This is a list of people from Manchester, a city in North West England. The demonym of Manchester is Mancunian or Manc. This list is arranged alphabetically by surname. For people from Greater Manchester see List of people from Greater Manchester.
A–C
Daniel Adamson (1820–1890) engineer born in Durham who designed the Manchester Ship Canal; one of the directors of the Manchester chamber of commerce; Justice of the Peace for Cheshire and Manchester; buried in Withington Chris Addison (born 1971) stand-up comedian, writer and actor Mark Addy (1840–1890) Manchester-born Albert Medal recipient Caroline Aherne (1963–2016) BAFTA Award-winning actress, comedian and writer, The Mrs Merton ShowAherne, Caroline (1963-) BFI Screenonline William Harrison Ainsworth (1805–1882) historical novelist born in Manchester Sir John Alcock (1892–1919) aviator who, with Arthur Whitten Brown, made the first nonstop transatlantic flightSir John William Alcock Encyclopædia Britannica David Alliance, Baron Alliance (1932-2025), businessman and politician Adam Anderson (born 1984) synthesist, one half of synth-pop duo Hurts. Don Arden (1926–2007) Cheetham Hill-born music manager and businessman, who oversaw the careers of rock groups the Small Faces, Electric Light Orchestra and Black Sabbath. Anthony Arthur (born 1973) Olympic weightlifter (1996 Summer Olympics)Anthony Arthur George Arthurs (1875–1944), songwriter and authorBiography of George Arthurs - All Music website George Aspull (1813–1832) an English musician. Rob Atha (born 1986) table football playerBristol table football player wins World Cup for Britain This is Bristol, 1 February 2009 Michael Atherton (born 1968) former England cricket captain and commentator Ambrose Barlow (1585–1641) a canonized Benedictine monk. Thomas Barritt (1743–1820) an early British antiquary. Joshua Bayes (1671–1746) a nonconformist minister. Norman Beaker (born 1950) from Longsight, blues guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, band leader and record producer, inducted as a Legend in the Blues Hall of Fame in 2017.Norman Beaker Band | Official Band WebsiteNorman Beaker Legendary Blues Artist Exhibit in the Blues Hall of Fame ® Kathryn Beaumont (born 1937)actress, known for playing the title role in Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland (1951), born in Victoria Park. William Worby Beaumont (1848–1929) automotive engineer and inventor Max Beesley (born 1971) English actor and musician Thomas Bellot (1806-1857) an English naval surgeon and philologist. Michael Bisping (born 1979) UFC Middleweight Champion Niamh Blackshaw (born 1998) actress, portrayed Juliet Nightingale in Hollyoaks John Blackwall (1790–1881) naturalist with a particular interest in spiders. John Booker (1603–1667) an English astrologer with a career for over 30 years. Stan Bowles (1948–2024) born and brought up in Collyhurst; Manchester City, QPR, Nottingham Forest and England International footballer in the 1970s Maud Boyd (1867–1929) actress and operatic singer John Bradford (1510–1555) English Reformer, prebendary of Old St Paul's Cathedral, and martyr. William Bradley (1801–1857) an English portrait artist. Benjamin Brierley (1825–1896) weaver, who took up writing in Lancashire dialect. John Briggs (1788–1861) prelate of the Roman Catholic Church and Bishop of Beverley from 1850 to 1860. Edward Brotherton (1814–1866) English Swedenborgian and educational reform campaigner. Joe Brown (1930–2020) born in Ardwick, climber and mountaineer Wes Brown (born 1979) former Manchester United footballerWes Brown ManUtd.com Jabez Bunting (1779–1858) Wesleyan Methodist leader. Anthony Burgess (1917–1993) Manchester-born and educated author, poet, playwright, musician, linguist, translator and critic, known for novel A Clockwork Orange Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924), a British-American novelist and playwright, she wrote Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886). Henry James Byron (1835–1884) dramatist, editor, journalist, director, theatre manager, novelist and actor. Darren Campbell (born 1973) former sprinter representing Great Britain John Cassell (1817–1865) was an English publisher, printer, writer and editor, founded Cassell & Co. Thomas George Cassell (born 1993) YouTuber and Twitch streamer John Cassidy (1860–1939) Irish-born sculptor and painter who lived in Manchester Tom Chantrell (1916–2001) designer of many film posters including The Sound of Music and Star Wars Sir Humphrey Chetham (1580–1653) merchant and benefactor of Chetham's Library; born in CrumpsallLancashire Illustrated page 79 Google Books
Saira Choudhry (born 1982), actress, born in Cheetham Hill Stanley Chow (born 1974) artist and illustrator Samuel Clegg (1781–1861) engineer, he developed the gas works process. John Clowes (1743–1831) cleric, Rector of St John's Church, Manchester, disciple of Emanuel Swedenborg. Richard Cobden (1804–1865) Sussex-born industrialist who moved to Manchester, where he was politically active Ellen Melicent Cobden (1848–1914) writer, radical campaigner and suffragist; daughter of Richard Cobden Kenneth Colley (1937–2025) actor who played Admiral Piett in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi Roy Collins (1934–2009) cricketer who played for Lancashire and Cheshire; born in Clayton Verona Conway (1910–1986) plant ecologist George Cooke (1807–1863) an English actor. George Cooke (1826–1862) cricketer Mary Corkling (1850–1938) artist and food reformer, was born at Withington Lisa Cross (born 1978) IFBB professional bodybuilder Kevin Cummins (born 1953) award-winning professional photographer, responsible for iconic Joy Division photographs and for charting the rise of punk rock and Britpop, born in Withington Peter Cundall (1927–2021) horticulturist and television presenter; born in Manchester Ian Curtis (1956–1980) musician and singer in Joy DivisionIan Curtis biography Joy Division Central
D–G
Mark Davies (born 1959)Roman Catholic Bishop of ShrewsburyBishop of Shrewsbury Diocese of Shrewsbury Aaron Davis (born 1990) his stage name Bugzy Malone, rapper and actor, grime genre artist Maximilian Davis (born 1994 or 1995) fashion designer; creative director of Ferragamo Les Dawson (1931–1993) comedian, born in Collyhurst Arthur Delaney (1927–1987) painter, influenced by L. S. Lowry Lee Dixon (born 1964) former professional footballer and ITV Sport football pundit DJ Semtex disc jockey and presenter for BBC Radio 1Xtra digital radio station, presents the hip-hop show Friday Nights Robert Donat (1905–1958) film and stage actor; known for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and Goodbye, Mr. Chips, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor Edith Escombe (1866–1950) fiction writer and essayistVirginia Blain, Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy: The Feminist Companion to Literature in English. Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present Day (London: Batsford, 1990), p. 345. Rachel Fairburn (born 1983) popular comedian and one half of the true crime serial killer comedy podcast All Killa No Filla Thomas Falkner (1707–1784) a Jesuit missionary, explorer and physician, active in Patagonia. Benjamin Rawlinson Faulkner (1787–1849) an English portrait-painter. Judy Finnigan (born 1948) TV presenter and columnist; usually co-presents with her husband, Richard Madeley; as a pair they are Richard and Judy Wayne Fontana (1945–2020) real name Glyn Geoffrey Ellis, singer with the Mindbenders Norman Foster (born 1935) architect; founder and chairman of Foster and Partners studios; raised in Levenshulme Dean Furman (born 1988) professional footballer Liam Gallagher (born 1972) lead singer of Manchester band Oasis Noel Gallagher (born 1967) songwriter and lead guitarist for High Flying Birds and formerly Oasis George Garrett (1852–1902) submarine pioneer who built Resurgam; brought up in Moss Side Max George (born 1988) singer, songwriter, actor and member of boy band the Wanted Andy Gibb (1958–1988) singer and actor; born in Stretford Barry Gibb (born 1946) singer and musician, member of the Bee Gees; brought up in Chorlton-cum-Hardy Maurice Gibb (1949–2003) singer and musician, member of the Bee Gees; brought up in Chorlton-cum-Hardy Robin Gibb (1949–2012) singer and songwriter, member of the Bee Gees; brought up in Chorlton-cum-Hardy Jimmy Golder (1955–2000) professional footballer, played 145 games for Hyde United F.C. Jimi Goodwin (born 1970) bassist, vocalist and guitarist for the Doves Holliday Grainger (born 1988) actress, known for her roles in The Borgias, Strike or The Capture TV series William Green (1760–1823) artist, poet, writer and landscape painter. William Rathbone Greg (1809–1881) an English essayist. Trevor Griffiths (1935–2024) dramatist, co-writer of screenplay for the film Reds; born in Ancoats Nick Grimshaw (born 1984) Manchester-born Radio 1 DJ Sydney Grundy (1848–1914)English dramatist, he adaptated European plays.
H–M
Andrew Hall (born 1973) Cheshire cricketer Arthur Harden (1865–1940) Manchester-born Nobel Prize–winning biochemist Charles Christian Hennell (1809–1850) an English merchant, and a Unitarian apologist. Mary Hennell (1802–1843) a reforming writer from a notable family of writers. William Henry (1774–1836) an English chemist, developed Henry's law. Benjamin Heywood (1793–1865) prominent Manchester citizen, philanthropist and politician Oliver Heywood (1630–1702) banker and philanthropist Thomas Heywood (1797–1866) antiquarian, involved in the Chetham Society. George Hibbert (1757–1837) merchant, politician, ship-owner, botanist and book-collector; co-founded of the West India Dock Company and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1824. Bernard Hill (1944–2024) film, stage and television actor, known for playing Yosser Hughes in Boys from the Blackstuff and roles in blockbuster films, including Titanic, The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and True Crime Matt Hill (born 1984) science fiction and horror writer Richard Hollinworth (1607–1656) an English clergyman of presbyterian views. Ray Honeyford (1934–2012) headmaster and writer, known for highlighting the failures of multiculturalism in Bradford John Hopkinson (1849–1898)physicist, electrical engineer, he invented the three-wire (three-phase) wiring system. Keith Hopwood (born 1946)guitarist with Herman's Hermits, born in Davyhulme Shotty Horroh (born 1986) real name Adam Rooney, well known rapper, singer and actor Myra Hindley (born 1942) Gorton-born serial killer who, along with her accomplice, Ian Brady, claimed the lives of five victims in Manchester in the 1960s Peter Hook (born 1956) bassist of the bands Joy Division and New Order Mick Hucknall (born 1960) lead singer of the band Simply Red Charles Hulbert (1778–1857) businessman and writer. Nat Jacobs (1939–2021) amateur and professional boxer Howard Jacobson (born 1942) Man Booker Prize-winning British Jewish author and journalist, best known for writing comic novels that often revolve around the dilemmas of British Jewish characters Edward James MP QC (1807–1867) barrister and Liberal Party politician. Davy Jones (1945–2012) actor; singer of the band the Monkees Michelle Keegan (born 1987) an actress on Coronation Street Brian Kidd (born 1949) football coach; assistant manager at Manchester City since December 2009; former player; assistant manager to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United in the 1990s; born in Collyhurst Foo Foo Lammar (1937–2003) drag queen, real name Francis Joseph Pearson born in Ancoats Ann Lee (1736–1784) , commonly known as Mother Ann Lee, was the founding leader of the Shakers. Harold Lever (1914–1995) Labour politician and Baron Lever Emmanuel Levy (1900–1986) painter, teacher and art critic Martin Lewis (born 1972) Withington-born financial journalist who founded MoneySavingExpert.com Harvey Lisberg (born 1940)music and sporting manager who discovered Herman's Hermits