#113 famous people were born in Ossett, most of them in the 20th century
The best known is the English cyclist Colin Sturgess, with articles in 10 languages. The list is still growing: 3 were born since 1970. The earliest on the list is Benjamin Ingham, born in 1712, and the youngest Nick Wood, born in 1990. Per 10,000 residents, the town has 5.9, close to the 5 of the typical West Yorkshire town.
Born in Ossett
Three names lead: Colin Sturgess (10 languages), Barry Wood (8) and Richard Wood (8).
#1Barry Wood
born 1942English Test and county cricketer (born 1942)
#3When Ossett’s famous people were born
Count by decade and the 1940s come out on top, with 2 births.
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
What Ossett is known for
Set against the usual town, athletes come out 1.4 times as common.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
Everyone else born in Ossett
The other 10 span the years 1712 to 1990.



Mabel Ferrett
1917–2011British poet, publisher and local historian (1917-2011)
No one matches both filters.
Famous people from the towns next door
Wakefield has the longest list next door: 293.
Wakefield · 3 miBarbara Hepworth & 292 more
Dewsbury · 2 miOwen Willans Richardson & 154 more
Batley · 4 miJoseph Priestley & 33 more
Heckmondwike · 4 miThomas Archer Hirst & 8 moreSBHorbury · 1 miStan Barstow & 4 more
East Ardsley · 3 miKenneth Murray & 2 moreRCMiddlestown and Overton · 2 miRodney Cass & 1 moreMGCrigglestone and Durkar · 3 miMalcolm Graham & 1 moreQuestions about famous people from Ossett
Who is the most famous person from Ossett?
Colin Sturgess (English cyclist) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 10 languages. Next come Barry Wood and Richard Wood.
How many famous people were born in Ossett?
13 people born in Ossett have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 16 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Ossett known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 9 of the 13. That is 69% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Ossett?
Benjamin Ingham, born in 1712. The youngest on the list was born in 1990.
Who counts as from Ossett?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Ossett’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)
- Colin Sturgess: Cs-wolves, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Richard Wood: Dan1980, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Benjamin Ingham: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Eli Marsden Wilson: photographer: "Russell", Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Jay Pitts: http://picasaweb.google.com/barrau.gerard, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Barbara Hepworth: Erling Mandelmann, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Owen Willans Richardson: Nobel foundation, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Joseph Priestley: Ellen Sharples, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Thomas Archer Hirst: Unknown, believed to be in the PD., Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Kenneth Murray: Rob Bogaerts for Anefo, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
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