JF#1
Famous people · Bilston, West Midlands
45 famous people were born in Bilston, most of them in the 20th century
At the top of the list is the British actor James Fleet, covered in 16 languages. Behind the leader come Henry Newbolt and Don Powell. The biggest group are athletes: 28. Per head, the list is long: 13 for every 10,000 residents, where the typical town in West Midlands has 5.7.
Born here
45
notable people
Best known
James Fleet
in 16 Wikipedia languages
First
1800
John Croft
Youngest
1966
Ranjit Singh Boparan
Most common field
Sports
28 people
What stands out about Bilston’s famous people
The best known
Born in Bilston
Ranked by languages covered: James Fleet with 16, then Henry Newbolt with 12 and Don Powell with 11.
#2
#3Through the years
When Bilston’s famous people were born
The 1920s top the chart, with 7 births in the decade.
SportsWriting & ArtsScience & MedicineFilm, TV & StagePolitics & LawMusicMilitaryBusiness
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Known for
What Bilston is known for
28 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 Bilston
42 more, 28 of them athletes.
Geoff Richards
1929–2014British rugby player and association football player (1929-2014)
SportsWikipedia ↗
Charles Kidson
1867–1908New Zealand art teacher, artist, craftsman, sculptor (1867-1908)
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
Edward Kidson
1882–1939Meteorologist, scientific administrator (1882–1939)
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
William Harold Dudley
1890–1949British landscape painter cartographer (1890–1949)
Writing & ArtsWikipedia ↗
George Onions
1883–1944English military officer (1883–1944); recipient of the Victoria Cross
MilitaryWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Of the towns nearby, 8 have famous names listed.
Wolverhampton · 3 miLiam Payne & 449 more
Walsall · 4 miJerome K. Jerome & 178 more
Dudley · 4 miDuncan Edwards & 114 moreGCWednesbury · 2 miGarry Cook & 61 more
Tipton · 2 miMargaret MacDonald & 39 more
Willenhall · 3 miAllan Clarke & 23 more
Sedgley · 3 miBrian Berry & 17 moreBADarlaston · 1 miBill Arblaster & 16 moreQuestions about famous people from Bilston
Who is the most famous person from Bilston?
James Fleet (British actor) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 16 languages. Next come Henry Newbolt and Don Powell.
How many famous people were born in Bilston?
45 people born in Bilston have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 46 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Bilston known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 28 of the 45. That is 62% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Bilston?
John Croft, born in 1800. The youngest on the list was born in 1966.
Who counts as from Bilston?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Bilston’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 (11)
- Henry Newbolt: George Charles Beresford, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Don Powell: Jamiespilsbury, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Mark Grew: EchetusXe, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Edward Kidson: Stanley P. Andrew, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- George Onions: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Liam Payne: Soccer Aid for UNICEF, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jerome K. Jerome: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Duncan Edwards: ChrisTheDude, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Margaret MacDonald: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Allan Clarke: lufcfilms, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- Brian Berry: Ybargal, CC BY-SA 4.0, 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.