List of people from Barrow-in-Furness

This is a list of notable people who were born in or have been residents of the town of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The demonym of Barrow is Barrovian.

Entertainment

Music

• Aim – musician, DJ and record producer^[1]
• Grian Chatten - musician, lead singer of post-punk band Fontaines D.C. was born in Barrow-in-Furness
• Glenn Cornick – ex first bass player in the rock band Jethro Tull^[2]
• Stephen Fitzpatrick – lead singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Her's^[3]
• Ken Lemon - country musician
• Thomas Round – retired singer and actor^[4]
• Chris While – award winning songwriter, singer and musician
• Kellie While – singer songwriter
• The Yage Letters – band based in Barrow

Arts

• Allan Campbell McLean - writer and political activist
• James Cranke - portrait painter
• John Duffy - medical historian and writer
• A. Harry Griffin - journalist and mountaineer
• Richard Gross - sculptor
• Henry Robinson Hall - landscape painter
• Clifford Last – sculptor. son of Nella Last
• Richard Howard Penton - marine and landscape painter
• George Romney – painter and early member of the famed Romney family, was born in Dalton and raised in Ormsgill
• Edward and Raymond Sankey - 20th century photographers
• Constance Spry – author and florist^[5]
• Keith Tyson – artist and Turner Prize winner, was born in Ulverston and educated in Dalton and Barrow^[6]

Television

• Blake Butler - television actor
• Steve Dixon – presenter for GB News
• Nigel Kneale – film and television scriptwriter^[7]
• Dave Myers – biker turned TV chef^[8]
• Jeffrey Perry – television actor
• Peter Purves – actor and television presenter who lived and worked in Barrow when he began his acting career^[9]
• Karen Taylor – television comedian^[10]

Sport

Football

• Wayne Curtis – Barrow AFC striker^[11]
• Ben Davies – Preston North End, Liverpool F.C. and Rangers F.C. defender
• Neil Doherty – Watford, Birmingham City, Northampton Town and Kidderminster Harriers winger^[12]
• Keith Eddy – Watford, Sheffield United and New York Cosmos player^[13]
• Harry Hadley – professional footballer and football manager^[14]
• Emlyn Hughes – England defender, England Captain and Liverpool captain^[15]
• Doug MacFarlane – Tottenham Hotspur forward
• Billy McAdams – Manchester City and Barrow A.F.C. striker
• Ian McDonald – midfielder for seven English teams between 1971 and 1988^[16]
• Frank McPherson – Barrow A.F.C., Manchester United and Watford F.C forward^[17]
• Vic Metcalfe – Sunderland A.F.C. centre back^[18]
• Jim Parker – Burnley and Bradford Park Avenue defender
• Jack Pelter – Huddersfield Town and Hull City midfielder^[19]
• Harry Roberts – England forward
• Gary Stevens – England and Everton defender^[20]
• Ron Suart – former English football player and manager (most notably of Chelsea)
• George Thomason - midfielder for Bolton Wanderers
• Albert Tomkin – former outside left player for Tottenham Hotspur
• David Walders – former defender for Barrow, Burnley and Oldham Athletic
• Jack Walders – former winger for Barrow, Burnley and Oldham Athletic
• Fred Walker – footballer and former manager of Huddersfield Town
• Jason Walker – current York striker; former player for Dundee, Greenock Morton and Morecambe
• Ron Staniforth – footballer for England, Sheffield Wednesday and Barrow.
• Georgia Stanway - footballer for England and Bayern Munich

Rugby league

• Paul Crarey – former Barrow Raiders and Whitehaven coach
• Ade Gardner – Barrow Raiders and St. Helens winger^[21]
• Mat Gardner – rugby league player, who currently plays for the Huddersfield Giants^[22] Matt has now moved to Salford Giants
• Ben Harrison – Warrington Wolves player and Ireland international
• Liam Harrison – Barrow Raiders player and Ireland international
• Willie Horne – Great Britain stand-off and Barrow Raiders rugby football captain^[23]
• Phil Jackson – Canadian former professional rugby league footballer^[24]
• Jimmy Lewthwaite – rugby league winger for Barrow and Great Britain, inducted in Barrow Hall of fame alongside Willie Horn and Phil Jackson^[25]
• Jacques O'Neill - rugby league player for Castleford Tigers, also known for participating in TV series Love Island

Motor Sport

• Adam Roynon – motorcyclist – speedway rider^[26]

Cricket

• George Bigg – cricketer
• Stuart Horne – cricketer
• Liam Livingstone – cricketer, England white ball cricket international and captain of Lancashire County Cricket Club
• John Iberson – cricketer
• Mike Burns – cricketer, captain of Somerset County Cricket Club
• Len Wilkinson – cricketer^[27]

Other sports

• Caroline Alexander – cross country mountain biker, road cyclist and two time Olympian
• Kenneth A. Bray – sports teacher and member of the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame
• Liam Conroy – Light-heavyweight boxer
• Bobby Taylor (Canadian football) - all-star Canadian Football League player and professional ice hockey player

Academia

• William Eccles – physicist and a pioneer in the development of radio communication
• Brian Fender – academic executive
• Thomas Fresh – pioneer of environmental health and Liverpool's first public health officer
• Pat Hudson – Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Cardiff
• Kenneth L. Johnson - engineering professor
• Norman H. Joy - ornithologist and coleopterist
• Winifred Pennington - limnologist and biologist
• John Strong - educationalist
• Rick Turner- archaeologist
• Kathryn Warner - historian and author

Miscellaneous

William Thomas Forshaw

• William Black, Baron Black - chair of various coach building companies
• Chris Blackhurst – editor of The Independent^[28]
• Elsie Blundell - Member of Parliament for Heywood and Middleton North
• Ernest Radcliffe Bond - soldier and Metropolitan Police officer
• George Glover Campbell - Australian politician
• Victor Chavez – current (2020) Chief Executive of Thales UK
• Gordon Fallows – Church of England bishop
• Maurice Flitcroft – amateur golfer and a hoaxer^[29]
• William Thomas Forshaw – British Army officer, and recipient of the Victoria Cross
• Tom Hollywood - trade unionist
• Nella Last – published wartime diarist^[30]
• Rosalind Mitchell - politician
• Stuart McMillan - Scottish politician
• Hazel Newberry - professional dancer
• Charles Oldham - Australian politician
• Brian Orrell - trade unionist
• Derek Pattinson – Secretary General of the General Synod of the Church of England^[31]
• James Ramsden - industrialist and key figure in founding of Barrow
• Nikhil Rathi – chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority
• Sir Leonard Redshaw – shipbuilder
• Dame Stella Rimington – Director-General (DG) of MI5 from 1992 to 1996^[32]
• Henry Schneider - industrialist and key figure in founding of Barrow
• Cat Smith - Member of Parliament for Lancaster and Fleetwood
• William Sykes – clergyman
• Frank Taylor - sports journalist
• John Tovey - restaurateur
• Dame Emma Walmsley – current (2024) CEO of GSK plc
• Eleanor Williams - Woman who made false claims about getting raped by an Asian "grooming gang".

Fictional characters

• Álvaro de Campos – heteronym created by Fernando Pessoa
• Charles Parker – detective in the Lord Peter Wimsey stories by Dorothy L. Sayers