List of people from Sunderland

This is a list of famous or notable people born in, or associated with, Sunderland or the wider City of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, North East England.

Arts, except music

 * Marion Angus (1865–1946), Scottish poet writing in Scots, born in Sunderland
 * James Bolam (1938–), actor
 * Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland
 * Frank Caws, architect
 * George Clarke, architect, television presenter
 * Bernard Comrie (1947–), linguist
 * Terry Deary (1946–), author
 * Mike Elliott, comedian, actor and radio presenter
 * Russell Enoch, actor
 * Edward Gregson, composer
 * Jane Grigson, cookery writer
 * James Herriot (pen name of James Alfred Wight) (1916–1995), veterinary surgeon and author
 * Melanie Hill (1962–), actress
 * Nat Jackley, comedian
 * Jools Jameson (1968–), game developer
 * Si King, one half of The Hairy Bikers (TV cooks)
 * Bobby Knoxall, comedian
 * Florence Lindon-Travers, actress
 * William Lindon-Travers, actor, screenwriter, director and animal rights activist, known professionally as Bill Travers
 * L. S. Lowry, artist
 * Gina McKee (1964–), actress
 * Gibb McLaughlin (1884–1960), actor, born George Gibb McLaughlin
 * Jimmy Nail, actor and singer
 * Christine Norden (1924–1988), actress, born Mary Lydia Thornton
 * David Parfitt, an Oscar-winning film producer
 * Frank Pick, industrial designer
 * Gareth Pugh (1981-), fashion designer
 * Sheila Quigley, novelist
 * Callum Keith Rennie (1960–), film and television actor
 * Denise Robertson, novelist and TV agony aunt
 * Maurice Roëves (1937–), actor
 * Clarkson Stanfield, painter
 * Mary Stewart, novelist
 * Tom Taylor, playwright and editor of Punch
 * Bobby Thompson, comedian, the 'Little Waster'
 * Graham Wallas, author and academic

Industry

 * William Reid Clanny (1770–1850), inventor and physician
 * Sir Tom Cowie, entrepreneur and philanthropist
 * Sir Edward Temperley Gourley, coalfitter, shipowner and politician
 * Sir William Halcrow, civil engineer
 * Thomas Elliott Harrison, railway engineer
 * George Burton Hunter, shipbuilder and innovator
 * Patrick Meik and Charles Meik, civil engineering brothers
 * Sir William Mills, inventor of the Mills Bomb
 * William Pile, shipbuilder
 * Joseph Swan, developer of the electric light bulb
 * Harry Watts, shipyard worker and multiple life-saver

Military and services

 * Gertrude Bell (1868-1926), colonial administrator
 * PC Keith Blakelock (1945-1985), police officer
 * Jack Crawford (1775-1831), sailor
 * Sir Henry Havelock (1795-1857), Major-General
 * Captain Richard Avery Hornsby, navy captain
 * John Lilburne 'Free-born John', civil war figure
 * Alan Parnaby (1916-1974), cricketer and British Army officer

Music
Baz Warne. Guitarist with The Stranglers
 * Don Airey, musician, keyboardist with Deep Purple
 * George Bellamy, musician
 * Eric Boswell, songwriter (Little Donkey)
 * Mark Brydon, one half of electro outfit Moloko
 * Bryan Ferry, singer, musician, and songwriter. Lead singer with Roxy Music
 * Muriel Foster, contralto
 * Frankie & The Heartstrings, indie rock band
 * The Futureheads, indie rock band
 * Eve Gallagher, singer
 * Alex Kapranos, singer, musician, and songwriter. Lead singer with Franz Ferdinand
 * Kenickie, a 1990s pop band
 * Lauren Laverne, ex-lead singer of Kenickie, later radio and TV presenter
 * Jez Lowe, folk singer, songwriter and broadcaster
 * Alan Price, singer, musician, and songwriter. Keyboard player with The Animals
 * Emeli Sandé, musician
 * David A. Stewart (born 1952), musician and songwriter, most notably as one half of the band 'Eurythmics'
 * The Toy Dolls, punk rock band

Politics

 * Hilary Armstrong, Member of Parliament, Cabinet Office and Social Exclusion Minister, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, 2006-2007
 * Sir Theodore Doxford, shipbuilder and politician
 * Sir Edward Temperley Gourley, coalfitter, shipowner and politician
 * Dorothy Harrison (1935-2006), grandmother of Kate Middleton
 * Chris Mullin, Civil Liberty campaigner and MP
 * Jonathan Reynolds, Labour Party MP
 * Sir Luke Thompson, coal merchant and politician

Sport

 * Allan Ball ex-professional footballer and now Honorary Director of Queen of the South F.C.
 * Charles Buchan, footballer
 * Raich Carter (1914-1994), footballer and manager
 * Ralph Coates, former football player
 * Brian Clough, footballer, manager and european Cup winner
 * Steve Cram, Olympic Athlete and TV presenter
 * Billy Hardy (1964–), boxer who became Commonwealth featherweight champion
 * Jordan Henderson, footballer
 * Charlie Hurley, footballer
 * Robert William "Bob" Jefferson (1882-????), footballer
 * Tony Jeffries, boxer
 * Adam Johnson, footballer
 * Ernie Johnson, jockey who won the 1969 Epsom Derby
 * Jimmy Montgomery, former football player (goalkeeper) and 1973 FA Cup winner
 * Ryan Noble, footballer for Sunderland AFC
 * Bob Paisley, ex Liverpool F.C. manager
 * Alan Parnaby (1916-1974), cricketer and British Army officer
 * Ross Pearson, mixed martial artist in UFC
 * Harry Potts, former football player and manager
 * Len Shackleton, footballer
 * Bob Willis (1949–), cricketer

Other

 * Kate Adie, former BBC Chief News Reporter
 * St Bede, monk
 * George Binns, New Zealand chartist leader and poet
 * St Benedict Biscop (628?-690)
 * Abel Chapman (1851–1929), hunter and naturalist
 * James Watson Corder (1868-1953), historian of local family history
 * Charlotte Letitia Crosby, from the reality TV shows Geordie Shore and winner of Celebrity Big Brother
 * Peter Gibbs, weather forecaster
 * John Humble (born 1956), "Wearside Jack", hoaxer who claimed to be the Yorkshire Ripper
 * Chris Steele, TV doctor
 * Heather Mills, Notable for marrying Paul McCartney
 * Gordon Scurfield, biologist and author, active in Australia, with expertise in botany and ecology.
 * William Shanks, Famous amateur mathematician, worked out the value of Pi to 707 decimals

Notable residents

 * Bernard Gilpin, Apostle of the North, Rector of Houghton-le-Spring, Archdeacon of Durham
 * Sir William Herschel, composer and astronomer, discoverer of Uranus
 * Lola Montez, adventuress
 * William Paley, rector of Bishopwearmouth, wrote on intelligent design as opposed to evolution
 * George Reynolds, businessman and former chairman of Darlington FC
 * William Sancroft, later Archbishop of Canterbury, was briefly Rector of Houghton-le-Spring
 * Vivian Stanshall and his wife Ki Longfellow, found the Baltic Trader "Thekla" and sailed her to Bristol where she became the Old Profanity Showboat