#1Famous people · Halifax, West Yorkshire
Ministers and preachers stand out among the 306 famous people born in Halifax
Ed Sheeran, the English singer-songwriter, is the most widely known, written about in 94 languages. Second and third on the list are John E. Walker and Oliver Smithies. 133 of them were born in the 20th century, more than in any other period. The earliest on the list is Edmund Deane, born in 1572, and the youngest Stan Moody, born in 2006.
Born here
306
notable people
Best known
Ed Sheeran
in 94 Wikipedia languages
First
1572
Edmund Deane
Youngest
2006
Stan Moody
Most common field
Sports
164 people
What stands out about Halifax’s famous people
Known worldwideRead in 94 languages, Ed Sheeran is known far beyond the town.A town of ministers and preachersAmong the 306 people born here, 10 are ministers and preachers: 1.9 times the usual share.Still making namesBirths since 1950 number 152, the most recent in 2006.306 notable peopleMore than most towns: 306 notable people were born in Halifax.
★ What stands out · The best known
Born in Halifax
Two of the three are scientists and doctors.
#1
#2Science & Medicine
John E. Walker
born 1941British biochemist (born 1941)
57 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
#3Science & Medicine
Oliver Smithies
1925–2017Biochemistry, genetics, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2007
56 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Known for
What Halifax is known for
Set against the usual town, ministers and preachers come out 1.9 times as common.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
Through the years
When Halifax’s famous people were born
More were born in the 1990s than in any other decade: 42.
SportsWriting & ArtsScience & MedicineFilm, TV & StageMusicPolitics & LawFaithMilitaryNotableBusiness
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Halifax
303 more; the 197 best known are listed here.
Peter Butler
born 1966English association football manager and former player (born 1966)
SportsWikipedia ↗
Laura Annie Willson
1877–1942British engineer and suffragette (1877-1942)
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
James Stansfeld
1820–1898British Radical and Liberal politician and social reformer (1820–98)
Politics & LawWikipedia ↗
Steven Croft
born 1957Bishop of Oxford; Bishop of Sheffield; British Anglican bishop and mission theologian
FaithWikipedia ↗
Charles Illingworth
1899–1991Surgeon, gastroenterology specialist (1899–1991)
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
Harold Mackintosh, 1st Viscount Mackintosh of Halifax
1891–1964British businessman (1891-1964)
BusinessWikipedia ↗
Paul Simon (drummer)
born 1950British drummer who played with Ian North, Radio Stars, John Foxx and Glen Matlock
MusicWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Of the towns nearby, Brighouse lists the most people: 19.
BYBrighouse · 4 miBarbara Young & 18 more
Elland · 3 miBill Bowes & 5 more
Thornton · 5 miCharlotte Brontë & 5 more
Mytholmroyd · 4 miTed Hughes & 4 moreASSowerby Bridge · 2 miArthur Southern & 3 more
Shelf and Northowram · 3 miJoseph Jagger & 1 more
Queensbury · 3 miIrene CollinsJWRipponden · 5 miJames Walton
Elland · 3 miBill Bowes & 5 moreThornton · 5 miCharlotte Brontë & 5 moreMytholmroyd · 4 miTed Hughes & 4 moreASSowerby Bridge · 2 miArthur Southern & 3 moreShelf and Northowram · 3 miJoseph Jagger & 1 moreQueensbury · 3 miIrene CollinsJWRipponden · 5 miJames WaltonQuestions about famous people from Halifax
Who is the most famous person from Halifax?
Ed Sheeran (English singer-songwriter (born 1991)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 94 languages. Next come John E. Walker and Oliver Smithies.
How many famous people were born in Halifax?
306 people born in Halifax have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 333 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Halifax known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 164 of the 306. That is 54% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Halifax?
Edmund Deane, born in 1572. The youngest on the list was born in 2006.
Who counts as from Halifax?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Halifax’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 (84)
- Ed Sheeran: Harald Krichel, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John E. Walker: Mogens Engelund, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Oliver Smithies: Douglas A. Lockard, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Anne Lister: Joshua Horner, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Paddy Kenny: OutboardOlive56, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jacob Brown: Timmy96, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Lawton: Stefan Scheer, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Annie Broadbent: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Eric Portman: Julia cabré, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Alan Robinson: David Monniaux, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Amy Jagger: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Barrie Ingham: Ssaco, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- hbomberguy: Novara Media, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- J. S. Fletcher: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Kirsty Hanson: James Boyes from UK, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Hannah Cockroft: Dave Moore, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Peter Butler: FahimHP, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Stan Moody: Lee Vilenski, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- William Bramwell Booth: Bain News Service,, publisher., Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Ernest Lister: Bain News Service, publisher, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Laura Annie Willson: Photographer not known, but photo is believed to have been taken c.1920, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Luke Whitehouse: Martin Rulsch, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Richard Haking: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Tom Emmett: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Alex Lees: Dave Morton, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Charlie Hodgson: Daxipedia, cropped by Blackcat, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Johnny Miles: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Tom Clarke: Preston North End F.C., CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- Holly Lynch: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- James Stansfeld: John Watkins, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Chris Atkinson: https://www.flickr.com/photos/eepaul/, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Craig Fleming: Timmy96, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Henry Whitley: Bain News Service, publisher, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Nathan Clarke: Bradford City AFC, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Paddy Lane: Timmy96, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- Robert Scott: Cs-wolves, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Sarah Blackwood: Sloan10, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Tom Bailey: Andwhatsnext at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Wilfred Pickles: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Benjamin Wilson: The Abrahamic Faith Beacon Publishing Society, Miami, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Bernard Ingham: Unknown photographer, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- James Berrett: Mattythewhite, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Frederic Bateman: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- John Grogan: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Lindsay Clarke: Shadwell Thames, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Oliver Hannon-Dalby: Dave Morton, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Steven Croft: ChapterandVerse, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Andrew Harwood Mills: Bob C Ceasar, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Ben Weinreb: DebRah22, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Benjamin Frobisher: Donald Hill, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Cameron Murray: Ryanasman, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Charles Crossland: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Dafydd Gibbon: Jolanta Bachan (her profile on Polish Wikipedia), CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Gary Fellows: Ruth Whitehouse, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jenn Butterworth: Alan Campbell, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Liam Ridehalgh: Bradford City AFC, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Luke O'Brien: Mattythewhite, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Marcus Berrett: SPQR7, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Melanie Garside-Wight: Sevcoteehee, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Niall Evalds: http://picasaweb.google.com/barrau.gerard, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Peter Downsborough: Swindon Town FC archives, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- Sam Bolton: Martin Rulsch, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Brian Turner: Katie Chan, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Charles Leach: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Gareth Widdop: paddynapper, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jacob Umaga: Stefano Delfrate, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jake Connor: Fleets, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Lake: Mary Beale, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Luke Ambler: Gerard Barrau, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Luke Robinson: Gerard Barrau, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Steve Firth: Smithykit, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- William Thrift: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Adam O'Brien: http://picasaweb.google.com/barrau.gerard, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Ben Kavanagh: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikey2cv/, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Brandan Wilkinson: Jack86mkII, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- David Hartley: The Computer Laboratory - University of Cambridge, CC BY 2.5, Wikimedia Commons
- Edward Hooson: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Eric Bedford: David Castor (dcastor), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Joe Wardle: Fleets, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Bill Bowes: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Charlotte Brontë: George Richmond, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Ted Hughes: Layle Silbert, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Joseph Jagger: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Irene Collins: BabyViola, 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.