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
[edit]- John Agard (born 1949), poet, playwright and children's author, lives in Lewes.
- Russell Ash (1946–2010),[1] 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
[edit]- 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
[edit]- 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
[edit]- 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
[edit]- John Ellman (1753–1832), farmer and stockbreeder
- John Evelyn (1620–1706), writer, gardener and diarist
F
[edit]- 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
[edit]- 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
[edit]- 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
[edit]- James Iredell (1751–1799), American lawyer and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
J
[edit]- Alison Jolly (1937–2014), primatologist
- Arthur M. Jolly (born 1969), writer
- Sir Richard Jolly (born 1934), development economist
K
[edit]- 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
[edit]- 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
[edit]- 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
[edit]- Grace Nichols (born 1950), poet, lives in Lewes.[2]
- William Nicholson (born 1948), writer
O
[edit]- 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
[edit]- 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
[edit]- 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
[edit]- 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
[edit]- Sir John Tomlinson (born 1946), opera singer
- Polly Toynbee (born 1946), journalist and writer
- Nicholas Tucker (living), academic and writer
W
[edit]- 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
[edit]- Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke (1690–1764), politician
- Nicholas Yonge (c. 1560–1619), singer and publisher[3]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Russell Ash
- ^ Margaret Busby (ed.), Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent (1992), London: Vintage, 1993, p. 796.
- ^ David Brown, "Nicholas Yonge": The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1-56159-174-2