The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the City of Manchester.

Individuals

• Oliver Heywood: 1888.
• Sir Henry Morton Stanley GCB: 1890.
• Abel Heywood: 1891.
• Thomas Ashton, 1st Baron Ashton of Hyde: 1892.
• James Jardine: 1892.
• Professor Sir Adolphus Ward FBA FRHistS: 1897.
• Herbert Philips JP: 1897.
• Enriqueta Augustina Rylands: 1899.
• Robert Dukinfield Darbishire: 1899.
• Richard Copley Christie: 1899.
• Sir William Crossley Bt: 1903.
• Alderman Harry Rawson: 1903.
• Sir William Houldsworth Bt: 1905.
• Benn Wolfe Levy: 1905.
• George Milner: 1905.
• Alderman James Wilson Southern: 1906.
• Rt Hon Sir Wilfrid Laurier GCMG PC KC: 1907.
• Alfred Deakin: 1907.
• Rt Hon Sir Joseph Ward: Bt GCMG PC: 1907.
• Rt Hon Sir Leander Starr Jameson Bt KCMG CB PC: 1907.
• Rt Hon Sir Robert Bond KCMG PC: 1907.
• Rt Hon Sir Frederick Moor KCMG PC: 1907.
• Rt Hon Louis Botha: 1907.
• Sir Thomas Vansittart Bowater Bt DL MP: 1914.
• Rt Hon William Morris Hughes CH KC: 1916.
• Sir Edward Holt: 1916.
• Sir Edward Donner Bt: 1916.
• General Maharaja Sir Ganga Singh Bahadur GCSI GCIE GCVO GBE KCB GCStJ: 1917.
• Sir James Meston KCSI VD: 1917.
• Rt Hon Lord Sinha KCSI PC KC: 1917.
• Rt Hon Sir Robert Borden GCMG PC KC: 1917.
• Rt Hon William Massey: 1917.
• Field Marshal Rt Hon Jan Smuts PC OM CH * DTD ED KC FRS: 1917.
• Rt Hon Lord Morris KCMG PC: 1917.
• Rt Hon David Lloyd George: 1918.
• President Woodrow Wilson: 1918.
• Admiral of the Fleet Sir David Beatty GCB OM GCVO DSO PC: 1919.
• Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig KT GCB OM GCVO KCIE: 1919.
• Field Marshal Ferdinand Foch: 1923.
• Rt Hon William Lyon Mackenzie King OM CMG PC: 1926.
• Rt Hon Lord Bruce of Melbourne CH MC PC FRS: 1926.
• Rt Hon Gordon Coates MC* PC: 1926.
• General Rt Hon J. B. M. Hertzog KC: 1926.
• W. T. Cosgrave: 1926.
• Walter Stanley Monroe: 1926.
• Maharajadhiraja Bahadur Sir Bijay Chand Mahtab GCIE KCSI IOM: 1926.
• C. P. Scott: 1930.
• Rt Hon Earl of Derby KG GCB GCVO TD PC JP: 1934.
• Alderman Hermann Julius Goldschmidt: 1937.
• Alderman William Turner Jackson: 1937.
• Rt Hon Sir Winston Churchill KG OM CH TD DL FRS RA: 1943.
• Field Marshal Rt Hon Sir Bernard Montgomery KG GCB DSO PC DL: 1945.
• Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Tedder GCB: 1945.
• Admiral of the Fleet Rt Hon Lord Cunningham of Hyndhope KT GCB OM DSO & Two Bars: 1945.
• Field Marshal Rt Hon Sir Harold Alexander KG GCB OM GCMG CSI DSO MC CD PC (Can) PC: 1945.
• Alderman Sir William Kay: 1949.
• Rt Hon Clement Attlee KG OM CH PC FRS: 1953.
• Alderman Sir Miles Ewart Mitchell: 1954.
• Alderman Dame Mary Kingsmill Jones DBE: 1956.
• Alderman Wright Robinson: 1956
• Professor Sir John Stopford KBE FRCS FRCP FRS: 1956.
• Sir John Barbirolli CH: 1958.
• Rt Hon Lord Simon of Wythenshawe: 1959.
• Rt Hon Earl of Derby MC: 1961.
• Lady Simon of Wythenshawe: 1964.
• Sir Matthew Busby CBE KCSG: 1967.
• Alderman Thomas Francis Regan: 1973.
• Alderman Sir Richard Harper JP: 1973.
• Alderman Sir Robert Thomas: 1973.
• Alderman Dame Elizabeth Yarwood DBE DL JP: 1974.
• Alderman Mrs. Nellie Beer JP: 1974.
• Professor Sir Bernard Lovell OBE FRS: 1977.
• Alderman Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw DBE: 1984.
• The Very Reverend Alfred Jowett CBE: 1984.
• Sir Alexander Ferguson CBE: 1999.
• Anthony Wilson: 2007.
• Sir Robert Charlton CBE: 2008.
• Professor Sir Andre Geim FRS FRSC FInstP: 9 October 2013.
• Professor Sir Konstantin Novoselov FRS FRSC FInstP: 9 October 2013.

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Military units

• The Manchester Regiment: 1946.
• 613 (City of Manchester) Squadron, RAuxAF: 1957.
• The King's Regiment: 1962.
• The Grenadier Guards: 1964.
• HMS Manchester, RN: 1998.
• The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment: 6 December 2006.^[2]
• 207 (Manchester) Field Hospital (Volunteers): 2 February 2011^[3]

^[1]

• 209 (The Manchester Artillery) Battery 103rd (Lancashire Artillery Volunteers) Regiment Royal Artillery: 25 November 2020.^[4][5][6][7]

Honorary citizens

On 12 July 2017, American singer Ariana Grande became the first honorary citizen of Manchester, after a unanimous vote by the Manchester City Council.^[8]