This is a list of people from Oldham, in North West England. The demonym of

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

is Oldhamer; however, this list may include people from

Chadderton Chadderton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irk and Rochdale Canal. It is located in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Oldham, south of Rochdale and north-east of Manchester. ...

Failsworth Failsworth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and south-west of Oldham. The orbital M60 motorway skirts it to the east. The population at the 2011 census was ...

, Lees,

Royton Royton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 21,284 in 2011. Close to the source of the River Irk, near undulating land at the foothills of the South Pennines, it is northwest of Old ...

Saddleworth Saddleworth is a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. It comprises several villages and hamlets as well as suburbs of Oldham on the west side of the Pennine hills. Areas include Austerlands, Del ...

, and

Shaw and Crompton Shaw and Crompton is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which contains the town of Shaw and lies on the River Beal at the foothills of the South Pennines. It is located north of Oldham, south ...

, all from the wider

Metropolitan Borough of Oldham The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after its largest town, Oldham, The borough had a population of 237,628 making it the seventh-largest district by population ...

. This list is arranged alphabetically by surname:

A

* Sir Elkanah Armitage (1794–1876) – industrialist and Mayor of Manchester; born in Failsworth * Mike Atherton (born 1968) – broadcaster, journalist and retired

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er for

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

; born in

B

Vera Baird Dame Vera Baird, (''née'' Thomas; born 13 February 1950) is a British barrister and politician who has held roles as a government minister, police and crime commissioner, and Victims' Commissioner for England and Wales. A Labour Party Mem ...

(born 1950) – Labour

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

, author and barrister *

Bobby Ball Robert Harper (28 January 1944 – 28 October 2020), known professionally as Bobby Ball, was a British comic, actor, singer and television host. He was best known as a member of the comic double act Cannon and Ball, with Tommy Cannon (Thomas ...

(1944–2020) – one half of comedy double act Cannon and Ball; born in Boundary Park General Hospital *

Tony Barber Anthony Ferraro Louis Barber (born 28 March 1940) is a British Australian Gold Logie award-winning television game show host, radio announcer singer and media personality, who has been active in the industry since the early 1960s. Biography E ...

(born 1940) − radio and television host and

Gold Logie The Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television, commonly referred to simply as the Gold Logie, is an award presented annually at the Australian Logie Awards. The Gold Logie was first awarded at the 2nd Annual TV We ...

winner *

Lydia Becker Lydia Ernestine Becker (24 February 1827 – 18 July 1890) was a leader in the early British suffrage movement, as well as an amateur scientist with interests in biology and astronomy. She established Manchester as a centre for the suffrage mo ...

(1827–1890) – leading 19th-century suffragette, born in Chadderton's Foxdenton Hall * Hannah Beswick (1688–1758) – woman who was so afraid of being buried alive that she insisted on her body being embalmed and kept above ground * Christopher Biggins (born 1948) – television presenter,

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

actor and winner of 2007's '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' * Scholes Birch (1826–1910) – first-class cricketer *

Lally Bowers Kathleen "Lally" Bowers (21 January 1914 – 18 July 1984) was an English actress. Bowers was born in Oldham, Lancashire, where she was educated at Hulme Grammar School. She worked as a secretary before walking-on and understudying at the ...

(1914–1984) – actress, and next door neighbour to

Dora Bryan Dora May Broadbent, (7 February 1923 – 23 July 2014), known as Dora Bryan, was a British actress of stage, film and television.Helen Bradley Helen Layfield Bradley MBE (20 November 1900 – 19 July 1979) was an English artist born in Lees, Lancashire, England. Her paintings, mostly in oils, typically depict life in Lancashire in the Edwardian era. Biography She was born Hele ...

(1900–1979) – 20th-century oil painter born in Lees in 1900 *

Benjamin Brierley Benjamin Brierley (often known as Ben Brierley) (26 June 1825 – 18 January 1896) was an English weaver, who took up writing in Lancashire dialect. He became a prolific journalist. Life He was born in the Rocks area of Failsworth, Lancashire ...

(1825–1896) – Failsworth-born weaver, poet and writer in Lancashire dialect *

Louise Brown Louise Joy Brown (born 25 July 1978) is an English woman who was the first human to have been born after conception by ''in vitro'' fertilisation experiment (IVF). Her birth, following a procedure pioneered in Britain, has been lauded among "t ...

(born 1978) – world's first baby conceived by ''in vitro'' fertilisation; born in Oldham General Hospital *

Dora Bryan Dora May Broadbent, (7 February 1923 – 23 July 2014), known as Dora Bryan, was a British actress of stage, film and television.Parbold-born actress, best known for her role in '' A Taste of Honey'' and as Roz in ''

Last of the Summer Wine ''Last of the Summer Wine'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke and originally broadcast by the BBC from 1973 to 2010. It premiered as an episode of '' Comedy Playhouse'' on 4 January 1973, and the first series of episodes f ...

'' * Will Buckley (born 1989) – footballer for Sunderland

C

Tommy Cannon Thomas Derbyshire (born 27 June 1938), known professionally as Tommy Cannon, is an English comic, actor and singer. He is best known as the straight man of the comic double act Cannon and Ball, until Bobby Ball's death in 2020, in TV programm ...

(born 1938) – one half of comedy double act Cannon and Ball *

Ronald Castree Ronald is a masculine given name derived from the Old Norse ''Rögnvaldr'',#H2, Hanks; Hardcastle; Hodges (2006) p. 234; #H1, Hanks; Hodges (2003) § Ronald. or possibly from Old English ''Regenweald''. In some cases ''Ronald'' is an Anglicised ...

(born 1953) – murderer convicted for the killing of Lesley Molseed * Laurence Chaderton (–1640) – one of the original translators of the Authorized King James Version of the Bible. *

Brian Clarke Brian Clarke (born 2 July 1953) is a British painter, architectural artist and printmaker, known for his large-scale stained glass and mosaic projects, symbolist paintings, set designs, and collaborations with major figures in Modern and conte ...

(born 1953) – Oldham-born architectural artist and painter known for his work in stained glass * J. R. Clynes (1869–1949) – Labour politician, Leader of the Labour Party, 1921–22 *

Olivia Cooke Olivia Kate Cooke (born 27 December 1993) is an English actress. In television, she has starred as Emma Decody in the thriller '' Bates Motel'' (2013–2017), Becky Sharp in the period drama ''Vanity Fair'' (2018), and Alicent Hightower in th ...

(born 1993) – TV and film actress known for '' Bates Motel'', "

Ouija The ouija ( , ), also known as a spirit board or talking board, is a flat board marked with the letters of the Latin alphabet, the numbers 0–9, the words "yes", "no", occasionally "hello" and "goodbye", along with various symbols and grap ...

" and "

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl ''Me and Earl and the Dying Girl'' is a 2012 debut novel written by Jesse Andrews. The novel was released in hardcover by Amulet Books on March 1, 2012, and in paperback on May 7, 2013. Plot Greg Gaines is a senior at Benson High School i ...

"; from Oldham * Jodie Connor (born 1981) – recording artist, lyricist, fashion model and goodwill ambassador for

The Prince's Trust The Prince's Trust ( cy, Ymddiriedolaeth y Tywysog) is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds who are u ...

; from

‘My pop bubble’s not burst!’
''

Oldham Advertiser The ''Oldham Advertiser'' is a weekly newspaper which serves the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Established in 1982, it is owned by Reach plc, as part of MEN Media which contains a collection of newspapers across Nor ...

'', 17 September 2003. * Nicholas Connor (born 1999) – film director, born in Oldham *

Carl Cox Carl Cox (born 29 July 1962) is a British house and techno club DJ, as well as radio DJ and record producer. He is based in Hove, Sussex, England. Cox has won and been nominated for numerous awards. He has performed at numerous clubs and e ...

(born 1962) – record producer and DJ, born in Oldham * Brian Cox (born 1968) – Chadderton-born television presenter, particle physicist,

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

research fellow, and professor at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...

Bernard Cribbins Bernard Joseph Cribbins (29 December 1928 – 27 July 2022) was an English actor and singer whose career spanned over seven decades. During the 1960s, Cribbins became known in the UK for his successful novelty records " The Hole in the Groun ...

(1928–2022) – character actor and musical comedian *

Don Cupitt Don Cupitt (born 22 May 1934) is an English philosopher of religion and scholar of Christian theology. He has been an Anglican priest and a lecturer in the University of Cambridge, though is better known as a popular writer, broadcaster and comm ...

(born 1934) – English philosopher of religion and scholar of Christian theology

D

Agyness Deyn Agyness Deyn (; born Laura Michelle Hollins; 16 February 1983) is an English model and actress. She is best known for her successful modelling career in the 2000s, and has been called one of the decade's top models. Since her retirement from mod ...

(born 1983) – Failsworth-raised

supermodel A supermodel, also spelled super-model or super model, is a highly paid fashion model who usually has a worldwide reputation and often a background in ''haute couture'' and commercial modeling. The term ''supermodel'' became prominent in the po ...

E

* Paul Edwards (born 1947) – ex-association footballer who played for Manchester United,

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

and

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

Karen Elson Karen Jill Elson (born 15 January 1979) is an English model and singer-songwriter. Early life and education Elson was born in Oldham, Greater Manchester, and attended North Chadderton School as a child. She has a fraternal twin sister, filmma ...

(born 1979) – Chadderton-raised

and singer-songwriter

F

* Kate Fenton (born 1954) – Failsworth-born novelist and former BBC radio producer *

Siobhan Finneran Siobhán Margaret Finneran (born 27 April 1966) is a British actress. She made her screen debut in the 1987 independent film ''Rita, Sue and Bob Too'', and subsequently worked consistently in television drama including roles in ''Coronation Stre ...

(born 1966) – Oldham-born television, film and theatre actress; ''Happy Valley'' and ''The Loch'' * George Ford (born 1993) – Oldham-born England rugby union player * Des Foy (born 1963) –

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

rugby league footballer; Director of

Rugby League Ireland Rugby League Ireland (RLI) is the internationally recognised governing body for the development of rugby league football in Ireland, having secured official recognition from the RLIF in 2000. It is recognised within the Irish Sports Council a ...

* Roy Fuller (1912–1991) – Failsworth-born writer, known mostly as a poet

G

Ian Greaves Ian Denzil Greaves (26 May 1932 – 2 January 2009) was an English football player and manager. He was born in Crompton, Lancashire. He won a League Championship medal and an FA Cup runners-up medal while playing full-back for Manchester U ...

(1932–2009) – Shaw and Crompton-born association football player and manager; one of the

Busby Babes The "Busby Babes" were the group of footballers, recruited and trained by Manchester United F.C. chief scout Joe Armstrong and assistant manager Jimmy Murphy, who progressed from the club's youth team into the first team under the management of ...

* Nick Grimshaw (born 1984) – television presenter and DJ; raised in Oldham *

Shobna Gulati Shobna Gulati (born 7 August 1966)www.shobnagulati.co.uk
Shobna Gulati official website is an English ...

(born 1966) – Oldham-born actress, writer and dancer

H

* Terry Hall (1926–2007) – pioneering ventriloquist and early children's television entertainer * Philip Gilbert Hamerton (1834–1894) – etcher, painter and art critic; born in

Crompton Crompton may refer to Place names * Crompton (West Warwick), a community in West Warwick, Rhode Island, US *Crompton, Greater Manchester, in Shaw and Crompton, Greater Manchester, England formerly in Lancashire * Crompton Urban District, an obso ...

in 1834 * Graham Harding (born 1966) – cricketer * Paul Harrison (born 1945) – Oldham-born writer on environment and development; founder of the World Pantheist Movement * Jack Hilton (1900–1983) – British novelist, essayist, and travel writer * John Hogan (1884–1943) – Royton-born recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the British and Commonwealth forces * Prof Arthur Cyril William Hutchinson (1889–1969) – professor of dentistry

I

Inspiral Carpets Inspiral Carpets are an English rock band, part of the late-1980s/early-1990s Madchester movement. Formed in Oldham in 1980, the band's most successful lineup featured frontman Tom Hingley, drummer Craig Gill, guitarist Graham Lambert, bassi ...

–

Madchester Madchester was a musical and cultural scene that developed in the English city of Manchester in the late 1980s, closely associated with the indie dance scene. Indie-dance (sometimes referred to as indie-rave) saw artists merging indie music ...

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

band

J

* Nicole Jackson (born 1992) – professional ice hockey player for

Göteborg HC Göteborg Hockey Club, abbreviated as Göteborg HC or GHC, are an ice hockey club in Angered, a borough of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborg) in southwestern Sweden. They played in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL), the top Swedish women's hock ...

and the Great Britain women's national ice hockey team *

Lee Jasper Lee Jasper (born 4 November 1958) is a British politician and activist. He served as Senior Policy Advisor on Equalities to the then Mayor of London Ken Livingstone until he resigned on 4 March 2008. More recently, he stood as the Respect Party ...

(born 1958) – race equality activist and champion of over 30 years originally from Manchester *

Suranne Jones Sarah Anne Akers (née Jones; born 27 August 1978), known professionally as Suranne Jones, is an English actress and producer. She rose to prominence as Karen McDonald in ''Coronation Street'' between 2000 to 2004. Upon leaving, she furthered h ...

(born 1978) – Chadderton-born actress who played Karen McDonald in '' Coronation Street'' *

William Joyce William Brooke Joyce (24 April 1906 – 3 January 1946), nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw, was an American-born fascist and Nazi propaganda broadcaster during the Second World War. After moving from New York to Ireland and subsequently to England, ...

(1906–1946) –

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

-born fascist politician and Nazi propagandist; short-term resident of

Glodwick Glodwick is an area of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. It is south-east of Oldham town centre. Glodwick is a multi-ethnic residential area in the south of Oldham, home particularly to a large community of Pakistanis and British Pakistanis. ...

in Oldham

K

Annie Kenney Ann "Annie" Kenney (13 September 1879 – 9 July 1953) was an English working-class suffragette and socialist feminist who became a leading figure in the Women's Social and Political Union. She co-founded its first branch in London with Minnie ...

(1879–1953) – one of the first suffragettes to be imprisoned for protesting for women's suffrage *

Ian Kershaw Sir Ian Kershaw (born 29 April 1943) is an English historian whose work has chiefly focused on the social history of 20th-century Germany. He is regarded by many as one of the world's leading experts on Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, and is pa ...

(born 1943) – historian, regarded by many as one of the world's leading experts on Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany *

Anne Kirkbride Anne Kirkbride (21 June 1954 – 19 January 2015) was an English actress, best known for her long-running role as Deirdre Barlow in the ITV soap ''Coronation Street'', which she played for 42 years from 1972 to 2014. For this role, she posthu ...

(1954–2015) – soap opera actress best known for playing

Deirdre Barlow Deirdre Anne Barlow (also Hunt, Langton and Rachid) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Anne Kirkbride. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 20 November 1972 ...

in '' Coronation Street'' * Jack Kirkbride (1923–2006) – cartoonist who worked for the ''

Oldham Evening Chronicle The ''Oldham Evening Chronicle'' was a daily newspaper published each weekday evening. It served the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. There were also four sister editions, called the ''Oldham Extra'', ''Saddleworth ...

'' * John Kneller (1916–2009) – English-American professor and fifth President of Brooklyn College *

Barbara Knox Barbara Knox, MBE (''née'' Brothwood, formerly Mullaney; born 30 September 1933) is an English actress, best known for her long-running portrayal of Rita Tanner in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. She first appeared as Rita Littlewo ...

(born 1933) – soap opera actress best known for playing

Rita Sullivan Rita Tanner (also Littlewood, Bates, Fairclough and Sullivan) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera '' Coronation Street''. Portrayed by veteran actress Barbara Knox, the character first appeared onscreen as "Rita Littlewo ...

in ''Coronation Street''

L

Sarah Lancashire Sarah-Jane Abigail Lancashire (born 10 October 1964) is an English actress from Oldham, England. She graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1986 and began her career in local theatre, whilst teaching drama classes at the ...

(born 1964) – Oldham-born television actress * John Lees – Royton-born inventor who made a substantial improvement to machinery for carding cotton in 1772 * Joseph Lees (1748–1824) – regional dialect poet from

; wrote '' Jone o Grinfilt'' *

Ralf Little Ralf Alastair John Little (born 8 February 1980) is an English actor, writer, presenter, narrator and former semi-professional footballer, working mainly in television comedy. He played Antony Royle in ''The Royle Family'' and Jonny Keogh in ...

(born 1980) – television actor, best known for his roles in ''

The Royle Family ''The Royle Family'' is a British sitcom produced by Granada Television for the BBC, which ran for three series from 1998 to 2000, and specials from 2006 to 2012. It centres on the lives of a television-fixated Manchester family, the Royles, com ...

'' and ''

Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps ''Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps'' is a British sitcom that ran from 26 February 2001 to 24 May 2011. First broadcast on BBC Two, it starred Sheridan Smith, Will Mellor, Natalie Casey, Ralf Little, Kathryn Drysdale and Luke Gell. ...

''England & Wales, Birth Index: 1837–1983
. Ancestry.co.uk. URL accessed 21 June 2007. * Eric Longworth (1918–2008) – Shaw-born actor, best known for his semi-regular part in sitcom ''

Dad's Army ''Dad's Army'' is a British television sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, and originally broadcast on BBC1 from 31 July 1968 to 13 November 1977. It ran fo ...

'', as the town clerk of Walmington-on-Sea

M

Michelle Marsh Michelle Marsh (born 30 September 1982) is an English former glamour model, known for her appearances on Page 3 of several tabloids and in numerous British lads' mags. Career Michelle Marsh was born on 30 September 1982 in Royton, England. B ...

(born 1982) – glamour model and page 3 girl *

Matthew Maynard Matthew Peter Maynard, (born 21 March 1966) is an English cricket coach and former cricketer. He played in four Tests and fourteen ODIs for England. Maynard was a batsman (and, later in his career, wicketkeeper) known for his aggressive and d ...

(born 1966) – former

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last f ...

er * William McDougall (1871–1938) – Chadderton-born psychologist and writer of several highly influential textbooks * Liz McInnes (born 1959) – former Labour MP of the House of Commons * Fergus Mills (1840–1924) – member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

* Simon Moore (born 1974) – cricketer

N

N-Trance N-Trance () are a British electronic music group who were formed by Kevin O'Toole and Dale Longworth in 1991. The group is known for their European hit songs " Set You Free" and " Electronic Pleasure", and their covers of the 1970s disco songs ...

–

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded da ...

producers

O

Kieran O'Brien Kieran O'Brien (born 1973) is an English actor. Early life and education Born in Oldham, Lancashire, O'Brien grew up in nearby Royton, and was educated at the Bishop Henshaw Roman Catholic Memorial High School in Rochdale. Career O'Brien bega ...

(born 1973) – actor who gained notoriety for his role in the 2004 film ''

9 Songs ''9 Songs'' is a 2004 British art romantic drama film written and directed by Michael Winterbottom. The film stars Kieran O'Brien and Margo Stilley. The title refers to the nine songs played by eight different rock bands that complement the s ...

'' *

Mark Owen Mark Owen (born 27 January 1972) is an English singer and songwriter best known for being a member of pop group and band Take That; as of 2019, the group have sold 14 million albums and 11.4 million singles in the UK. In Owen's solo career, he ...

(born 1972) – member of boyband

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...

; born and raised in Oldham

P

David Platt David Andrew Platt (born 10 June 1966) is an English former professional football coach and player, who played as a midfielder. Born in Chadderton, Lancashire, Platt began his career as an apprentice at Manchester United before moving to Crewe ...

(born 1966) – association footballer, formerly captain of the

England national football team The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affilia ...

; born in Chadderton *

Tony Prince Tony Prince (born Thomas Whitehead; 9 May 1944) is a British radio disc jockey and businessman. He broadcast on Radio Caroline and Radio Luxembourg in the 1960s and 1970s, later becoming a programme director and then businessman. He was respon ...

(born 1944) – British radio disc jockey and businessman

R

Tony Radakin Admiral Sir Antony David Radakin, (born 10 November 1965) is a senior Royal Navy officer. Since November 2021, he is the 24th Chief of the Defence Staff, the professional head of the British Armed Forces, succeeding General Sir Nicholas Carter ...

(born 1965) – senior Royal Navy officer * Akke Rahman (born 1982) – British Bengali mountaineer *

Alan Rankle Alan Rankle (born 1952 in Oldham, England) is a British artist and is part of the duo Rankle & Reynolds. During a thirty-year career he has worked primarily as a painter. He explores social and environmental issues of the day through Landscap ...

(born 1952) – artist *

Jim Ratcliffe Sir James Arthur Ratcliffe (born 18 October 1952) is an English billionaire, chemical engineer and businessman. Ratcliffe is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Ineos chemicals group, which he founded in 1998 and of which he ...

(born 1952) – founder and CEO of Ineos, raised in Failsworth *

Hervey Rhodes, Baron Rhodes Hervey Rhodes, Baron Rhodes, (12 August 1895 – 11 September 1987) was a British Labour Party politician. Born in Saddleworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Rhodes was educated at St Mary's School, Greenfield and Huddersfield Technica ...

(1895–1987) – Greenfield-born Labour party politician and life peer * Andy Ritchie (born 1960) – former

player and manager *

Roy Rolland Roy Rolland (29 June 1921 – 16 August 1997) was an English comedian and stage actor who was the understudy for Arthur Lucan as Old Mother Riley and who took over the role following the death of Lucan in 1954, playing it until about 1977. Biog ...

(1921–1997) – comedian and stage actor who appeared as

Old Mother Riley Old Mother Riley is a fictional character portrayed from about 1934 to 1954 by Arthur Lucan and from 1954 to the 1980s by Roy Rolland as part of a British music hall act. Old Mother Riley (full comedy name: Daphne Bluebell Snowdrop Riley) is an ...

from the 1950s to 1980sRolland's Obituary
in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' – 26 August 1997 *

Alan Rothwell Alan Rothwell (born 9 February 1937) is an English actor and television presenter. He played David Barlow in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' as a regular from 1960 to 1961, and again from 1963 to 1968. His other acting credits include p ...

(born 1937) – actor and television presenter *

Clive Rowe Clive Mark Rowe (born 27 March 1964) is a British actor, best known for his role as Norman "Duke" Ellington in BBC Children's drama ''The Story of Tracy Beaker''. He also starred as Mayor Doyle in the Disney show ''The Evermoor Chronicles''. ...

(born 1964) – actor

S

* Sahil Saeed (born 2004) –

British Pakistani British Pakistanis ( ur, (Bratānia men maqīm pākstānī); also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are British people, citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes ...

from Shaw and Crompton who was kidnapped for ransom in Pakistan in 2010 *

Phillip Schofield Phillip Bryan Schofield (born 1 April 1962) is an English television presenter who works for ITV. He is currently the co-presenter of ITV's '' This Morning'' (2002–present) and ''Dancing on Ice'' (2006–2014, 2018–present) alongside Holl ...

(born 1962) – Oldham-born television presenter *

Paul Sculthorpe Paul Sculthorpe MBE (born 22 September 1977) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a or forward in the 1990s and 2000s. He played for England and Great Britain at international level, as well as representing ...

(born 1977) – England and St Helens RLFC player and captain *

Edward Sinclair Edward Sinclair Perry (3 February 1914 – 29 August 1977) was an English actor who played the role of verger Maurice Yeatman in ''Dad's Army''. He also made appearances in ''Z-Cars'' and ''Danger Man''. The earliest work in his belated m ...

(1914–1977) – television actor, ''Dad's Army'' *

Kevin Sinfield Kevin Sinfield (born 12 September 1980) is the defence coach for the England national rugby union team. He is a former professional rugby league footballer, captain and director of rugby for the Leeds Rhinos. Sinfield also represented England ...

(born 1980) – England and Leeds RLFC player and captain *

Nicola Stephenson Nicola Stephenson (born 5 July 1971) is an English actress. She played the roles of Margaret Clemence in '' Brookside'', Julie Fitzjohn in ''Holby City'', Sarah Williams in '' The Chase'', Allie Westbrook in '' Waterloo Road'', and Tess Harris ...

(born 1971) – television actress * Philip Sydney Stott, 1st Baronet (1858–1937) – Chadderton-born

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, civil engineer and surveyor of

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven b ...

s * William Stott (1857–1900) – impressionist painter *

Eric Sykes Eric Sykes (4 May 1923 – 4 July 2012) was an English radio, stage, television and film writer, comedian, actor, and director whose performing career spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and performed with many other leading com ...

(1923–2012) – comedy writer and actor * Glenn Simon – Dwarf Fireman and Monopoly tycoon from the Oldham borough of Failsworth.

T

* Henry Taylor (1885–1951) – British Olympic freestyle swimming triple gold medallist and champion Retrieved on 28 August 2008. Retrieved on 29 August 2008. * Kevin Thaw (born 1967) – alpinist, climber; many first and notable ascents, member of

the North Face The North Face is an American outdoor recreation products company. The North Face produces outdoor clothing, footwear, and related equipment. Founded in 1968 to supply climbers, the company's logo draws inspiration from Half Dome, in Yosemite ...

climbing team, Altitude Everest Expedition 2007 * Stephen Timms (born 1955) – British Labour Party politician and Member of Parliament *

Geoff Tootill Geoff C. Tootill (4 March 1922 – 26 October 2017) was an electronic engineer and computer scientist who worked in the Electrical Engineering Department at the University of Manchester with Freddie Williams and Tom Kilburn developing the Man ...

(1922–2017) – Chadderton-born scientist helped create the

Manchester Baby The Manchester Baby, also called the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), was the first electronic stored-program computer. It was built at the University of Manchester by Frederic C. Williams, Tom Kilburn, and Geoff Tootill, and ran its ...

in 1948, the world's first wholly electronic stored program computer * Dame Eva Turner (1892–1990) – soprano opera singer; born in Werneth * Twisted Wheel – punk rock trio; reside in Oldham * The Tides—Liam Pennington's indie band, Oldham born and bred

W

* Jane Walsh – writer *

Paul Walsh Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

(born 1955) – Chadderton-born Chief Executive of Diageo * Sir

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

(1902–1983) – composer and conductor *

Darren Wharton Darren Leigh Wharton (born 25 December 1961) is a British keyboardist, singer and songwriter. He has fronted his own band, Dare, since 1985, but first came to attention as a member of Thin Lizzy. His son, Paris, is also a musician. Biography Wh ...

(born 1961) – keyboardist for rock band

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or som ...

Nicola White Nicola White, (born 20 January 1988) is an English international field hockey player who plays as a forward for England and Great Britain. She now plays club hockey in the Women's England Hockey League Premier Division for Hampstead & Westmi ...

(born 1988) – hockey player for

and

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their Great Britain at the Olympics, British Olympic team. The brand was developed after Great Britain at the 1996 Summer Olympics, the nation's poor perfor ...

Annie Whitehead Lena Annie Whitehead (born 16 July 1955 in Oldham, Lancashire, England) is an English jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, ...

(born 1955) – jazz trombone player * Ronald Whittam (1925–2023) - physiologist * Ricky Whittle (born 1979) – Oldham-born model and actor *

Jack Wild Jack Wild (30 September 1952 – 1 March 2006) was an English actor and singer. He is best known for his role as the Artful Dodger in the film ''Oliver!'' (1968), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at ...

(1952–2006) – Royton-born

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-nominated actor, best known for his role as the

Artful Dodger Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, is a character in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel '' Oliver Twist''. The Dodger is a pickpocket, so called for his skill and cunning in that occupation. He is the leader of the gang of child criminal ...

in the 1968 musical film '' Oliver!'' *

Phil Woolas Philip James Woolas (born 11 December 1959) is a British environmental consultant, political lobbyist and former television producer and politician who served as Minister of State for Borders and Immigration from 2008 to 2010. A member of the ...

(born 1959) – Lincolnshire-born politician representing

Oldham East and Saddleworth Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, whic ...

; lives in Lees * Arthur Worsley (1920–2001) – Failsworth-born ventriloquist; appeared regularly on British television from the 1950s to the 1970s

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * *

External links

Famous Sons & Daughters
a page from visitoldham.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of People From Oldham