List of people from Reading, Berkshire

Henry Addington

This is a list of notable people with a strong connection with the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. Normally these will be people who were born in Reading, or who have lived in the town, or who have represented the town in some way, for example by acting as its Member of Parliament. This list does not represent people whose sole connection to the town is to have been born in the Royal Berkshire Hospital. The listing is in alphabetic order of surname.

See also: Academics of the University of Reading and Alumni of the University of Reading.

A

• Dr. Anthony Addington (1730–1790; royal physician)
• Henry Addington, Viscount Sidmouth (1757–1844; former Prime Minister; donor of land for Royal Berkshire Hospital)
• John Alcock (1715–1806; organist and composer)
• Sir George Alexander (1858–1918; actor and theatre manager)
• Sir Hugh Percy Allen (1869–1946; university professor and conductor)
• Len Andrews (1888–1969; footballer)
• Jamie Ashdown (b1980; footballer)
• Sir Arthur Aston (1590–1649; governor during the Siege of Reading in 1643)
• Jane Austen (1775–1817; author. Went to school in Reading)

B

• Ken Barrington (1930–1981; cricketer)
• Luke Beaven (b1989; cricketer)
• Eliza Bennett (b1992; actress)
• Jacqueline Bisset (b1944; actress)
• Daniel Blagrave (1603–1668; former Member of Parliament and regicide)
• John Blagrave (c1561–1611; early mathematician)
• Michael Bond (b1926; author; creator of Paddington Bear)
• Adam Boulton (b1959; political editor)
• Felix Bowness (1922–2009; jockey in hit BBC sitcom Hi-de-Hi!)
• Sir Kenneth Branagh (b1960; actor)
• Charlie Brooker (born 1971; satirist and broadcaster)
• Angela Browning (b1946; politician)
• Richard Burns (1971–2005; rally driver)
• Deon Burton (b1976; footballer)
• Christopher Butler (1902–1986; Roman Catholic bishop and theologian)
• Sir Clifford Charles Butler (1922–1999; physicist, co-discoverer of hyperons and mesons)
• David Byron (1947–1985; original lead vocalist with rock group Uriah Heep)

C

• Benton Cade, (born 1983; filmmaker)
• William Cadogan, Earl Cadogan (1675–1726; commander-in-chief of the British Army)
• John Cennick (1718–1755; early Methodist and Moravian evangelist and hymnwriter)
• Percy Chapman (1900–1961; cricketer, captain of the victorious England 1926 Ashes team)
• William Macbride Childs (1869–1939; historian, instrumental in creation of the University of Reading, first Vice-Chancellor)
• Alexander Ross Clarke (1828–1914; geodesist; director of the measurement department of the Ordnance Survey)
• Alma Cogan (1932–1966; popular singer of the 1950s)

D

• Lisa Daniely (born Mary Elizabeth Bodington) (1929-2014) actress
• Simon Doonan (b1952; creative director of Barneys department store in New York)
• Natalie Dormer (b1982; actress)
• Evelyn Dunbar (1906–1960; war artist)
• Tony Durant (b1928; former Member of Parliament for Reading)

E

• Peter Emery (b1926; former Member of Parliament for Reading)
• Henry of Essex (died about 1170; royal standard bearer and loser of a trial by combat on De Montfort Island)

F

• Hugh Cook Faringdon (?-1539; churchman; last Abbot of Reading Abbey)
• Michael Foot (1913–2010; politician)
• Justin Fletcher (b. 1970), children's TV personality

G

• Ricky Gervais (b. 1961; comedian)
• Jane Griffiths (b. 1954; former Member of Parliament for Reading)

H

• Lambert Beverly Halstead (1933–1991; paleontologist and popularizer of science)
• Neil Halstead (b. 1970-; musician, founding member of Slowdive and Mojave 3
• Bernard Laurence Hieatt (1909-1930 Motorcycle sidecar champion & world record holder)
• John Howard Hinton (1791–1873; author and Baptist minister)
• Ernest Hives (1886–1965; aero-engine designer and industrialist)
• Richard Howitt (b 1961 - Labour MEP for the East of England was born in Reading)
• Joseph Huntley (1775-?; innovative biscuit maker; founder of Huntley & Palmers)

I

• Rufus Isaacs, Marquess of Reading (1860–1935; lawyer, politician, former Member of Parliament for Reading)

K

• John Kendrick (1573–1624; merchant and mayor)
• Miranda Krestovnikoff (b. 1973, biologist and presenter of the Coast TV series)
• Jeremy Kyle (b. 1965) radio and television presenter

L

• William Laud (1573–1645; former Archbishop of Canterbury)
• David Lean (1908–1991; film director and producer)
• John Lee (b1927; former Member of Parliament for Reading)
• Nikolai Liakhoff (1897-1962; pioneer of guide dog training)
• Norman Lovett (b1946; stand-up comedian and actor in BBC's (later Dave's) big cult sci-fi comedy hit Red Dwarf as Holly)

M

• Sir John Madejski (b1941; entrepreneur and philanthropist)
• Ken Major (1928–2009; architect and molinologist)
• William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke (1146–1219; Earl Marshal and Regent of England)
• Henry Marten (1602–1680; regicide, Parliamentarian Governor of Reading)
• Peter May (1929–1994; cricketer)
• Mary Russell Mitford (1787–1855; author, poet and playwright)
• Sam Mendes (b1965; director)
• James Merrick (1720–1769; poet and scholar)
• Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (née Catherine "Kate" Middleton) (born 1982; duchess, married to Prince William)
• Ian Mikardo (1908–1993; former Member of Parliament for Reading)
• Sir Francis Moore (1558–1621; lawyer, former Member of Parliament for Reading)
• Hayden Mullins (b1979; footballer)

N

• Arthur Negus (1903–1985; broadcaster and antiques expert)
• John Newbery (1713–1767; publisher and bookseller)

O

• Cormac Murphy O'Connor (b1932; Archbishop of Westminster, Head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales)
• Mike Oldfield (b1953; composer and artist)

P

• George Palmer (1818–1897; biscuit manufacturer, entrepreneur and politician; proprietor of Huntley & Palmers)
• George William Palmer (1851–1913; son of George Palmer, also a politician and proprietor of Huntley & Palmers)
• Sir Constantine Henry Phipps,(1656-1723), Lord Chancellor of Ireland.
• Dick Poole (cyclist; first man to cycle from Land's End to John o'Groats in under two days)
• Rev Dr John Pordage (1607–1681; priest and mystic, vicar of St Laurence's)
• Fred Potts VC (1892–1943; holder of the Victoria Cross)
• Stuart Price (b1977; Electronic musician)

S

• Martin Salter (b1954; former Member of Parliament for Reading West)
• Lawrie Sanchez (b1959; footballer and manager)
• Richard Sheepshanks (1794–1855; astronomer)
• Yasmina Siadatan (b1981; businesswoman)
• Charles Simeon (1759–1836; English evangelical clergyman)
• Sir John Simeon (1756–1824; former Member of Parliament for Reading)
• George Blackall Simonds (1843–1929; sculptor and brewer)
• William Blackall Simonds (1761–1834; brewer and banker)
• Goldwin Smith (1823–1910; historian and journalist)
• Sir John Soane (1753–1837; architect)
• Michael Sprott (b1975; professional heavyweight boxer)
• Sir Frank Stenton (1880–1967; Professor and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Reading)
• Matilda Stanley (1818–1908; Queen of the Gypsies)
• Dennis Stokes (1911-1998; Cricketer who captained Berkshire and played first-class cricket for the Minor Counties)
• Irwin Sparkes, lead singer from The Hoosiers

T

• William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–1877; early photographer)
• Thomas Noon Talfourd (1795–1854; judge and author)
• Chris Tarrant (b1946; radio broadcaster and host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?)
• Elizabeth Taylor (1912–1975; novelist)
• Ethelwynn Trewavas (1900–1993; ichthyologist)
• Alexander Turner, recipient of the Victoria Cross

V

• Gerard Folliott Vaughan (1923–2003; psychiatrist and former Member of Parliament for Reading East)

W

• Kevin Warwick (b1954; scientist)
• Neil Webb (b1963; footballer)
• Sir Thomas White (1492–1567; merchant, founder of St John's College at Oxford University)
• Oscar Wilde (1854–1900; poet and playwright, author of The Ballad of Reading Gaol, and prisoner in Reading Gaol)
• Doug "The Anarchist" Williams (b1972; wrestler)
• Anna Winslet (b1972; actress)
• Beth Winslet (b1978; actress)
• Kate Winslet (b1975; actress)
• Lucy Worsley (b1973; historian and television personality)