List of people from King's Lynn

This is a non-exhaustive list of the Wikipedia pages of notable people born or educated in King's Lynn, or prominent there or nationally.

The South Gate

Armed forces

• Florence Green (1901–2012), last known female veteran of World War I
• John Mason (1586–1635), naval captain and coloniser

Entertainment

• Robert Armin (c. 1563–1615), actor
• Mrs. Bernard Beere (1851–1915), actress
• Victoria Bush (born 1978), actress and comedian
• Michael Caine (born 1933), actor, was evacuated to King's Lynn in World War II and attended King Edward VII School.
• Zara Dawson (born 1983), actress and television presenter
• Richard Meek (born 1982), actor in musical theatre
• Miranda Raison (born 1977), actress
• Lucy Verasamy (born 1980), weather forecaster, currently employed by ITV National Weather
• Mark Wheat (living), presenter on The Current from Minnesota Public Radio

Exploration

• Adam Thoroughgood (1604–1640), colonist and community leader in the Colony of Virginia
• George Vancouver (1757–1798), naval officer known for exploring North-West Coast of North America
• John Smith (explorer) (c. 1580–1631), Admiral of New England and English soldier, explorer and author
• Thomas Baines (1820–1875), artist and explorer of British colonial southern Africa and Australia
• Samuel Gurney Cresswell (1827–1867), first naval officer to cross the entire Northwest Passage

Fine art

• Odile Crick (1920–2007), artist and illustrator
• Walter Dexter (1876-1958), oil painter and water colourist
• Alison Dunhill (born 1950), artist, art historian and poet
• Robert Elwes (1818-1878), painter and traveller
• Ruth Roche, Baroness Fermoy (1908–1993), founder of King's Lynn Festival of Arts
• Samuel Lane (1780–1859), portrait painter
• Edward Villiers Rippingille (c. 1790–1859), oil painter and water colourist

Literature and journalism

• Emily Bell (born 1965), journalist and academic
• Frances Burney (1752–1840), novelist and diarist
• James Burney (1750–1821), naval historian
• Sarah Burney (1772–1844), novelist
• Suzanne Francis (born 1959), scifi and fantasy author
• Ian Hamilton (1938–2001), critic, biographer and poet
• Hardiman Scott (1920–1999), crime writer, poet and broadcaster
• John Timpson (1928–2005), journalist and broadcaster

Miscellaneous

• Michael Carroll (lottery winner) (born 1983), binman who won £9.7 million on the UK National Lottery in 2002

Music

• Charles Burney (1726–1814), organist in King's Lynn, composer and musicologist
• Gerry Conway (musician) (born 1952), folk and rock drummer and percussionist
• Clara Dow (1883–1969), operatic soprano
• Pieter Hellendaal (1721–1799), organist in King's Lynn, composer and violinist
• George Kiallmark (1781–1835), violinist and composer
• Roger Taylor (born 1949), drummer for the rock band Queen
• David Thaxton (born 1982), singer and actor
• Craig Powell (musician) (born 1984), singer/songwriter

Politics and diplomacy

• Denys Bullard (1912–1994), Conservative politician and agriculturalist
• Thomas Cromwell (Parliamentary diarist) (c. 1540 – c. 1611), politician and parliamentary diarist
• Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy (1885–1955), Conservative politician
• Sir William ffolkes, 3rd Baronet (1847–1912), Liberal politician
• Holcombe Ingleby (1854–1926), Conservative politician and mayor
• Weston Jarvis (1855–1939), Conservative politician and army officer
• Clare Sewell Read (1826–1905), Conservative politician and agriculturalist
• George Ridley (1886–1944), Labour politician
• Oliver Simmonds (1897–1975), Conservative politician and aircraft engineer
• Sir Robert Walpole (1676–1745), Whig statesman generally regarded as Britain's first prime minister
• Graham Woodwark (1874–1938), Liberal politician and mayor

Religion

• John Arrowsmith (scholar) (1602–1659), theologian and academic
• John Barret (theologian) (died 1563), Lynn's "Vicar of Bray", Carmelite friar, then Protestant cleric and theologian
• John Capgrave (1393–1464), hagiographer and scholastic theologian
• Harvey Goodwin (1818–1891), bishop and academic
• William Gurnall (1616–1679), religious writer
• Margery Kempe (c. 1373 – after 1438), mystic and pilgrim, author of possibly the earliest autobiography in English
• Thomas Pyle (1674–1756), cleric and controversialist
• William Richards (minister) (1749–1818), Baptist minister and local historian

Science and scholarship

• Eugene Aram (1704–1759), philologist and murderer
• William Baly (1814–1861), physician and fellow of the Royal Society
• Henry Bell (architect) (1647–1711), architect and mayor
• G. G. Coulton (1858–1947), historian
• Guy Dawber (1861–1938), Arts and Crafts-style architect
• Charles Wycliffe Goodwin (1817–1887), Egyptologist and judge
• Francis Goodwin (architect) (1784–1835), architect
• John Harvey (astrologer) (1564–1592), physician and astrologer
• Charles Edward Hubbard (1900–1980), botanist and world authority on grasses
• Benjamin Keene (1697–1757), ambassador
• George William Manby (1765–1854), inventor and author
• Tom Petch (1870–1948), mycologist and plant pathologist
• Simon Thurley (born 1962), academic and architectural historian
• Charles Vancouver (c. 1756 – c. 1815), writer on agriculture

Sport

• George Russell (racing driver) (born 1998), racing driver for Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team
• Martin Brundle (born 1959), racing driver and F1 commentator for ITV Sport and the BBC
• Fred Fayers, (1890–1954), international football player
• Lewis Jarvis, (1857–1938), all-round athlete and banker
• Kathryn Johnson (field hockey Britain) (born 1967), Olympic field hockey player
• Nicholas "Nick" Aldis (known professionally as Magnus (wrestler)) (born 1986), professional wrestler and actor
• Peter Parfitt (born 1936), test cricketer
• Barbara Parker (athlete), Olympic track and field athlete
• Lucy Pearson (cricketer), test cricketer
• Martin Saggers (born 1972), test cricketer
• James Sherlock (golfer) (1875–1966), Open Championship golfer
• Helen Slatter (born 1970), Olympic swimmer
• Dave Taylor (wrestler) (born 1957), champion wrestler
• Stan Worthington (1905–1973), test cricketer

See also

• List of buildings in King's Lynn
• List of events in King's Lynn