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 (died 1756) – historian and botanist
• 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, traveler and gardener
• Henry Tizard (1885–1959) – chemist and inventor
• John Edensor Littlewood (1885–1977) – mathematician
• Arthur Waley (1889–1966) – orientalist and sinologist
• Reg Balch (1894–1994) – ecologist and photographer
• 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 (born 1936) – 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

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 (born 1925) – Golden Globe nominated film, theatre and TV actor
• Peter Barkworth (1929–2006) – BAFTA winning actor
• Dinsdale Landen (1932–2003) – TV actor
• Lance Percival (1933) – comedy actor
• Patsy Byrne (born 1933) – 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 (born 1966) - 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
• 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

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 (born 1914) – film producer of the Carry On series
• Oliver Postgate (born 1925) – animator and co-creator of Bagpuss, The Clangers and Ivor the Engine
• Peter Firmin (born 1928) – 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
• E. W. Bullinger (1837–1913) – Anglican clergyman, Biblical scholar, and dispensationalist theologian
• Arthur Tooth (1839–1931) – Anglican clergyman, prosecuted under the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874
• John Neale Dalton (1839–1931) – chaplain to Queen Victoria and tutor to George V of the United Kingdom
• Charles Bousfield Huleatt (1863–1908) – Anglican priest and discoverer of the Magdalen papyrus
• Nelson Wellesley Fogarty (1871–1933) – Bishop of Damaraland, Namibia
• Frank W. Boreham (1871–1959) – Baptist theologian
• Edward Knapp-Fisher (1915–2003) – Sub-Dean of Westminster Abbey
• John A. T. Robinson (1919–1983) – Bishop of Woolwich

Entrepreneurs

• William Adams (1564–1620) – trader and first British navigator to reach Japan
• William Claiborne (c. 1600-c. 1677) – early settler of Virginia and Maryland
• Christopher Branch (c. 1600–1682) – early settler of Virginia
• Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1692–1781) – landowner in Virginia
• William Colgate (1783–1857) – founder of the Colgate toothpaste company
• Gregory Blaxland (1788–1852) – settler of Australia and wine-maker
• Thomas Fletcher Waghorn (1800–1850) – postal pioneer who developed a new route from Great Britain to India
• Darrell Duppa (1832–1892) – co-founder of Phoenix, Arizona
• Edward William Cole (1832–1918) – successful bookshop owner in Melbourne, Australia
• Charles Elkin Mathews (1851–1921) – publisher and bookseller
• George Marchant (1857–1941) – soft-drink manufacturer in Australia
• Bronson Albery (1881–1971) – theatre director and impresario
• Freddie Laker (1922–2006) – founder of Laker Airways
• Ian Davis (born 1952) – Managing Director of McKinsey & Company
• John Charman (born 1953) – CEO/President/Director of Bermuda-based Axis Capital Holdings Ltd

Musicians

• Boy George (Born 1963) – Singer with the band Culture Club
• John Ward (1571–1638) – composer
• John Jenkins (1592–1678) – composer
• John Gostling (1644–1733) – bass singer and a favourite of Charles II of England
• Isaac Nathan (c. 1792–1864) – English-Australian musician
• George Job Elvey (1816–1993) – organist and composer
• Sydney Nicholson (1875–1947) – founder of the Royal School of Church Music
• Edward Norman Hay (1889–1943) – composer and musicologist
• Malcolm Sargent (1895–1967) – leading conductor of choral works
• Percy Whitlock (1903–1946) – organist and composer
• Roy Douglas (born 1907) – composer
• Alfred Deller (1912–1979) – opera singer
• Daphne Oram (1925–2003) – composer and electronic musician
• Tony Coe (born 1934) – jazz musician
• Bill Wyman (born 1936) – bassist for the band The Rolling Stones
• Richard Rodney Bennett (born 1936) – film score and jazz composer
• Crispian St. Peters (1939–2010) – pop singer
• Mick Jagger (born 1943) – singer and songwriter for the band The Rolling Stones
• Keith Richards (born 1943) – guitarist and songwriter for the band The Rolling Stones
• Dick Taylor (born 1943) – bassist for the band The Rolling Stones
• Mike Ratledge (born 1943) – keyboardist for the band Soft Machine
• Phil May (born 1944) – singer for the band The Pretty Things
• Kevin Ayers (born 1944) – singer and bassist for the band Soft Machine
• Judge Dread (1945–1998) – reggae and ska artist
• Hugh Hopper (born 1945) – progressive rock and jazz bass guitarist and composer
• Noel Redding (1945–2003) – bassist for the band The Jimi Hendrix Experience
• John Paul Jones (born 1946) – bassist, keyboardist and co-songwriter for English rock band Led Zeppelin
• Trevor Pinnock (born 1946) – conductor and harpsichordist
• Richard Coughlan (born 1947) – drummer for the band Caravan
• Dave Sinclair (born 1947) – keyboardist for the band Caravan
• Gordon Giltrap (born 1948) – guitarist and composer
• Richard Sinclair (born 1948) – guitarist for the band Caravan
• Bill Bruford (born 1949) – drummer for the bands Yes and King Crimson
• Nigel Egg (born 1949) – singer/songwriter
• Peter Frampton (born 1950) – musician, most famous for Frampton Comes Alive!
• Alan Clayson (born 1951) – record producer and songwriter
• Harry Christophers (born 1953) – conductor
• David Wright (born 1953) – New Age keyboard player and composer
• Gary Barden (born 1955) – songwriter and guitarist for the band Michael Schenker Group
• Anne Dudley (born 1956) – orchestral composer and pop musician
• Sid Vicious (1957–1979) – bassist for the band The Sex Pistols
• Shane MacGowan (born 1957) – singer and songwriter for the band The Pogues
• Kate Bush (born 1958) – pop musician
• Billy Childish (born 1959) – singer, guitarist, artist and poet
• Pete Tong (born 1960) – record producer and DJ for BBC Radio 1
• Guy Fletcher (born 1960) – keyboardist for the band Dire Straits
• Sexton Ming (born 1961) – musician, artist and poet
• Andrew Giddings (born 1963) – keyboardist for the band Jethro Tull
• Paul Oakenfold (born 1963) – record producer and DJ
• Nitin Sawhney (born 1964) – songwriter and record producer
• Jay Darlington (born 1968) – keyboardist for the band Kula Shaker
• Omar Lye-Fook (born 1968) – soul singer, songwriter and musician
• Justin Chancellor (born 1971) – bass player for the rock band Tool
• Richard Hughes (born 1975) – drummer for the band Keane
• Tom Perchard (born 1976) – musicologist
• David Ford (born 1978) – singer-songwriter
• Vicky Beeching (born 1979) – worship leader and musician
• Ben Mills (born 1980) – singer and contestant on TV's The X Factor
• Rik Waller (born 1980) – singer and contestant on TV's Pop Idol
• Lee Ryan (born 1983) – member of the boy band Blue
• Oliver Sykes (born 1986) – metal singer
• Joss Stone (born 1987) – BRIT and Grammy Award-winning R&B singer/songwriter
• Declan Galbraith (born 1991) – singer

Politicians, statesmen and lawyers

• John Scott of Scott's Hall (died 1485) – Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
• William Scott of Scott's Hall (died 1524) – Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
• Thomas Cheney (c. 1485–1558) – Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
• Nicholas Wotton (c. 1497–1567) – ambassador to France
• Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford (1501–1563) – peer
• Anne Boleyn (c. 1501–1536) – wife of King Henry VIII
• Sir John Peyton (died 1558) – Governor of Jersey
• Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork (1566–1643) – Lord High Treasurer of the Kingdom of Ireland
• Roger Twysden (1597–1672) – politician and antiquarian
• Miles Sindercombe (died 1657) – leader of a group that tried to assassinate Oliver Cromwell
• Sackville Crowe (c. 1611 – c. 1683) – Member of Parliament and Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire
• Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham (1621–1682) – Lord Chancellor
• Thomas Hinckley, (Tenterden, Kent, England; (1618–1706) – Governor Plymouth Colonies (1680–1692)
• Francis Lovelace (1621–1675) – second governor of the New York colony
• Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke (1690–1764) – Lord Chancellor
• Daniel Horsmanden (c. 1691 – c. 1778) – judge who tried the supposed conspirators in the New York Slave Insurrection of 1741
• Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst (1717–1797) – Governor General of British North America
• Thomas Paine (1737–1809) – revolutionary
• Charles Abbott, 1st Baron Tenterden (1762–1832) – Lord Chief Justice
• Charles Larkin (1775–1833) – electoral reformer
• Elizabeth Fry (1780–1845) – prison reformer
• Sir Edward Knatchbull, 9th Baronet (1781–1849) – Conservative Member of Parliament for East Kent
• George Gipps (1791–1847) – Governor of the colony of New South Wales, Australia
• Francis Bond Head (1793–1875) – Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada during the rebellion of 1837
• James Weaver (1800–1886) – Wisconsin State Assemblyman
• William Locke Brockman (1802–1872) – early settler of Western Australia and Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council
• Edmund Walker Head (1805–1868) – Governor General of the Province of Canada
• Henry Young (1808–1870) – fifth Governor of South Australia
• Wallace Bickley (1810–1876) – early settler of Western Australia and Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council
• Charles Sladen (1816–1884) – sixth Premier of Victoria, Australia
• Richard Ash Kingsford (1821–1902) – alderman and mayor of Brisbane Municipal Council, a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, Australia, and a mayor of Cairns, Queensland
• Edith Pechey (1845–1908) – suffragette and one of the first UK female doctors
• Josceline Amherst (1846–1900) – member of Western Australia's first Legislative Council under responsible government
• George Herbert Murray (1849–1936) – civil servant and Permanent Secretary of the Treasury
• Aretas Akers-Douglas, 1st Viscount Chilston (1851–1926) – Conservative Home Secretary
• William Hall-Jones (1851–1936) – Prime Minister of New Zealand
• Janet Stancomb-Wills (1851–1932) – mayor of Ramsgate and philanthropist
• Martin Conway (1856–1937) – Member of Parliament and art critic
• Henry Forster, 1st Baron Forster (1866–1936) – seventh Governor-General of Australia
• Grote Stirling (1875–1953) – Member of Parliament in Canada
• Wendy Wood (1892–1981) – campaigner for Scottish independence
• Audrey Callaghan (1915–2005) – Greater London Councillor and wife of Prime Minister James Callaghan
• Philip Lucock (1916–1996) – Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives in Australia
• Edward Heath (1916–2005) – Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• Ron Ledger (1920–2004) – Labour Member of Parliament
• John Vinelott (1923–2006) – High Court judge
• Bob Astles (born 1924) – associate of Ugandan presidents Milton Obote and Idi Amin
• Jeanne Hoban (born 1924) – trade unionist in Sri Lanka
• Geoff Braybrooke (born 1935) – New Zealand Member of Parliament
• Brian Haw (born 1949) – anti-war protester
• The Princess Royal (Anne; born 1950) – only daughter of The Queen
• Nick Brown (born 1950) – Labour Member of Parliament
• John Redwood (born 1951) – Conservative Member of Parliament
• James Arbuthnot (born 1952) – Conservative Member of Parliament
• Paul Clark (born 1957) – Labour Member of Parliament
• Nicky Crane (1958–1993) – neo-Nazi activist
• Sean Gabb (born 1960) – director of the free market and civil liberties think-tank, Libertarian Alliance
• Nigel Farage (born 1964) – leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP)
• The Countess of Wessex (Sophie, born 1965) – wife of The Earl of Wessex

Presenters and entertainers

• Kenneth Clark (1903–1983) – art historian and TV presenter
• Frank Muir (1920–1998) – comedy writer and TV presenter
• Michael Bentine (1922–1996) – comedian and member of the Goons
• Tony Hart (1925–2009) – artist and children's TV presenter
• Bob Holness (1928–2011) – presenter of TV's Blockbusters and Call My Bluff
• Rod Hull (1935–1999) – TV entertainer, known for his puppet Emu
• David Frost (1939–2013) – TV presenter, satirist and journalist
• Miki Travis (1953) – Cruise Ship Entertainer, TV Warm up, Comedian Magician

• Jan Leeming (born 1942) – TV presenter and newsreader
• Roger Day (born 1945) – radio presenter for BBC Radio Kent
• David Starkey (born 1945) – historian and TV presenter
• Reg Bolton (1945–2006) – circus clown and writer
• Michael Hogben (born 1952) – antiques dealer and presenter of TV's Auction Man
• Jilly Goolden (born 1956) – wine critic and TV presenter
• Lorraine Michaels (born 1958) – Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for April 1981
• Carol McGiffin (born 1960) – radio presenter and panellist on TV's Loose Women
• Ian Hislop (born 1960) – TV presenter and editor of Private Eye magazine
• Fiona Phillips (born 1961) – presenter of TV's GMTV
• Mark Steel (born 1960) – socialist comedian and newspaper columnist
• Anton Vamplew (born 1966) – astronomer and TV presenter
• Nick Bateman (born 1967) – Big Brother contestant, TV presenter and writer
• Nicki Chapman (born 1967) – TV presenter and judge on TV's Popstars and Pop Idol
• Naomi Cleaver (born 1967) – interior designer and presenter of TV's Other People's Houses and Honey I Ruined the House
• David Bull (born 1969) – doctor and guest on TV's Most Haunted Live, The Wright Stuff and Watchdog
• Alistair Appleton (born 1970) – presenter of TV's Cash in the Attic and House Doctor
• Melanie and Martina Grant (born 1971) – presenters of TV's Fun House
• Alex Lovell (born 1973) – presenter of TV's Playhouse Disney and BrainTeaser
• James Tanner (born c. 1976) – chef on TV's Ready Steady Cook
• Luke Burrage (born 1976) – juggler
• Matt Morgan (born 1977) – co-host of Russell Brand's BBC Radio 2 show
• Kelly Brook (born 1979) – model, actress and TV presenter

Soldiers

• Francis Thynne (c. 1544–1608) – officer of arms at the College of Arms, London
• Samuel Argall (1580–1608) – Navy admiral and kidnapper of Pocahontas
• Sir William Brockman (1595–1654) – politician and military leader during the English civil war
• John Boys (1607–1664) – Royalist captain during the English Civil War
• George Rooke (1650–1709) – naval commander during the Dutch Wars
• George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington (1668–1733) – First Lord of the Admiralty
• Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham (1726–1813) – First Lord of the Admiralty
• James Wolfe (1727–1759) – military officer who defeated the French and established British rule in Canada
• Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis (1738–1805) – British general in the American War of Independence
• Peter Rainier (1741–1808) – Royal Navy Admiral and Member of Parliament
• John Nicholson Inglefield (1748–1828) – Royal Navy Captain of the Fleet
• Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769–1852) – field marshal and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge (1785–1856) – field marshal and Governor-General of India
• James Mouat (1815–1899) – recipient of the Victoria Cross
• John Miller Adye (1819–1900) – general
• William Sutton (1830–1888) – recipient of the Victoria Cross
• George Truman Morrell (1830–1912) – Royal Navy commander
• John French, 1st Earl of Ypres (1852–1925) – World War I field marshal
• Harold Stephen Langhorne (1866–1932) – brigadier-general
• Alexander Godley (1867–1957) – World War I general
• Henry Edward Manning Douglas (1875–1939) – recipient of the Victoria Cross
• Arthur Borton (1883–1933) – recipient of the Victoria Cross
• Thomas Highgate (1895–1914) – first British soldier to be convicted of desertion and executed during World War I
• James McCudden (1895–1918) – recipient of the Victoria Cross
• Dick White (1906–1993) – Head of the Secret Intelligence Service
• Charles Henry Pepys Harington (1910–2007) – general
• Roderick Alastair Brook Learoyd (1913–1996) – recipient of the Victoria Cross
• Peter Allen Norton (born 1962) – awarded the George Cross for his service in Iraq
• Sarah-Jayne Mulvihill (1973–2006) – Flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force killed in Iraq

Sportsmen

• Edwin Stead (1701–1735) – noted cricket patron and team captain in the 1720s and early 1730s
• George Louch (1746–1811) – cricketer
• Robert Clifford (1752–1811) – cricketer for Kent
• Fuller Pilch (1804–1870) – cricketer for Kent and Norfolk
• Henry Tracey Coxwell (1819–1900) – balloonist
• H T Waghorn (1842–1930) – cricket statistician and historian
• Spencer Gore (1850–1906) – first Wimbledon tennis champion
• Cuthbert Ottaway (1850–1878) – England football captain
• Frank Marchant (1864–1946) – cricketer for Kent
• Fred Waghorne (1866–1956) – ice hockey referee in Canada
• Douglas Carr (1872–1950) – cricketer for Kent and England
• Syd King (1873–1932) – footballer and manager of West Ham United
• Archie Cross (1881–unknown) – footballer for Woolwich Arsenal
• Edward Walter Solly (1882–1966) – cricketer for Worcestershire
• Walter Tull (1888–1918) – UK's second black professional footballer and first black infantry officer
• John Stanton Fleming Morrison (1892–1961) – golf course architect
• Louis Zborowski (1895–1924) – racing driver
• Wally Hammond (1903–1965) – cricketer for Gloucestershire and England
• Dick Edmed (1904–1983) – footballer for Liverpool
• Les Ames (1905–1990) – cricketer for Kent and England
• Alec Rose (1908–1991) – sailed single-handed around the world
• Hopper Levett (1908–1995) – cricketer for England
• Sam King (1911–2003) – golfer
• Arthur Fagg (1915–1977) – cricketer for Kent and England
• William Murray-Wood (1917–1968) – cricketer for Kent
• Jack Conley (1920–1991) – footballer for Torquay United
• Ted Ditchburn (1921–2005) – footballer for Tottenham Hotspur and England
• Malcolm Allison (born 1927) – footballer for West Ham United and football manager
• Brian Moore (1932–2001) – TV sports commentator
• George Wright (1930–1992) – footballer for West Ham United
• Brian Luckhurst (1939–2005) – cricketer for Kent and England
• Barry Davies (born 1940) – TV sports commentator
• Bill Ivy (1942–1969) – motorcycle racer
• Brian Rose (born 1950) – cricketer for Somerset and England
• Paul Gilchrist (born 1952) – footballer for Southampton, Portsmouth and Swindon Town
• Kevin Jarvis (born 1953) – cricketer for Kent and Gloucestershire
• Tony Godden (born 1955) – footballer for West Bromwich Albion, Chelsea and Birmingham City
• Dave Carr (1957–2005) – footballer for Luton Town and Torquay United
• David Gower (born 1957) – England cricket captain and TV presenter
• Bob Bolder (born 1958) – footballer for Charlton Athletic, Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday
• Graham Dilley (born 1959) – cricketer for Kent and England
• Richard Ellison (born 1959) – cricketer for Kent and England
• Barry Knight (born 1960) – football referee
• Steve Bennett (born 1961) – football referee
• Gary Brazil (born 1962) – footballer for Fulham, Preston North End and Sheffield United
• Jamie Spence (born 1963) – golfer
• Andy Townsend (born 1963) – TV presenter; footballer for Aston Villa and Republic of Ireland
• David Bowman (born 1964) – footballer for Heart of Midlothian, Dundee United and Scotland
• Geoff Parsons (born 1964) – Commonwealth Games silver medal winning high jumper
• Tim Berrett (born 1965) – Canadian Olympic race walker
• Andy Hessenthaler (born 1965) – footballer and manager of Gillingham
• Mark Ealham (born 1969) – cricketer for Nottinghamshire and England
• Nigel Llong (born 1969) – cricketer for Kent
• Doug Loft (born 1986) – footballer
• Kelly Holmes (born 1970) – 800 metres and 1500 metres Olympic gold medalist
• Mark Hammett (born 1972) – rugby union footballer for New Zealand
• Rob Short (born 1972) – field hockey player for Canada
• Jamie Staff (born 1973) – Commonwealth Games medal winning cyclist
• Gary Breen (born 1973) – footballer for Coventry City, Sunderland and Republic of Ireland
• Neil Shipperley (born 1974) – footballer for Crystal Palace, Chelsea and Wimbledon
• Takaloo (born 1975) – Iranian boxer
• Matthew Rose (born 1975) – footballer for Arsenal, QPR and Yeovil Town
• Kevin Hunt (born 1975) – footballer for Gillingham, Hong Kong Rangers and Bohemian FC
• Ed Smith (born 1977) – writer, and cricketer for Kent and England
• Georgina Harland (born 1978) – 2004 Olympic bronze medallist in the Modern pentathlon
• Peter Hawkins (born 1978) – footballer for Wimbledon, York City and Rushden & Diamonds
• Jon Harley (born 1979) – footballer for Sheffield United, Fulham and Chelsea
• David Flatman (born 1980) – rugby union footballer for Bath and England
• Michael Yardy (born 1980) – cricketer for Sussex
• Sarah Ayton (born 1980) – Olympic gold medal winning sailor
• Gary Mills (born 1981) – footballer for Rushden & Diamonds
• Danny Spiller (born 1981) – footballer for Gillingham
• Richard Rose (born 1982) – footballer for Gillingham and Hereford United
• James Tredwell (born 1982) – cricketer for Kent and England Under–19s
• Matt Corker (born 1982) – rugby union footballer for the London Wasps
• Rhys Lloyd (born 1982) – American footballer for Frankfurt Galaxy
• Lisa Dobriskey (born 1983) – Commonwealth Games 1500 metres gold medallist
• Billy Jones (born 1983) – footballer for Leyton Orient and Kidderminster
• Barry Fuller (born 1984) – footballer for Barnet and Stevenage
• Adam Birchall (born 1984) – footballer for Mansfield Town, Barnet and Wales Under–21s
• Andrew Crofts (born 1984) – footballer for Gillingham
• Dave Martin (born 1985) – footballer for Crystal Palace
• Tom Varndell (born 1985) – rugby union footballer for Leicester Tigers and England
• Joe Denly (born 1986) – cricketer for Kent and England Under–19s
• Sammy Moore (born 1987) – footballer for Ipswich Town
• Zack Sabre Jr (born 1987) – professional wrestler
• Chris Smalling (born 1989) – footballer with Manchester United F.C.
• Adrian Quaife-Hobbs (born 1991) – Formula BMW racing driver

Writers

• John Gower (c. 1330–1408) – poet
• Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343–1400) – diplomat and author of The Canterbury Tales
• Thomas Wyatt (1503–1400) – poet and diplomat
• William Painter (1540–1594) – author
• John Lyly (c. 1553–1606) – writer and originator of the linguistic style Euphuism
• Philip Sidney (1554–1606) – poet and military general
• Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593) – dramatist, poet and translator
• Phineas Fletcher (1582–1650) – poet
• Richard Lovelace (1618–1659) – poet and Royalist
• Aphra Behn (1640–1689) – dramatist and one of the first English professional female writers
• Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea (1661–1720) – poet
• Sarah Dixon (1671/2 – 1765) – poet
• Elizabeth Carter (1717–1806) – linguist
• Christopher Smart (1722–1771) – poet
• Thomas Turner (1729–1793) – diarist
• William Hazlitt (1778–1830) – essayist and literary critic
• Caroline Cornwallis (1786–1858)
• Caroline Fry (1787–1846) – Christian writer
• Charles Dickens (1812–1870) – foremost English novelist of the Victorian era
• George W. M. Reynolds (1814–1879) – author
• James Parton (1822–1891) – American biographer
• Edwin Arnold (1832–1904) – poet and journalist
• Alfred Austin (1835–1913) – Poet Laureate
• Robert Bridges (1844–1930) – Poet Laureate
• Robert Blatchford (1851–1943) – socialist author
• William Pett Ridge (1857–1930) – author
• Edwin Lester Arnold (1857–1935) – author
• Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) – novelist
• E. Nesbit (1858–1924) – children's author and poet
• Rachel Beer (1858–1927) – editor of The Observer and The Sunday Times newspapers
• M. R. James (1862–1936) – mediaeval scholar and author
• Robert Smythe Hichens (1864–1950) – journalist and novelist
• H. G. Wells (1866–1946) – writer
• Lionel Johnson (1867–1902) – poet, essayist and critic
• Arthur Shearly Cripps (1869–1952) – poet, writer and Anglican priest
• W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) – playwright and novelist
• Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany (1878–1957) – writer and dramatist
• Winifred Mary Letts (1882–1972) – novelist and poet
• Gilbert Waterhouse (1883–1916) – war poet
• Russell Thorndike (1885–1972) – novelist and actor
• Dornford Yates (1885–1960) – novelist
• Siegfried Sassoon (1886–1967) – war poet
• Enid Bagnold (1889–1981) – author and playwright
• Ernest Elmore (1901–1957) – writer of fantasy and (as John Bude) crime novels
• Thomas Head Raddall (1903–1994) – historical fiction writer
• Peter Quennell (1905–1993) – poet and literary historian
• Mervyn Peake (1911–1968) – author of the Gormenghast books
• Ronald James Marsh (1914–1987) – novelist
• Keith Douglas (1920–1944) – poet
• Sidney Keyes (1922–1943) – war poet
• John Gillespie Magee, Jr. (1922–1943) – Air Force pilot and poet
• Dudley Pope (1925–1997) – author of nautical fiction
• Norman Worker (1927–2005) – comic book writer
• Thom Gunn (1929–2004) – Anglo-American poet
• U. A. Fanthorpe (born 1929) – poet and recipient of the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry
• Michael Busselle (1935–2006) – writer and photographer
• John Wells (1936–1998) – satirical writer and comedy performer
• John Fuller (born 1937) – poet and author
• John Russell Taylor (born 1938) – film critic
• Frederick Forsyth (born 1938) – author of thriller novels such as The Day of the Jackal and The Odessa File
• Robert Fisk (born 1946) – journalist
• Bruce Robinson (born 1946) – BAFTA award-winning screenwriter
• Robert Holdstock (born 1948) – fantasy author
• William Nicholson (born 1948) – Academy Award nominated screenwriter, playwright, and novelist
• John Lloyd (born 1951) – comedy writer, and TV producer for Blackadder, Spitting Image and Not the Nine O'Clock News
• David Hewson (born 1953) – crime and mystery novelist
• Sarah Sands (born 1961) – editor of The Sunday Telegraph newspaper
• David Edwards (born 1962) – political journalist
• Daniel Blythe (born 1969) – author
• Stel Pavlou (born 1970) – author and screenwriter
• Rana Dasgupta (born 1971) – writer
• David Lee Stone (born 1978) – fantasy author Elaine Everest (born 1953) - Award-winning historical /saga author.

Miscellaneous

• Walter Tirel (1065–1134) – killed William II of England, possibly accidentally
• Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst (1100–1134) – one of the earliest known sets of conjoined twins
• John Ward (c. 1553–1622) – pirate
• Mary Carleton (1642–1673) – fraudster
• Sophia Stacey (1791–1874) – friend of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and writer Mary Shelley
• Alice Liddell (1852–1934) – inspiration for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
• Frank John William Goldsmith (1902–1982) – survivor of the RMS Titanic disaster
• Tony Hayward (born 1957) – CEO of BP Group (2007–2010)
• Kevin Foster (born 1958/59) – investment fraudster
• Marcus Sarjeant (born 1964) – fired six blank shots at Elizabeth II