List of people from Portsmouth, New Hampshire

The following list includes notable people who were born or have lived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.



Academics and science

 * John Knowlton Bartlett (1816–1899), physician
 * Edmund March Blunt (1770–1862), navigator, publisher
 * E. Warren Clark (1849–1907), educator
 * Alfred L. Elwyn (1804–1884), physician, pioneer in the training and care of the mentally disabled
 * Laurence G. Leavitt (1903–2000), headmaster of Vermont Academy
 * Richard A. Searfoss (1956–2018), astronaut
 * Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford (1753–1814), physicist, inventor; Count of the Holy Roman Empire
 * Frederick Pearson Treadwell (1857–1918), chemist
 * Elizabeth Virgil (1903–1991), educator

Arts and architecture

 * Alfred Thompson Bricher (1837–1908), artist
 * Marc Drogin (1936–2017), writer and illustrator
 * William Harrison Folsom (1815–1901), architect
 * Jim McDermott (born 1960), painter, illustrator, cartoonist

Business

 * Brooke Astor (1902–2007), socialite, philanthropist; chairwoman of the Vincent Astor Foundation
 * Robert Harris (1830–1894), railway president
 * Paul Waterman (1964-present), businessman, conservationist, owner of the Library Restaurant

Judiciary

 * Edward Henry Durell (1810–1887), US federal judge
 * John L. Rand (1861–1942), 22nd Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court
 * John Samuel Sherburne (1757–1830), soldier, US federal judge
 * Samuel Treat (1815–1902), US federal judge
 * Joshua Winslow (1726–1801), soldier, politician, judge

Media

 * Bill Alfonso (born 1957), former pro wrestling referee and manager (born William Matthew Sierra in Portsmouth)
 * Tom Bergeron (born 1955), TV presenter, game show host
 * Peter Bonerz (born 1938), actor, director
 * Samantha Brown (born 1970), Travel Channel host, TV personality
 * William F. Haddock (1877–1969), film director of the silent film era
 * Jean Kasem (born 1954), actress
 * Milton Selzer (1918–2006), stage, film, and television actor
 * Ilene Woods (1929–2010), actress, voice of Cinderella

Military

 * Charles C. Carpenter (1834–1899), United States Navy rear admiral who rose to command of the Asiatic Squadron; resided in Portsmouth
 * Francis Cogswell (1887–1939), U.S. Navy captain; Navy Cross recipient for actions during World War I
 * Frederick Franklin (1840–1873), U.S. Navy quartermaster; Medal of Honor recipient (1871 Korean Campaign)
 * Mark G. Ham (1820–1869), U.S. Navy sailor; Medal of Honor recipient (American Civil War)
 * John Hart (1706–1777), colonel in the New Hampshire militia
 * Charles Hovey (1885–1911), U.S. Navy officer (Philippine–American War)
 * John Paul Jones (1747–1792), "father" of U.S. Navy
 * Nathaniel Meserve (1704–1758), shipwright, soldier
 * Enoch Greenleafe Parrott (1814–1879), U.S. Navy rear admiral (Mexican–American War and American Civil War)
 * Fitz John Porter (1822–1901), Union Army major general (American Civil War)
 * Robert H. Wyman (1822–1882), U.S. Navy rear admiral

Music

 * Al Barr (born 1968), musician & lead singer of Dropkick Murphys and The Bruisers
 * Gina Catalino (born 1984), singer-songwriter
 * Ronnie James Dio (1942–2010), heavy metal singer-songwriter, frontman for Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio, and Heaven and Hell
 * Geoff Palmer (born 1980), musician, singer, and songwriter. Member of The Connection, The Kurt Baker band, and The Queers
 * Tom Rush (born 1941), singer-songwriter
 * Bill Staines (1947–2021), folk musician
 * Joseph P King also known by the stage Joe Queer. Lead singer and guitarist of the punk rock band The Queers.

Politics

 * Amos T. Akerman (1821–1880), US attorney general
 * Ichabod Bartlett (1786–1853), US congressman
 * Clifton Clagett (1762–1829), US congressman
 * Renny Cushing (1962–2022), New Hampshire state representative
 * Samuel Cushman (1783–1851), US congressman
 * John Cutt (1613–1681), merchant, mill owner, and provincial president of New Hampshire
 * Charles Cutts (1769–1846), US senator
 * Charles M. Dale (1893–1978), mayor, state senator, and the 66th governor of New Hampshire
 * William S. Damrell (1809–1860), US congressman
 * John A. Durkin (1936–2012), US senator
 * Eileen Foley (1918–2016), eight-term mayor of Portsmouth (1968–1971, 1984–1985, 1988–1997), state senator, and former minority leader of the New Hampshire Senate
 * Ichabod Goodwin (1794–1882), 34th governor of New Hampshire
 * William Hale (1765–1848), US congressman
 * Nathaniel Appleton Haven (1762–1831), US congressman
 * Andrew Jarvis (1890–1990), mayor and member of the Governor's Council
 * Frank Jones (1832–1902), businessman, US congressman, mayor
 * John Langdon (1741–1819), Founding Father of the United States, merchant, President pro tempore of the US senate, and the governor of New Hampshire (2nd, 4th, 8th & 10th)
 * Woodbury Langdon (1739–1805), Founding Father, merchant, statesman, judge; Delegate from New Hampshire to the Continental Congress
 * Tobias Lear (1762–1816), personal secretary to President George Washington; Lear served Washington from 1784 until the former-President's death in 1799
 * Edward St. Loe Livermore (1762–1832), US congressman
 * Pierse Long (1739–1789), colonel of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, merchant, US senator
 * Henry B. Lovering (1841–1911), US congressman
 * Daniel Marcy (1809–1893), US congressman
 * Richard Martyn (1630–1694), early Portsmouth representative, speaker of the house, chief justice
 * John Fabyan Parrott (1767–1836), US congressman and senator
 * Charles H. Peaslee (1804–1866), US congressman and lawyer
 * Joseph Peirce (1748–1812), US congressman and soldier
 * John J. Perry (1811–1897), US congressman
 * Wesley Powell (1915–1981), lawyer and 70th Governor of New Hampshire
 * John Randall Reding (1805–1892), US congressman
 * James Sheafe (1755–1829), US congressman and senator
 * James R. Splaine (born 1947), New Hampshire state legislator, Portsmouth vice-mayor
 * Clement Storer (1760–1830), US congressman, senator
 * Daniel Webster (1782–1852), US senator from Massachusetts and the 14th and 19th US Secretary of State
 * Benning Wentworth (1696–1770), colonial governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766
 * Sir John Wentworth (1737–1820), the British colonial governor of New Hampshire at the time of the American Revolution; he was later also Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia
 * William Whipple (1731–1785), ship's captain, merchant, Founding Father, signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence; represented New Hampshire as a member of the Continental Congress from 1776 through 1779
 * Oren Elbridge Wilson (1844–1917), Mayor of Albany, New York, raised in Portsmouth

Religion

 * Joseph Stevens Buckminster (1784–1812), minister
 * Samuel Langdon (1723–1797), clergyman, educator, college president
 * Samuel Parker (1744–1804), bishop

Sports

 * Jane Blalock (born 1945), golfer with the LPGA Tour
 * George Haddock (1866–1926), Major League Baseball pitcher from 1888 to 1894
 * Eric Jenkins (born 1991), Olympic 1500m athlete
 * Josh Owens (born 1988), basketball player for Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
 * Dick Scott (1933–2020), pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs

Slavery

 * Oney Judge (1773–1848), runaway slave

Writing

 * John Greenleaf Adams (1810–1897), hymn writer
 * Thomas Bailey Aldrich (1836–1907), poet, novelist, editor
 * Helen Dore Boylston (1895–1984), author
 * Elliott Coues (1842–1899), surgeon, historian, author
 * Clayton Emery (born 1953), author
 * James T. Fields (1817–1881), publisher, author
 * Harriet McEwen Kimball (1834–1917), poet, hymnwriter, philanthropist, hospital co-founder
 * Eliza Lee (1792–1864), author
 * John Lord (1810–1894), historian, lecturer
 * Samuel Penhallow (1665–1726), historian, militia leader in present-day Maine during Queen Anne's War and Father Rale's War
 * Benjamin Penhallow Shillaber (1814–1890), printer, editor, humorist
 * Celia Thaxter (1835–1894), poet, writer