#1Famous people · Beccles, Suffolk
The 14 famous people born in Beccles, led by Chris Martin
At the top of the list is the association football player Chris Martin, covered in 20 languages. 5 of them were born in the Victorian era, more than in any other period. The list comes to 14.3 for every 10,000 residents, against 3.3 in the typical town in Suffolk. The earliest on the list is Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet, born in 1685, and the youngest Jordan Catchpole, born in 1999.
Born here
14
notable people
Best known
Chris Martin
in 20 Wikipedia languages
First
1685
Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet
Youngest
1999
Jordan Catchpole
Most common field
Sports
5 people
The best known
Born in Beccles
By how many languages cover them, Chris Martin comes first (20), then Tim Buck (12) and Grantly Dick-Read (7).
#1
#2GD#3
Science & Medicine
Grantly Dick-Read
1890–1959British obstetrician (1890–1959)
7 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Through the years
When Beccles’s famous people were born
The 1890s saw the most births of any decade: 3.
SportsScience & MedicinePolitics & LawMilitaryWriting & Arts
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Known for
What Beccles is known for
Beccles has 2.9× the usual share of scientists and doctors.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Beccles
Another 11, the earliest born in 1685.
William Aldis Wright
1831–1914English Bible and literary scholar (1831–1914)
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
The neighbour with the most names is Lowestoft, at 48.
Lowestoft · 7 miBenjamin Britten & 47 moreDDDitchingham · 5 miDave Deacon & 5 more
Bungay · 5 miSusanna Moodie & 4 moreABLoddon · 7 miAnn Charlotte Bartholomew & 3 moreEGWorlingham · 1 miEdward Frank GilletTPKessingland · 7 miTed PoleSBChedgrave · 7 miSir William Beauchamp-Proctor, 3rd BaronetACBelton · 9 miAdrian CooteQuestions about famous people from Beccles
Who is the most famous person from Beccles?
Chris Martin (association football player (born 1988)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 20 languages. Next come Tim Buck and Grantly Dick-Read.
How many famous people were born in Beccles?
14 people born in Beccles have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 18 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Beccles known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 5 of the 14. That is 36% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Beccles?
Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet, born in 1685. The youngest on the list was born in 1999.
Who counts as from Beccles?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Beccles’ 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 (7)
- Chris Martin: Charltonkyle, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Tim Buck: Dominion Communist-Labor Total War Committee, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Lorina Bulwer: Lorina Bulwel, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet: William Aikman, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- William Aldis Wright: Walter William Ouless, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Benjamin Britten: Szalay Zoltán, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Susanna Moodie: Hephaestos at en.wikipedia, 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.