List of people from Kent

This is a list of notable residents of the county of Kent in England who have a Wikipedia page. Persons are grouped by occupation and listed in order of birth. Kent is defined by its current boundaries.

Academics, engineers and scientists Charles Culmer (c. 1300s) – supposedly built the fishermen's stairs which Broadstairs is named after William Caxton (c. 1420 – c. 1492) – first person to introduce a printing press into England Richard Knolles (c. 1545–1610) – Ottoman Empire historian Richard Baker (1568–1645) – historian Robert Fludd (1574–1637) – physicist and astrologer John Tradescant the elder (c. 1575–1638) – gardener and botanist John Tradescant the Younger (1608–1662) – gardener and botanist William Harvey (1578–1657) – anatomist John Wallis (1616–1703) – mathematician given partial credit for the development of modern calculus Robert Plot (1640–1696) – naturalist and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford Stephen Gray (1666–1736) – physicist and astronomer Thomas Steers (1672–1750) – civil engineer and canal builder Stephen Hales (1677–1761) – physiologist and chemist George Sale (1697–1736) – Islamic studies scholar Thomas Bayes (c. 1702–1761) – mathematician and formulator of Bayes' theorem Edward Jacob – antiquary and naturalist Edward Nairne (1726–1806) – scientific instrument maker James Six (1731–1793) – meteorologist and inventor of the maximum minimum thermometer Catharine Macaulay (1731–1791) – historian Edward Hasted (1732–1812) – Kent historian Lionel Lukin (1742–1834) – possible inventor of the lifeboat William Congreve (1772–1828) – inventor and rocket pioneer Thomas Frederick Colby (1784–1852) – director of the Ordnance Survey Richard Jones (1790–1855) – economist Joshua Trimmer (1795–1857) – geologist John Stevens Henslow (1796–1861) – botanist and geologist Anna Atkins (1799–1871) – botanical photographer George Finlay (1799–1875) – Greek historian George Newport (1803–1854) – entomologist Robert Main (1808–1878) – astronomer Edmund Law Lushington (1811–1893) – Greek scholar and Rector of Glasgow University Joseph Prestwich (1812–1896) – geologist Edward Betts (1815–1872) – railway civil engineering contractor Thomas Russell Crampton (1816–1888) – engineer and designer of the Crampton locomotive Charles Kettle (1821–1862) – New Zealand town planner Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister (1827–1912) – surgeon and President of the Royal Society Nathaniel Barnaby (1829–1915) – Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy Edward James Reed (1830–1906) – Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy John Hulke (1830–1895) – surgeon and geologist Alexander Henry Green (1832–1896) – geologist Fleeming Jenkin (1833–1885) – Professor of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh Robinson Ellis (1834–1913) – Professor of Latin at Trinity College, Oxford James Holden (1837–1925) – locomotive engineer Frank Rutley (1842–1904) – geologist and petrographer William Robert Brooks (1844–1922) – American astronomer Henry George Smith (1852–1924) – chemist James Fletcher (1852–1908) – Canadian entomologist, botanist and writer Aubyn Trevor-Battye (1855–1922) – zoologist and writer Henry Watson Fowler (1858–1933) – lexicographer Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) – mathematician and philosopher Herbert Baker (1862–1946) – South Africa architect Baillie Scott (1865–1945) – architect Patrick Young Alexander (1867–1943) – aeronautical pioneer Frank Finn (1868–1932) – ornithologist Reginald Punnett (1875–1967) – geneticist and creator of the Punnett square William Sealy Gosset (1876–1937) – chemist and statistician Vita Sackville-West (1892–1962) – novelist, traveller and gardener Henry Tizard (1885–1959) – chemist and inventor John Edensor Littlewood (1885–1977) – mathematician Verena Holmes (1889–1964) – mechanical engineer and multi-field inventor Arthur Waley (1889–1966) – orientalist and sinologist Reg Balch (1894–1994) – ecologist and photographer Ralph Bagnold (1896–1990) – geologist, desert explorer, and soldier A. J. Arkell (1898–1980) – North African scholar Stanley Hooker (1907–1984) – jet engine engineer Simone Weil (1909–1943) – French philosopher and mystic Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching (1913–1985) – engineer and chairman of British Railways Maurice Lister (1914–2003) – chemist Sheila Sherlock (1918–2001) – physician and hepatologist George E. P. Box (1918–2001) – statistician John Aspinall (1926–2000) – zoo owner Peter Hemingway (1929–1995) – architect David Harvey (born 1935) – Professor of Anthropology at the City University of New York Michael Pearson (1936–2017) – expert on clocks and clock-making David L. Clarke (1937–1976) – archaeologist noted for his work on processual archaeology Diarmaid MacCulloch (born 1951) – Professor of 'the History of the Church' at the University of Oxford Daniel Tammet (born 1979) – autistic savant and record pi reciter Sonia Chadwick Hawkes (1933–1999) – archaeologist specialising in the early Middle Ages Alexandra Adams (1994/95-) – first deafblind doctor in the United Kingdom

Actors Thomas Robson Brownhill (1821–1864) – theatre actor and comedian Ellen Ternan (1839–1914) – actress and mistress of Charles Dickens Francis Robert Benson (1858–1939) – actor and theatre manager Lilian Braithwaite (1873–1948) – actress and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire Sydney Greenstreet (1875–1954) – actor in films such as Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon Philip Hewland (1876–1953) – stage and film actor Victor McLaglen (1886–1956) – 1935 Academy Award winner for Best Actor Ballard Berkeley (1904–1988) – actor noted for his role as Major Gowen in TV's Fawlty Towers Margot Grahame (1911–1982) – actress in films such as The Informer and The Crimson Pirate Harry Andrews (1911–1989) – actor in films such as Superman and Watership Down Trevor Howard (1913–1988) – Academy Award nominated film actor Peter Cushing (1913–1994) – film actor of the Hammer Films, Star Wars and Dr Who and the Daleks Bob Todd (1922–1992) – comedy actor and sidekick of Benny Hill and Spike Milligan Hattie Jacques (1924–1980) – comedy actress of the Carry On films and TV's Sykes Frederick Treves (born 1925) – prolific TV actor Alec McCowen (1925–2017) – Golden Globe nominated film, theatre and TV actor Peter Barkworth (1929–2006) – BAFTA winning actor Dinsdale Landen (1932–2003) – TV actor Lance Percival (1933–2015) – comedy actor Patsy Byrne (1933–2014) – actress noted for her role as Nursie in TV's Blackadder II Tom Baker (born 1934) – actor in TV's Doctor Who and Little Britain Joanna Van Gyseghem (born 1941) – actress in TV's Duty Free and Rumpole of the Bailey Michael Crawford (born 1942) – Tony Award-winning comedy, film and musical actor Brenda Blethyn (born 1946) – Academy Award nominated actress Rusty Goffe (born 1948) – dwarf actor in the films Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and Willow Fiona Reid (born 1951) – Canadian TV and film actress Mark Rylance (born 1960) – theatre actor Jack Dee (born 1962) – TV actor and comedian Martin Ball (born 1964) – theatre and TV actor Shaun Williamson (born 1964) – TV presenter and actor in TV's Eastenders Paul Ritter (1966–2021) – actor in TV's Friday Night Dinner, No Offence Tamsin Greig (born 1966) – actress in TV's Friday Night Dinner Naomi Watts (born 1968) – Academy Award nominated actress Matthew Holness (born c. 1968) – comedy writer and actor in TV's Garth Marenghi's Darkplace Ben Moor (born 1969) – comedy writer, and actor in TV's Fist of Fun Mackenzie Crook (born 1971) – actor in TV's The Office Shane Taylor (born 1973) – actor in TV's Band of Brothers Chris Simmons (born 1975) – actor in TV's The Bill Orlando Bloom (born 1977) – actor in the film series The Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean Oliver Chris (born 1978) – actor in TV's Green Wing, The Office and Rescue Me Kevin Bishop (born 1980) – actor in the film Muppet Treasure Island and TV's Grange Hill Tom Riley (born 1981) – actor in TV's Da Vinci's Demons and The Nevers Gemma Arterton (born 1986) – actress Dominic Sherwood (born 1990) – actor in TV's Shadowhunters Joseph McManners (born 1992) – musical theatre actor and singer Tommy Knight (born 1993) – actor in TV's The Sarah Jane Adventures Jack Scanlon (born 1998) – TV and film actor Isaac Hempstead-Wright (born 1999) – actor in TV's Game of Thrones Hrvy (born 1999) – presenter from Friday Download

Artists William Woollett (1735–1785) – engraver William Alexander (1767–1816) – painter and illustrator J. M. W. Turner (c. 1775–1851) – landscape painter Thomas Sidney Cooper (1803–1902) – painter Elizabeth Gould (1804–1902) – illustrator Samuel Palmer (1805–1881) – landscape painter Richard Dadd (1817–1886) – painter John Hassall (1868–1948) – illustrator Mary Tourtel (1874–1948) – artist and creator of Rupert Bear Margaret Beale (1886–1969) – marine artist Colin Gill (1892–1940) – painter Hugh Cecil (1889–c. 1939) – photographer Compton Bennett (1900–1974) – film director and producer Tyrone Guthrie (1900–1971) – Tony Award-winning theatre director Don Potter (1902–2004) – sculptor Michael Powell (1905–1990) – film director Peter Rogers (1914–2009) – film producer of the Carry On series Oliver Postgate (1925–2008) – animator and co-creator of Bagpuss, The Clangers and Ivor the Engine Peter Firmin (1928–2018) – animator and co-creator of Basil Brush, Bagpuss and The Clangers Frank Auerbach (born 1931) – painter Peter Blake (born 1932) – pop artist, designer of the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album sleeve Mary Quant (born 1930) – fashion designer; inventor of the miniskirt and hot pants Antoinette Sibley (born 1939) – ballerina Zandra Rhodes (born 1940) – fashion designer Tim Page (born 1944) – Vietnam War photojournalist Roger Dean (born 1944) – album cover artist Dick Pope (born 1947) – cinematographer Bill Lewis (born 1953) – founder member of the Stuckists art group Mike Bernard (born 1957) – painter Gary Hume (born 1962) – painter Tracey Emin (born 1963) – Royal Academy artist Tacita Dean (born 1965) – visual artist Angus Fairhurst (born 1966) – photographic and visual artist Joe Machine (born 1973) – founder member of the Stuckists art group Remy Noe (born 1974) – founder member of the Stuckists art group George Henry Horton (born 1993) – filmmaker

Clergy Laurence of Canterbury (?–619) – saint and the second Archbishop of Canterbury Paulinus of York (?–644) – first Bishop of York Edith of Wilton (961–984) – saint and illegitimate daughter of King Edgar the Peaceful William Addison (1883–1962) – recipient of the Victoria Cross Thomas Becket (c. 1118–1170) – saint and Archbishop of Canterbury John Kemp (c. 1380–1454) – Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chancellor John Morton (c. 1420–1500) – Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chancellor John Frith (1503–1533) – Protestant priest and writer, executed for heresy Roger Filcock (c. 1553–1601) – executed for preaching Catholicism Dudley Fenner (c. 1558–1587) – puritan theologian Edmund Duke (1563–1590) – martyr, executed for preaching Catholicism Richard Clarke (?–1634) – Anglican scholar and preacher John Lothropp (1584–1653) – Anglican minister and founder of Barnstable, Massachusetts Robert Abbot (c. 1588–c. 1662) – Puritan theologian Peter Gunning (1614–1684) – Royalist and Bishop of Chichester William Wall (1647–1728) – Anglican theologian White Kennett (1660–1728) – Bishop of Peterborough Nathanial Lardner (1684–1768) – theologian Edward Perronet (1726–1792) – Anglican preacher George Horne (1730–1792) – Bishop of Norwich Charles Thomas Longley (1794–1868) – Archbishop of Canterbury Henry Edward Manning (1808–1892) – cardinal Alfred Saker (1814–1880) – Baptist missionary George Hills (1816–1895) – Bishop of British Columbia Christopher Newman Hall (1816–1902) – Anglican abolitionist John R. Winder (1821–1910) – leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Edward King (1829–1910) – Anglican bishop