List of people from Exeter

This is a list of people from Exeter, a city in south-west England. People from Exeter are known as Exonians. This list is arranged chronologically by date of birth.



Born before 1701

 * Baldwin of Exeter (died 1190), Archbishop of Canterbury
 * Joseph of Exeter (12th century), poet
 * Robert Stone (1516–1613), composer and member of the Chapel Royal
 * John Hooker (1525–1601), constitutionalist
 * William Peryam (1534 – after 1603), lawyer
 * Sir Thomas Bodley (1545–1613), diplomat and founder of the Bodleian Library
 * Nicholas Hilliard (c. 1547–1619), portraitist
 * John Rainolds (1549–1605), Puritan scholar
 * Richard Hooker (1554–1600), Anglican theologian
 * William Hakewill (1574–1655), legal antiquarian
 * George Hakewill (1578–1649), clergyman and author
 * Matthew Locke (c. 1621–1677), Baroque composer
 * Henrietta Anne Stuart (1644–1670), daughter of King Charles I
 * Peter King, 1st Baron King (1669–1734), Lord Chancellor
 * Thomas Yalden (1670–1736), poet
 * Simon Ockley (1678–1720), orientalist
 * Eustace Budgell (1686–1737), writer
 * Andrew Brice (1690–1773), printer and writer

Born 1701–1850

 * Thomas Hudson (1701–1779), portrait painter
 * Francis Hayman (1708–1776), Rococo artist
 * John Rowe (1715–1787), merchant and owner of ship involved in Boston Tea Party
 * Thomas Mudge (horologist) (1715-1794), horologist who was responsible for the Lever escapement mechanism
 * Samuel Stennett (1727–1795), Baptist minister and hymnwriter
 * Richard Langdon (1729–1803), organist and composer
 * William Jackson (1730–1803), referred to as Jackson of Exeter, was an organist and composer
 * Robert Trewman (1738/39–1802), first proprietor of Trewman's Exeter Flying Post, published 1763–1917
 * Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet (1740–1810), banker
 * Richard Eastcott (baptised 1744–1828), Anglican clergyman and writer on music
 * Robert Hawker (1753–1827), Anglican clergyman
 * David Collins (1756–1810), first governor of Van Diemens Land (Tasmania)
 * John Stockham (1765–1814), naval officer
 * Richard Parker (1767–1797), sailor and mutineer
 * John Blackall (1771–1860), physician
 * George Oliver (1781–1861), Catholic churchman and historian
 * James Holman (1786–1857), noted blind traveller
 * Sir John Bowring (1792–1872), political economist and Governor of Hong Kong
 * Thomas Shapter (1809–1902), doctor and author of History of the Cholera in Exeter in 1832
 * Samuel Cousins (1801–1887), engraver
 * Mary Carpenter (1807–1877), educational and social reformer
 * William Benjamin Carpenter (1813–1885), physiologist and naturalist
 * John Carne Bidwill (1815–1853), botanist, first director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
 * Lilly Martin Spencer (1822–1902), US painter
 * Lavington Glyde (1824-1890), South Australian politician and accountant
 * Henry Chadwick (1824–1908), journalist, "father of baseball"
 * Sabine Baring-Gould (1834–1924), writer, clergyman, antiquary and folklorist
 * Sir Harry James Veitch (1840–1924), horticulturist
 * William John Seward Webber (1842–1919), sculptor
 * William Kingdon Clifford (1845–1879), mathematician

Born 1851–1950

 * Eva Luckes (1854–1919), matron of The London Hospital 1880–1919, pioneer of training for nurses
 * Theodore Bayley Hardy (1863–1918), Army chaplain and VC
 * Fred Karno (1866–1941), comedy pioneer and impresario
 * Irene Vanbrugh (1872–1949), actress
 * Herbert Augustine Carter (1874–1916), army officer and VC
 * William Temple (1881–1944), Archbishop of Canterbury
 * Ernest Kennaway (1881–1958), pathologist who suggested a link between smoking and lung cancer
 * Gordon Steele (1891–1981), recipient of the Victoria Cross
 * Primrose Pitman (1902–1998), artist
 * W. G. Hoskins (1908–1992), historian of the English landscape
 * Cliff Bastin (1912–1991), Arsenal and England footballer
 * John Manners (1914–2020), English cricketer and Royal Navy officer; oldest living first-class cricketer
 * Tommy Cooper (1921–1984), comedian born in Caerphilly but living in Exeter from the age of three
 * Denis Pereira Gray (born 1935), physician
 * Tony Burrows (born 1942), pop singer
 * Sarah Harrison (born 1946), novelist
 * Peter Rutley (born 1946), former professional footballer
 * Doug Finley (1946–2013), Canadian Senator and principal operational strategist of the Conservative Party of Canada

Born since 1950

 * Clare Morrall (born 1952), novelist
 * John Scott (born 1954), England rugby union international
 * Beth Gibbons (born 1965), singer with Portishead
 * Ben Nealon (born 1966), actor
 * Toby Buckland (born 1969), gardener, TV presenter and author
 * Michael Caines (born 1969), chef and restaurateur
 * Jane Griffiths (born 1970), poet and literary historian
 * Chris Martin (born 1977), lead singer of Coldplay
 * Mathew Theedom (born 1977), cricketer
 * Dominic Wood (born 1978), TV presenter
 * Matthew Goode (born 1978), actor
 * David Lye (born 1979), cricketer
 * Scott C Shephard (born 1979), music executive
 * Jim Causley (born 1980), folk singer
 * Stuart Hooper (born 1981), rugby union player
 * Rebecca Worthley (born 1981), singer/songwriter
 * Trevor Anning (born 1982), cricketer
 * Bradley James (born 1983), actor
 * Kate Bushell (born 1983), victim of a high-profile child murder in the city in 1997, her murder remains unsolved as of 2022
 * Tim Shaw (born 1984), American football player for Tennessee Titans
 * Harry Treadaway (born 1984), actor
 * Ben Aldridge (born 1985), actor
 * Liam Tancock (born 1985), world champion swimmer
 * Aaron Jarvis (born 1986), Wales rugby union player
 * Liam Lewis (born 1986), cricketer
 * Kour Pour (born 1987), artist
 * James Yeoburn (born 1987), theatre producer and entrepreneur
 * Liam Sercombe (born 1990), professional footballer
 * Luke Newberry (born 1990), actor
 * Joe Launchbury (born 1991), England rugby union international
 * Harry Tincknell (born 1991), professional racing driver, 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2-class winner
 * Tristan Evans (born 1994), drummer in The Vamps
 * Matt Grimes (born 1995), footballer for Swansea City A.F.C.
 * Xia Vigor (born 2009), actress for ABS CBN
 * Thomas Cameron (born 1999), classical singer, radio host