · 6 miNeil Mallender & 1 more
Carlton · 7 miArthur Hinsley & 1 moreTSMoorends · 1 miTed SagarSFCrowle · 5 miStan FoxallQuestions about famous people from Thorne
Who is the most famous person from Thorne?
Thomas Crapper (British plumber) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 11 languages. Next come Gillian Coultard and Lesley Garrett.
How many famous people were born in Thorne?
15 people born in Thorne have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 17 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Thorne known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 11 of the 15. That is 73% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Thorne?
William Pool, born in 1783. The youngest on the list was born in 1992.
Who counts as from Thorne?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Thorne’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)
- Thomas Crapper: Unknown photographer, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Lesley Garrett: Jon Clempner, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- James Baxendale: Ben Sutherland from Crystal Palace, London, UK, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Victor Sutton: Cosway2509, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- William Pool: R S Leary, Silver Street, Lincoln, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Gavin Bryars: Andy Newcombe Farnborough, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Kevin Keegan: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- George Porter: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Janet Baker: Ron Kroon for Anefo, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- Arthur Hinsley: Ministry of Information Photo Division Photographer, 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.