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 Rhoda Anstey (1865–1936), suffragist, tax resister and physical education teacher in Birmingham 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 writerWikisource:Bingham, Margaret (DNB00) Sir Thomas Bodley (1545–1613), diplomat and founder of the Bodleian Library at Oxford Zachary Bogan (1625–1659), English scholar Saint Boniface ( 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 , 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 (–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 (–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 Philip Henry Gosse (1810-1888), naturalist 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 (), portraitist Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011), writer, journalist, and literary critic James Holman (1786–1857), noted blind traveller John Hooker (), 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 Gabrielle Jeffery (1886–1940), suffragist and one of the founders of the Catholic Women's Suffrage Society (1911–1923), predecessor of the St Joan's International Alliance 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 Harrison Dax Nash (b. 1988), humanitarian Clara Neal (1870–1936), teacher, school headmistress and suffragette leader in Wales 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 (), 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 union 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
V Irene Vanbrugh (1872–1949), actress Phil Vickery (b. 1976), rugby union 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
References
Further reading Burton, S. H. Great Men of Devon. (Men of the Counties Series; no. 8.) London: John Lane, 1956