William Claiborne (c.1600–c.1677), originally from Crayford, pioneer, early settler in the Americas, and from 1621 the surveyor of Jamestown in the Virginia Colony, later establishing, in 1631, the first permanent European settlement in Maryland, on Kent Island where his own residence was called Fort Crayford.[3][4][5]
Sir Frederick Currie (1799–1875), British diplomat and colonial administrator, lived at the Manor House, May Place.[6][7]
Godfrey Huggins (1883–1971), 1st Viscount Malvern, Commonwealth statesman and Prime Minister of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, was born in Bexley.[8]
Melita Norwood (1912–2005), Cold War Soviet spy, lived undetected in Bexleyheath until her death.[9]
Harry Ord (1819–1885), colonial administrator who served as governor of Bermuda and Western Australia, born in North Cray.[10]
Mike Rann (1953–), Premier of South Australia, politician, born in Sidcup, lived in Blackfen prior to emigrating to New Zealand with his parents.[11]
Sir William Anderson (1834–98), engineer and philanthropist, lived in Erith from 1864 until 1889 and contributed substantial time and money to the local community.[21]
Augustus Applegath (1788–1871), inventor of the vertical printing-press, also built Shenstone House, lived and worked in Crayford.[22]
Frank Farmer (1912–2004), physicist, pioneer in developing medical applications for physics, born in Bexleyheath.[24]
Mary Kingsley (1862—1900), ethnographer, scientific writer, and explorer, lived as a young woman with her mother and brother in Southwood[25] or Southwark[26][27] House, Main Road (Crook Log).
Frederick George Loring (1869–1951), English naval officer and writer, and an early expert in wireless telegraphy, lived in Loring Hall, North Cray, until his death.[28]
Ivan Magill (1888–1986), innovative anaesthetist, worked in Sidcup.[29]
Sir Hiram Maxim (1840–1916), inventor of the Maxim Gun, moved his works to Crayford in 1884 and lived in Stoneyhurst from then until 1889.[30][31]
Sir John Pender (1816–1896), Scottish communications engineer and pioneer of undersea cabling, later politician, lived at Foots Cray Place from 1876 for the remainder of his life, buried at All Saints' Church.[32]
Flaxman Charles John Spurrell (1842–1915), archaeologist, geologist and photographer, moved to the borough as a child and later lived at The Priory, Picardy Road, Belvedere. Spurrell Avenue in Bexley is named after him.[33]
Algernon Blackwood (1869–1951), ghost story writer, journalist and broadcaster, lived in Crayford Manor House between 1871 and 1880 as a child, and the house features in his work 'A Prisoner in Fairyland' as 'Crayfield Manor House'.[37][38]
Denis Bond (1946–), children's author, actor and scriptwriter, lives in Sidcup.[38]
Hall Caine (1853–1931), author, lived in Aberleigh Lodge, Bexleyheath from 1884 to 1889 with his wife Mary and son Gordon Ralph, next door to Red House, home of William Morris.[40] Aberleigh Lodge was demolished in the 1970s.[41]
Roald Dahl (1916–1990), Welsh-born children's author, lived at Oakwood, Hurst Road, Bexley, from 1927 to 1934, when not at boarding school.[44][45]
Thomas Harman, author of a work about vagabonds and rogues in 1566, resided in Crayford from 1547.[46]
Neal Lawson (1963–), politician and commentator, grew up and went to school in Bexleyheath.[47]
James Leasor (1923–2007), journalist and author, born in Erith.[48]
Gerard Shelley (1891–1980), author, translator and Catholic bishop, born in Sidcup.[49]
Nevil Shute (1899–1960), novelist and aeronautical engineer, lived in Hatherley Road, Sidcup, in the late 1920s, while working at Vickers in Crayford.[13]
Jim Sterling (1984–), video game journalist, born and grew up in Erith.[50]
Anne Swithinbank (1957–), horticulturist and gardening writer, born and grew up in Belvedere.[51]
William Morris (1834–1896), artist, designer, and Socialist, lived for much of his life in Red House, Bexleyheath, built for him as a retreat at a time when Bexleyheath was mostly countryside.[14][59] The house now bears an English Heritageblue plaque bearing his name, erected in 1969.[60]
Tom Raworth (1938–2017), poet and visual artist, born in Bexleyheath and grew up in Welling.[61]
Performing arts
Ronnie Aldrich (1916–1993), jazz pianist and band-leader, was born in Erith.[62]
Kate Bush (1958–), singer-songwriter, born in Bexley Maternity Hospital, Bexleyheath,[38] grew up at East Wickham farm house, Wickham Street, Welling,[65] attended St. Joseph's Convent Grammar School, Abbey Wood.[38]
Michael Gambon (1940–2023), Irish-born actor (the Harry Potter series), lived with his family in Hurstwood Road, North End, and attended Crayford Secondary School.[66]
Sheila Hancock (1933–), actress, grew up at 58 Latham Road, Bexleyheath.[67]
Linda Smith (1958–2006), stand-up comic and radio comedienne, was born and raised in Erith and attended Bexleyheath School and Erith College.[13][74] Smith famously joked that Erith "is not twinned with any town but does have a suicide pact with Dagenham".
Douglas Macmillan (1984–1969), founder of Macmillan Cancer Support, lived in Knoll Road, Sidcup, from 1924 until 1966, and also ran his charity from that address. Bexley Civic Society placed a blue plaque on the house in 2010.[59]
Jo Malone (1963–), perfumer and businesswoman, raised in a council flat in Bexleyheath.[119]
^Forbes, Sue Cliborn (June 2002). "William Claiborne of Virginia". Clayburn One-Name Studies in the USA. Archived from the original on 26 June 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
^Schoeman, Chris (1 April 2013). "5". Angels of Mercy: Foreign Women in the Anglo-Boer War. Penguin Random House South Africa. ISBN9781770225008. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
^Greenwell, Bill. "Mary Kingsley". billgreenwell.com. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
^"John Paul Jones". led-zeppelin.org. Archived from the original on 14 November 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2016.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan; Bull, David (2013). All the Saints: A Complete Players' Who's Who of Southampton FC. Southampton: Hagiology Publishing. p. 78. ISBN978-0-9926-8640-6.