List of people from Devon

Devon is a county in South West England. The demonym of Devon is Devonian. This list is arranged alphabetically by surname.

A more complete listing is at Category:People from Devon.

A

• Henry Avery (1659 – after 1696), pirate

B

• Charles Babbage (1791–1871), inventor
• Ralph Bagnold (1896–1990), geologist, desert explorer, and soldier
• Baldwin of Exeter (d. 1190), Archbishop of Canterbury
• W. N. P. Barbellion: pen name of Bruce Frederick Cummings, diarist
• Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet (1740–1810), banker
• Sabine Baring-Gould (1834–1924), scholar, clergyman, novelist and antiquary
• Sue Barker (born 1956), tennis player and television presenter
• Kenneth Barnes (1878–1957), director of RADA
• Cliff Bastin (1912–1991), Arsenal and England footballer
• Phil Beer (born 1953), musician and composer (born at Exminster)
• Matthew Bellamy (born 1978), guitarist, pianist, and vocalist of rock band Muse
• Samuel Bellamy (1689-1717), sailor, pirate, ship captain
• John Bidlake (1755–1814), clergyman, author, artist
• John Carne Bidwill (1815–1853), botanist, first Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
• Margaret Bingham (1740–1814), countess, painter and writer
• Sir Thomas Bodley (1545–1613), diplomat and founder of the Bodleian Library at Oxford
• Zachary Bogan (1625–1659), English scholar
• Saint Boniface (c. 675–754), patron saint of the Netherlands and Germany
• Sir John Bowring (1792–1872), political economist and Governor of Hong Kong
• Henry de Bracton (d. 1268), jurist
• Eustace Budgell (1686–1737), writer
• Tony Burrows (born 1942), pop singer
• Richard Burton (1821–1890), explorer and linguist

C

• Michael Caines (b. 1969), chef and restaurateur
• Edward Capern (1819–1894), poet
• Mary Carpenter (1807–1877), educational and social reformer
• William Benjamin Carpenter (1813–1885), physiologist and naturalist
• Pearl Carr (1921-2020), entertainer and runner up in Eurovision 1959, born in Exmouth
• Raymond Cattell (1905–1998), psychology pioneer
• Jim Causley (b. 1980, Heavitree), folk singer and radio presenter
• Jimmy Cauty (b. 1956), pop musician
• Henry Chadwick (1824–1908), journalist, "the father of baseball"
• Sir Francis Chichester (1901–1972), aviator and sailor
• Agatha Christie (1890–1976), novelist
• Lady Mary Chudleigh (1656–1710), early feminist and poet
• William Kingdon Clifford (1845–1879), mathematician
• Eleanor Coade (1733–1821), inventor of Coade stone
• Lily Cole (b. 1988), supermodel and actress
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834), poet
• David Collins (1756–1810), first Governor of Van Diemens Land (Tasmania)
• Peter Cook (1937–1995), comedian, born in Torquay
• William Cookworthy (1705–1780), pharmacist and industrialist
• Tommy Cooper (1921–1984), comedian, was born in Caerphilly but lived in Exeter from the age of 3
• William Johnson Cory (1823–1892), educator and poet
• Samuel Cousins (1801–1887), engraver
• Edmund Crispin (1921–1978), novelist and composer
• Lisa Cross (b. 1978), IFBB professional bodybuilder
• William Crossing (1847–1928), author
• Richard Cosway (1742-1821), miniature painter
• Thomas Cameron (born 1998), classical singer/radio host

D

• Thomas Daley (born 1994), diver
• Sharron Davies (born 1962), Olympic swimmer and television presenter
• David Rodgers (born 1952), Former TSW Presenter and Radio Station owner
• Roger Deakins (born 1949), cinematographer
• Kristian Digby (b. 1977 Torquay. d. 2010 London), television presenter
• Sir Francis Drake (c. 1540–1596), sailor
• Thomas d'Urfey (1653–1723), dramatist

E

• Charles Lock Eastlake (1793–1865), artist
• Marc Edworthy (born 1972), footballer
• Samuel Eyles Pierce (1746–1829), preacher, theologian, and Calvinist divine
• Henry Every (c. 1653/59–?), pirate
• Sir Richard Eyre (born 1943), theatre, television, and film director

F

• Percy Fawcett (1867–1925), archaeologist and explorer
• Michael Foot (1913–2010), Labour politician
• John Ford, Jacobean playwright best known for his tragedy 'Tis Pity She's a Whore
• Trevor Francis (born 1954), professional footballer
• Dawn French (born 1957), comedian
• George Friend (born 1987), professional footballer for Middlesbrough F.C.
• Luke Friend (born 1996), X Factor finalist

G

• John Gay (1685–1732), poet and dramatist
• Geraint (died 710), King of Dumnonia
• Beth Gibbons (b. 1965), singer with Portishead
• Humphrey Gilbert (c. 1539–1583), sailor and explorer
• John Glanville (1542–1600), MP and High Court Judge
• Elizabeth Godwin, first female officer of The Life Guards
• Matthew Goode (b. 1978), actor in such movies as Brideshead Revisited and Watchmen
• Dan Gosling (born 1990), English footballer
• Francis Carruthers Gould (1844–1925), caricaturist and politician
• William Greening, politician
• Richard Grenville (1542–1591), sailor and explorer

H

• George Hakewill (1578–1649), clergyman and author
• William Hakewill (1574–1655), legal antiquarian
• Carl Harbord (1908–1958), film actor
• Theodore Bayley Hardy (1863–1918), Army chaplain and VC
• Miranda Hart (b. 1972), actress and comedian
• Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen (1834-1923), English topographer, geologist, naturalist and surveyor
• Harriet Hawkins (b. 1980), professor of cultural geography
• Matt Harvey, poet
• Benjamin Haydon (1786–1846), painter and writer
• Francis Hayman (1708–1776), Rococo artist
• Oliver Heaviside (1850–1925), mathematician
• Nicholas Hilliard (c. 1547–1619), portraitist
• Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011), writer, journalist, and literary critic
• James Holman (1786–1857), noted blind traveller
• John Hooker (c. 1527–1601), constitutionalist
• Richard Hooker (1554–1600), Anglican theologian
• W. G. Hoskins (1908–1992), historian of the English landscape
• Ben Howard (b. 1987), folk musician
• Dominic Howard (b. 1977), musician, drummer of rock band Muse
• Thomas Hudson (1701–1779), portrait painter
• Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (b. 1987), model

J

• Bradley James (born 1983 or 1984), actor
• Thomas B. Jeffery (1845–1910), automotive pioneer who emigrated to the United States
• Richard Roach Jewell (1810–1891), architect
• Joseph of Exeter (12th century), poet

K

• Fred Karno (1866–1941), comedy pioneer and impresario
• Benjamin Kennicott (1718–1783), Hebrew scholar
• Peter King, 1st Baron King (1669–1734), Lord Chancellor
• Charles Kingsley (1819–1875), novelist
• Steve Knightley (born 1954), musician (born in Poole, Dorset)
• George Knight-Bruce (1853–1896), clergyman becoming Bishop of Bloemfontein, then translated to be the first Bishop of Mashonaland

L

• Seth Lakeman (b. 1977), folk musician (Born in Frome, Somerset to Cornish parents)
• William Elford Leach (1791–1836), scientist
• Jon Lee (b. 1982 Newton Abbot), singer with S Club 7
• Zion Lights (b. 1984), writer
• Chris Lintott (b. 1980), scientist and writer
• Matthew Locke (ca. 1621–1677), baroque composer.

M

• Chris Martin (b. 1977), singer with Coldplay
• Jane McGrath (1966–2008), co-founder of the McGrath Foundation and late wife of fast bowler Glenn
• Liam Mooney (b. 1972), entrepreneur
• Penny Mordaunt (b. 1973), politician
• Clare Morrall (b. 1952), novelist
• Ian Mortimer (b. 1967), historian
• Dean Moxey (b. 1986), professional footballer for Crystal Palace
• Jerri Mumford (1909–2002), British-born Canadian servicewoman during World War II
• Dermot Murnaghan (b. 1957), TV journalist and news presenter

N

• Ben Nealon (b. 1966), actor
• Luke Newberry (b. 1990), actor

O

• Simon Ockley (1678–1720), orientalist
• Ponsonby Ogle (1855–1902), British writer and journalist

P

• Richard Parker (1767–1797), sailor and mutineer
• James Parsons (1705–1770), physician, antiquary and author
• Jo Pavey (b. 1973), Olympic Runner
• William Peryam (1534–after 1603), lawyer
• St Petroc (c. 468 – c. 564), saint
• Sergio Pizzorno (b. 1980), guitarist from the band Kasabian
• John Prince (1643–1723), clergyman and biographer
• Poker Alice (1851–1930), American frontier gambler
• John Skinner Prout (1805–1876), writer and artist in Tasmania
• Samuel Prout (1783–1852), watercolour artist

R

• John Rainolds (1549–1605), Puritan scholar
• Sir Walter Raleigh (1552–1618), sailor and writer
• Chris Read (b. 1978), English test cricket wicket-keeper
• Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792), influential English painter
• Peter Richardson (b. 1952), actor, comedian, director and writer
• Bertram Fletcher Robinson (1870–1907), author, journalist, editor and sportsperson
• Philip Hutchins Rogers (1794–1853), artist
• Sir Henry Rosewell (1590–1656), Puritan, of Forde Abbey, adventurer of the Dorchester Company
• John Rowe (1715–1787), merchant and owner of ship involved in the Boston Tea Party
• John "Jack" Russell (1795–1883), eponymous dog-breeder and a founder member of the Kennel Club
• Lobsang Rampa (1910–1981), author and plumber

S

• Robert Falcon Scott (1868–1912), RN officer and Antarctic explorer
• Sir Nicholas Slanning (1606–1643), MP, Royalist soldier in the English Civil War
• Wayne Sleep (b. 1948), dancer and choreographer
• Lilly Martin Spencer (1822–1902), US painter
• Samuel Stennett (1727–1795), Baptist minister and hymnwriter
• John Stockham (1765–1814), naval officer
• Robert Stone (1516–1613), composer and member of the Chapel Royal.
• Henrietta Anne Stuart (1644–1670), daughter of King Charles I
• Anthony Sullivan (b. 1969), TV commercial pitchman, and co-star of the show Pitchmen on Discovery Channel
• Sam Simmonds (b. 1994), Exeter Chiefs and England rugby player

T

• Liam Tancock (b. 1985), Olympic swimmer
• William Temple (1881–1944), Archbishop of Canterbury
• Clive Toye (b. 1932), first general manager of New York Cosmos[1]

V

• Irene Vanbrugh (1872–1949), actress
• Phil Vickery (b. 1976), rugby player
• David Vine (1935–2009), TV sports presenter

W

• Snowy White (b. 1948), guitarist
• William John Wills (1834–1861), explorer
• Chris Wolstenholme (b. 1978), musician, bass player for the band Muse
• Rebecca Worthley (b. 1981), singer-songwriter
• Rosemary West (b. 1953), serial killer with Fred West
• Josh Widdicombe (b. 1983), comedian

Y

• Thomas Yalden (1670–1736), poet

See also

• List of people from Exeter
• List of people from Plymouth

Further reading

• Burton, S. H. Great Men of Devon. (Men of the Counties Series; no. 8.) London: John Lane, 1956