List of people from Lewes

Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England. The following is a list of those people who were either born or live in Lewes, or had some important contribution to make to the town.

A

 * John Agard (born 1949), poet, playwright and children's author, lives in Lewes.
 * Russell Ash (1946–2010), author of Top 10 of Everything and other non-fiction books
 * Daisy Ashford (1881–1972), juvenile novelist
 * B. T. S. Atkins (born 1931), lexicographer
 * Lucy Atkins (living), novelist
 * John Authers, financial journalist and writer

B

 * Marina Baker (born 1967), former actress/ model, journalist, children's author and politician
 * Norman Baker (born 1957), former Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes
 * Wynne Edwin Baxter (1844–1920), lawyer, translator, antiquarian and botanist
 * Honor Blackman (1925-2020), actor
 * Michael Brooks (born 1970), science writer
 * Arthur Brown (born 1942), musician, best known for his 1968 hit "Fire"
 * Asa Briggs (1921-2016), English Historian, second Vice-Chancellor of University of Sussex and created Baron Briggs of Lewes in 1976
 * Ralph Brown (born 1957), actor
 * Anthony Buckeridge (1912–2004), children's author, noted for his Jennings series, lived near Lewes from 1962 until his death.

C

 * Anna Campbell (born 1991), first British woman to die fighting for the Women's Protection Units
 * Philip Carr-Gomm (born 1952), leader of The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids
 * Thomas Cobham (died 1327), Archdeacon of Lewes
 * Richard Challoner (1691–1781), Roman Catholic bishop
 * John Conolly (1794–1866), physician
 * Shirley Collins (born 1935), folk singer and collector
 * Henry William Crosskey (1826–1893), geologist and Unitarian minister

D

 * Nick Davies (born 1953), investigative journalist and author of Flat Earth News, he uncovered the News of the World phone hacking affair
 * Henry Dudeney (1857–1930), author and mathematician
 * Alice Dudeney (1866–1945), author and diarist
 * Roger Dean (born 1944), artist

E

 * John Ellman (1753–1832), farmer and stockbreeder
 * John Evelyn (1620–1706), writer, gardener and diarist

F

 * Julian Fane (1927-2009), author
 * Barry Fell (1917–1994), zoologist
 * John Fitzalan, 1st Baron Arundel (c. 1348–1379)
 * David Ford (born 1978), singer/songwriter
 * Julia Foster (born 1943), actress

G

 * Eve Garnett (1900–1991), author and illustrator
 * Walter Godfrey (1881–1961), architect, historian and antiquarian
 * John Sparkes Goldsmith (1878–1942), founder and first editor of The Ringing World
 * Sarah Gordy (born c. 1968), actress with Down syndrome
 * Sir William Gull, 1st Baronet (1816–1890), physician
 * Edward Castres Gwynne (1811–1888), Australian lawyer and politician

H

 * Denzil Dean Harber (1909–1966), ornithologist and Trotskyist
 * Ed Harcourt (born 1977), singer/songwriter
 * Julius Charles Hare (1795–1855), theologian and Archdeacon of Lewes
 * Edward Hargraves (1816–1891), Australian gold prospector
 * Hugh Harris, musician: guitarist with The Kooks
 * Jonathan Harvey (composer) (1939–2012), composer
 * John Berry Haycraft (1859–1923), professor of physiology
 * George Hutson (1889–1914), Olympic runner

I

 * James Iredell (1751–1799), American lawyer and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

J

 * Alison Jolly (1937–2014), primatologist
 * Arthur M. Jolly (born 1969), writer
 * Sir Richard Jolly (born 1934), development economist

K

 * Peter Kellner (born 1946), journalist, political commentator, polling expert and president of YouGov
 * Paul Austin Kelly (born 1960), opera singer
 * Dame Grace Kimmins (1871–1954), social activist

L

 * Eleanor of Lancaster (1311–1372), wife of Richard Fitzalan, 10th Earl of Arundel
 * Peter Love (died 1610), pirate, said to have been born in Lewes

M

 * Gideon Mantell (1790–1852), obstetrician, geologist and palaeontologist
 * Joan Maude (1908–1998), actress
 * John Maynard Smith (1920–2004), evolutionary biologist and geneticist
 * William McCrea (1904–1999), astronomer
 * Reginald Medhurst (1920–2009), cricketer

N

 * Grace Nichols (born 1950), poet, lives in Lewes.
 * William Nicholson (born 1948), writer

O

 * Patrick O'Brian CBE (1914–2000), author, novelist and translator, known for the Aubrey/Maturin series of sea stories, spent his childhood in Lewes.

P

 * Thomas Paine (1737–1809), revolutionary, inventor and intellectual
 * John Peckham (c. 1230–1292), Archbishop of Canterbury
 * Pleasance Pendred (1864-1948), suffragette and activist for women's rights
 * Brenda Pye (1907–2005), landscape artist

R

 * Thomas 'Clio' Rickman (1760–1834), brewer and pamphleteer
 * Dick Rees (1894-1951), five-time champion jumps jockey
 * Edward Ayearst Reeves (1862–1945), georgrapher; born in Lewes
 * James Reeves (1909-1978), writer and poet
 * Richard Russell (1687–1759), physician (water cure)

S

 * Louis Francis Salzman (1878–1971), economic historian
 * Sir George Shiffner (1762–1842), politician
 * Professor Alasdair Smith (born 1949), economist and former Vice-Chancellor, University of Sussex
 * Anthony Stapley (1590–1655), Member of Parliament; one of the regicides of King Charles I
 * Noel Streatfeild (1895–1986), children's author

T

 * Sir John Tomlinson (born 1946), opera singer
 * Polly Toynbee (born 1946), journalist and writer
 * Nicholas Tucker (living), academic and writer

W

 * Edward Perry Warren (1860–1928), art collector
 * Margaret Weedon (1854–1930), archer, competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.
 * John Jenner Weir (1822–1894), civil servant, entomologist and ornithologist
 * Barbara Willard (1909–1994), children's novelist
 * Mark Williams (actor) (born 1959), actor and comedian
 * Kenneth Woodroffe (1892–1915), first-class cricketer and British Army officer, killed in action in World War I
 * Virginia Woolf (1882–1941), novelist and essayist

Y

 * Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke (1690–1764), politician
 * Nicholas Yonge (c. 1560–1619), singer and publisher