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
- 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
- Stephen Fitzpatrick – lead singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Her's
- Ken Lemon - country musician
- Thomas Round – retired singer and actor
- 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
- Constance Spry – author and florist
- Keith Tyson – artist and Turner Prize winner, was born in Ulverston and educated in Dalton and Barrow
Television
- Blake Butler - television actor
- Steve Dixon – presenter for GB News
- Nigel Kneale – film and television scriptwriter
- Dave Myers – biker turned TV chef
- Jeffrey Perry – television actor
- Peter Purves – actor and television presenter who lived and worked in Barrow when he began his acting career
- Karen Taylor – television comedian
Sport
Football
- Wayne Curtis – Barrow AFC striker
- Ben Davies – Preston North End, Liverpool F.C. and Rangers F.C. defender
- Neil Doherty – Watford, Birmingham City, Northampton Town and Kidderminster Harriers winger
- Keith Eddy – Watford, Sheffield United and New York Cosmos player
- Harry Hadley – professional footballer and football manager
- Emlyn Hughes – England defender, England Captain and Liverpool captain
- 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
- Frank McPherson – Barrow A.F.C., Manchester United and Watford F.C forward
- Vic Metcalfe – Sunderland A.F.C. centre back
- Jim Parker – Burnley and Bradford Park Avenue defender
- Jack Pelter – Huddersfield Town and Hull City midfielder
- Harry Roberts – England forward
- Gary Stevens – England and Everton defender
- 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
- Mat Gardner – rugby league player, who currently plays for the Huddersfield Giants 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
- Phil Jackson – Canadian former professional rugby league footballer
- Jimmy Lewthwaite – rugby league winger for Barrow and Great Britain, inducted in Barrow Hall of fame alongside Willie Horn and Phil Jackson
- 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
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
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 Black, Baron Black - chair of various coach building companies
- Chris Blackhurst – editor of The Independent
- 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
- William Thomas Forshaw – British Army officer, and recipient of the Victoria Cross
- Tom Hollywood - trade unionist
- Nella Last – published wartime diarist
- 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
- 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
- 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
References
