Guest, Sign inJoin
Famous people · Ossett, West Yorkshire

13 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.

#1 best knownColin SturgessSports · born 1968
+9more
Born here
13
notable people
Best known
Colin Sturgess
in 10 Wikipedia languages
First
1712
Benjamin Ingham
Youngest
1990
Nick Wood
Most common field
Sports
9 people
The best known

Born in Ossett

Three names lead: Colin Sturgess (10 languages), Barry Wood (8) and Richard Wood (8).

Colin Sturgess#1
Sports

Colin Sturgess

born 1968

English cyclist

10 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
BW#2
Sports

Barry Wood

born 1942

English Test and county cricketer (born 1942)

8 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Richard Wood#3
Sports

Richard Wood

born 1985

English association football player

8 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Through the years

When Ossett’s famous people were born

Count by decade and the 1940s come out on top, with 2 births.

GeorgianVictorianThe 20th centuryToday1700175018001850190019502000Cyril TylerBarry WoodRichard WoodBenjamin InghamColin Sturgess
SportsWriting & ArtsFaithPolitics & Law

Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.

Known for

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

Everyone else born in Ossett

The other 10 span the years 1712 to 1990.

RW

Ronald Wood

1929–1990

English county cricketer (1929-1990)

Eli Marsden Wilson

Eli Marsden Wilson

1877–1965

English artist (1877-1965)

Writing & ArtsWikipedia ↗
NW

Nick Wood

born 1990

English footballer (born 1990)

DR

David Raw

born 1944

English former first-class cricketer born 1944

DT

Derek Turner

1932–2015

English rugby league footballer and coach

Jay Pitts

Jay Pitts

born 1989

English rugby league footballer

AM

Ashley Mitchell

1886–1977

Politician

Politics & LawWikipedia ↗
MF

Mabel Ferrett

1917–2011

British poet, publisher and local historian (1917-2011)

Writing & ArtsWikipedia ↗
Next door

Famous people from the towns next door

Wakefield has the longest list next door: 293.

Questions 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)

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.