RP#1
Sports
Robert Paton
1854–1905British association football player (1854-1905)
5 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Famous people · Bonhill, West Dunbartonshire
25 famous people were born in Bonhill, more of them athletes than in most towns
Most widely known is Robert Paton, the British association football player, with articles in 5 languages. In the Victorian era, 22 were born, the most of any period. Births span 1830 to 1931, from W McEwan to John Ryden. For every 10,000 residents there are 29 on the list, well above the typical West Dunbartonshire town’s 18.7.
Born here
25
notable people
Best known
Robert Paton
in 5 Wikipedia languages
First
1830
W McEwan
Youngest
1931
John Ryden
Most common field
Sports
25 people
What stands out about Bonhill’s famous people
The best known
Born in Bonhill
Languages with an article: 5 for Robert Paton, 4 for Daniel Paton, 4 for James Cowan.
DP#2
#3Sports
James Cowan
1868–1918Scottish footballer, born 1868 (1868–1918)
4 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Through the years
When Bonhill’s famous people were born
More of them were born in the 1860s than in any other ten years, 9 in all.
Sports
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Bonhill
Here are 22 more, born from 1830 to 1931.
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Of the towns nearby, 8 have famous names listed.
Dumbarton · 2 miDavid Byrne & 120 moreKGClydebank · 8 miKevin Gallacher & 48 moreDLAlexandria · 1 miDoug Livingstone & 43 more
Helensburgh · 6 miJohn Logie Baird & 35 more
Bishopton · 6 miTom Bradshaw & 8 moreBFBowling and Old Kilpatrick · 6 miBobby Finan & 7 more
Erskine · 7 miChloe Arthur & 5 more
Kilmacolm · 7 miHedrick Smith & 2 moreQuestions about famous people from Bonhill
Who is the most famous person from Bonhill?
Robert Paton (British association football player (1854-1905)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 5 languages. Next come Daniel Paton and James Cowan.
How many famous people were born in Bonhill?
25 people born in Bonhill have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 29 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Bonhill known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 25 of the 25. That is 100% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Bonhill?
W McEwan, born in 1830. The youngest on the list was born in 1931.
Who counts as from Bonhill?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Bonhill’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 (9)
- James Cowan: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Andrew McIntyre: Unknown - dates from 1877, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Daniel Bruce: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Neil McCallum: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- David Byrne: Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Logie Baird: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Tom Bradshaw: LFC, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Chloe Arthur: James Boyes from UK, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Hedrick Smith: Djembayz, CC BY-SA 3.0, 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.