This is a list of notable people who were born in or near, or have been residents of the City of Stoke-on-Trent, England. Also listed are people who lived in the area before city status was granted in 1925.
The city was built on the pottery industry, and at the centre of that industry was the Wedgwood family, especially Josiah Wedgwood. Today he is credited with the industrialization of the manufacture of pottery, and is also remembered as a prominent opponent of slavery. Other giants of the pottery industry were Thomas Minton, William Moorcroft, and Josiah Spode.
Many notable residents of Stoke-on-Trent have gone on to achieve recognition in their own field. Legends of rock Slash and Lemmy spent portions of their childhood in the city, whilst Robbie Williams split from Take That to establish himself as a pop megastar in his own right. Local businessmen John Caudwell, Peter Coates, and John Madejski made large fortunes from founding Phones 4u, Bet365, and Auto Trader respectively. A new branch of Christianity in Primitive Methodism was formed from the endeavours of Hugh Bourne and William Clowes. In literature, Arnold Bennett was a prodigious novelist, and often drew on the local area for inspiration, particularly in his 1902 work Anna of the Five Towns . Another famous face is Captain Edward Smith, who went down with his ship, the Titanic, in 1912. In terms of military service, three recipients of the Victoria Cross were native to Stoke-on-Trent. R. J. Mitchell, inventor of the Spitfire aircraft, also came from the city. Sir Oliver Lodge was a pioneer in the field of radio communication and predated the work if Marconi. Later he established the Lodge Company making Spark Plugs.
In sporting achievements, local clubs Port Vale and Stoke City have helped to develop the talents of local footballers, and in turn local names such as Roy Sproson, Freddie Steele, and Denis Smith have provided the club's with many years of loyal service. However the most famous player to be associated with the area is Stanley Matthews – the only player to have been knighted while still playing, the Wizard of the Dribble was the inaugural winner of the Ballon d'Or. He played for Stoke and later managed Port Vale. Outside of football, the most significant individual sportsman to hail from the city is Phil Taylor, sixteen-time winner of the World Professional Darts Championship.
Staffordshire is a landlocked ceremonial county in the West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the south-east, the West Midlands county and Worcestershire to the south, and Shropshire to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Stoke-on-Trent, and the county town is Stafford.
The Trent and Mersey Canal is a 93+1⁄2-mile (150 km) canal in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire in north-central England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities to the east of Burton upon Trent and north of Middlewich, it is a wide canal.
Stoke-on-Trent is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of 36 square miles (93 km2). In 2022, the city had an estimated population of 259,965. It is the largest settlement in Staffordshire and is surrounded by the towns of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Alsager, Kidsgrove and Biddulph, which form a conurbation around the city.
Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal. They have never played top-flight football, and hold the record for the most seasons in the English Football League (113) without reaching the first tier. After playing at the Athletic Ground in Cobridge and The Old Recreation Ground in Hanley, the club returned to Burslem when Vale Park was opened in 1950. Outside the ground is a statue of Roy Sproson, who played 842 competitive games for the club. The club's traditional rivals are Stoke City, and games between the two are known as the Potteries derby.
Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is adjacent to the city of Stoke-on-Trent. In 2021 the population was 75,082.
Biddulph is a town in Staffordshire, England, 8.5 miles (14 km) north of Stoke-on-Trent and 4.5 miles (7 km) south-east of Congleton, Cheshire.
Hanley is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Fenton, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. The town is the main business, commercial and cultural hub of the wider Potteries area.
Fenton is one of the six towns that amalgamated with Hanley, Tunstall, Burslem, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent to form the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent in 1910, later raised to city status in 1925. Fenton is often referred to as "the Forgotten Town", because it was omitted by local author, Arnold Bennett, from many of his works based in the area, including one of his most famous novels, Anna of the Five Towns.
The Staffordshire Potteries is the industrial area encompassing the six towns Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Tunstall and Stoke in Staffordshire, England. North Staffordshire became a centre of ceramic production in the early 17th century, due to the local availability of clay, salt, lead and coal.
Burslem is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Tunstall, Fenton, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It is often referred to as the "mother town" of Stoke on Trent. The population of the town was included under the Burslem Central ward and had a population of 6,490 in the 2021 Census.
Stoke-on-Trent railway station is a mainline railway station serving the city of Stoke-on-Trent, on the Stafford to Manchester branch of the West Coast Main Line. It also provides an interchange between local services running through Cheshire, Staffordshire and Derbyshire.
Longton is one of the six towns which amalgamated to form the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent in 1910, along with Hanley, Tunstall, Fenton, Burslem and Stoke-upon-Trent in Staffordshire, England.
Barlaston is a village and civil parish in the borough of Stafford in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is roughly halfway between the city of Stoke-on-Trent and the small town of Stone. According to the 2001 census the population of the parish was 2,659, rising at the 2011 Census to 2,858.
Major Cecil Wedgwood, DSO was a British soldier and partner in the Wedgwood pottery firm. He was the first Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent.
Penkhull is a district of the city of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, part of Penkhull and Stoke electoral ward, and Stoke Central parliamentary constituency.
Frederick Charles Steele was an English professional footballer who played as a forward for Stoke City and England. He also had spells at Mansfield Town and Port Vale as a player-manager, leading Vale to a league title. He remains a legendary figure in the histories of both Stoke and Vale. His nephew is former England cricketer David Steele.
In English football, the Potteries derby is the local derby between the two major clubs in the city of Stoke-on-Trent – Port Vale and Stoke City, first contested in 1882. Port Vale plays at Vale Park whilst Stoke play at the bet365 Stadium, the two grounds are separated by roughly 4.3 miles (6.9 km). The fans of each club both consider the other to be their main rivals; this has led to a heated atmosphere at these matches. One study in 2019 ranked it as the joint-28th biggest rivalry in English professional football, level with the Manchester derby. The two teams have met in 92 competitive first-team fixtures, including 44 English Football League, six FA Cup and two Football League Trophy fixtures, with the remaining 40 meetings coming in regional cup competitions.
Winton Square in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, houses Stoke-on-Trent railway station, the North Stafford Hotel, and several other historic structures. The square was built in 1848 for the North Staffordshire Railway, whose headquarters were in the station building, and is a significant example of neo-Jacobean architecture. Today, all the buildings and structures in the square are listed buildings and the square is a designated conservation area.