List of people from Devon

This is a list of people from Devon, 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

 * Henry Avery (1659 – after 1696), pirate

B

 * Charles Babbage (1791–1871), inventor
 * 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
 * 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 writer
 * Sir Thomas Bodley (1545–1613), diplomat and founder of the Bodleian Library at Oxford
 * Zachary Bogan (1625–1659), English scholar
 * Saint Boniface (c. 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 (c. 1540–1596), 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
 * 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 (c. 1539–1583), 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
 * 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 (c. 1547–1619), portraitist
 * Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011), writer, journalist, and literary critic
 * James Holman (1786–1857), noted blind traveller
 * John Hooker (c. 1527–1601), 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
 * 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

 * 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 (c. 468), 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 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 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