List of people from Thanet

Among those who were born in the Isle of Thanet, or have lived/live there are (alphabetical order):

Ramsgate

• Francis Austen (23 April 1774 – 10 August 1865) Admiral of the Fleet and brother of Jane Austen, the author, lived at 14 Albion Place.
• Brenda Blethyn (born 20 February 1946) is an English Golden Globe winning and Academy Award nominated actress of film, stage and television. She owns a house on Nelson Crescent and is a key supporter and Patron of The Granville Theatre/Granville Cinema in the town.
• Anthony Buckeridge (20 June 1912 – 28 June 2004), Author best known for his Jennings series of novels, lived in Ramsgate and taught at St. Lawrence College.
• Francis Burnand (29 November 1836 – 21 April 1917), was an English comic writer and dramatist, and lived much of his life in Ramsgate.
• John Deane, (1800–1884), inventor of the diving helmet and discoverer of the Mary Rose in 1836, is buried in Ramsgate.
• Elizabeth Fry, (1780–1845) prison reformer and Quaker philanthropist, died of a stroke in Bellvue Road, Ramsgate.
• Daniel Graham, (born 16 February 1986), civil servant, software developer, web designer and inventor.
• Jefferson Hack, (born 20 June 1971), publisher, journalist & model, lived much of his childhood and teenage years in Beach Grove, Cliffsend, near Ramsgate.
• Edward Heath (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005), British Prime Minister, was schooled at Chatham House Grammar School.
• Sean Kerly (born 29 January 1960) Olympic gold medallist for hockey, was educated at Chatham House Grammar School.
• John Le Mesurier (1912–1983) Actor famous for playing Sgt Arthur Wilson in BBC sitcom Dad's Army - lived his later years at 8 London Road in Ramsgate. In August 2010 a plaque was unveiled at this address commemorating his residence. He is buried at St George's church in the town.
• Karl Marx (1818 - 1883) is known to have stayed in the town around nine times, as did his comrade Friedrich Engels. One known spot is on Hardres Street. His eldest daughter Jenny Longuet Marx (1844 - 1883) lived for a period at 6 Artillery Road.
• Moses Montefiore (24 October 1784 – 28 July 1885) a prominent British Jewish campaigner, philanthropist and stockbroker was heavily involved in the affairs of Ramsgate and owned East Cliff Lodge. His tomb is adjacent to the synagogue in Ramsgate.
• Frank Muir (5 February 1920 - 2 January 1998) Comedian and broadcaster was born at the Derby Arms, Margate Road in Ramsgate and was schooled at Chatham House Grammar School.
• Gary Pallister (30 June 1965) a footballer who played for Manchester United F.C. and Middlesbrough F.C. was born in Ramsgate.
• Jackie Pallo (12 January 1926 – 11 February 2006), born Jack Gutteridge, Wrestler and TV Personality lived in Ramsgate before he died.
• Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812 - 1852), the eminent Victorian Gothic architect, lived for a period at St Augustine's Grange (The Grange), and is buried next door in Pugin's Church and Shrine of St Augustine.
• Kirk Shepherd who lives in Ramsgate, is the youngest player ever to reach a final of the World Professional Darts Championship. Shepherd uses the nicknames Young Gun and Karate Kid for his matches.
• Dr Chris Tame (20 December 1949 – 20 March 2006) founder of the Libertarian Alliance and a former Director of FOREST, spent the last years of his life in Ramsgate until his death from cancer.
• Vincent van Gogh taught French among other things as a supply teacher at a school at 6 Royal Road and boarded at 11 Spencer Square for a period in 1876. He made some sketches of the view from his lodgings overlooking the harbour. The proprietor of the school relocated to Isleworth, Middlesex. Vincent decided to walk to the new location, which took three days via Canterbury and Chatham. This new position did not work out, and Vincent became a nearby Methodist minister's assistant in wanting to "preach the gospel everywhere".
• Queen Victoria - As a princess spent her holidays in Ramsgate and stayed at Townley House, which is now part of J.C. Farleys Ltd, a furniture store, and the legacy of Mrs Mary Townley, one of the first female architects in England.
• Alfred North Whitehead mathematician, was born in Ramsgate.

Broadstairs

• John Buchan (1875–1940) apparently based his Thirty Nine Steps after the set of steps on the beach at North Foreland, Broadstairs, where he was recuperating from a duodenal ulcer in 1915.
• Thomas Russell Crampton (1816–1888) was an engineer and is chiefly remembered as a designer of locomotives and of railways, but he was also concerned with gas, water works and the submarine telegraph cable. He was the first to succeed in laying an effective telegraph cable under the English Channel. A water tower and a pub in the town are named after him.
• Brian Degas, author,writer and creator of TV Series Colditz, lives in the town.
• Charles Dickens, the author had a holiday home in Broadstairs, where he wrote David Copperfield. For a period he owned Fort House on a promontory above the town where he wrote Bleak House, which the location is now called.
• Edward Heath, (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) former Conservative leader and Prime Minister was born here and lived in Albion Road, St. Peters.
• Annette Mills (1894–1955), one-time concert pianist and elder sister of actor Sir John Mills, lived in Broadstairs. She is best remembered for the early television programme Muffin the Mule in the 1950s.
• Trevor Neal of TV comic duo Trevor and Simon notably of Saturday children's show Going Live lives in Broadstairs.
• Mike Nolan of eighties pop group Bucks Fizz lives in Broadstairs.
• Bill Pitt MP, the first candidate elected to Parliament under the banner of the SDP-Liberal Alliance 1981-1983, lives in Broadstairs.
• Oliver Postgate, creator of the children's TV puppet shows, the Clangers, Bagpuss and others retired to Broadstairs, where he died on 8 December 2008, aged 83. A plaque has been erected on his home in Chandos Square.
• Gary Rhodes celebrity TV chef was a student of catering at the Thanet College.
• Frank Richards (pen name of Charles Harold St John Hamilton; 1875–1961) the writer of the Billy Bunter novels lived in Kingsgate, Broadstairs.
• Bruce Robinson, author of Withnail and I et al., was born in Broadstairs in 1946.
• Siouxsie Sioux (born Susan Janet Ballion 27 May 1957) spent summer holidays in Broadstairs during her childhood.
• Stevie Smith, poet, spent several years on and off in a sanatorium near Broadstairs while suffering from tuberculous peritonitis as a child.
• Queen Victoria spent many summers in Broadstairs as a child, staying at Pierremont Hall.
• Jack Warner, Dixon of Dock Green, lived for a time in Kingsgate.
• Doris Waters, BBC radio comedian, and sister to Elsie Waters, famous for being part of female double act, Gert and Daisy, lived in Broadstairs.
• Elsie Waters, BBC radio comedian, and sister to Doris Waters famous for being part of female double act, Gert and Daisy, lived in Broadstairs. Elsie and Doris Waters were the sisters of Jack Warner.

Margate

• Iain Aitch is an English writer and journalist who was born in Margate.
• Peter Barkworth, (1929-2006) actor, was born in Margate.
• The Beatles played for a week at Margate's Winter Gardens and were accommodated nearby.
• Ballard Berkeley, actor, (1904–1988), best known for playing the senile Major Gowen in the television series "Fawlty Towers", was born in Margate.
• Dave Cash, broadcaster of Kenny and Cash fame, lives in the village of St Nicholas.
• T. S. Eliot, poet, wrote part of The Waste Land in 1922 whilst recuperating from nervous strain in Margate.
• Tracey Emin, artist, grew up in Margate. In 2011 she helped to open the Turner Contemporary Art Gallery.
• Marty Feldman, comic writer and comedian, began his career aged 15 as part of a circus-style act at Dreamland Funpark in Margate.
• Melanie and Martina Grant, twin actresses, were born in Margate and now live in Ramsgate.
• Trevor Howard, film stage and television actor, was born in Cliftonville, Margate.
• Juliette Kaplan, actress (real name: Marlene Hoser), who played "Pearl" in the BBC sitcom Last of the Summer Wine, lives in Westgate-on-Sea, Margate.
• Dinsdale Landen,(1932-2003), actor of stage and television, was born in Margate.
• Steven Moore, former world champion waterski racer, currently resides in Thanet.
• Thomas Webster Rammell, the railway engineer, was born in Dent de Lion, near Margate.
• Mike Stock is a British songwriter and record producer best known for being a member of the songwriting and record production trio Stock Aitken Waterman. He was born in Margate on 3 December 1951.
• Mehrdud Takalobigashi, better known as Takaloo (born 23 September 1975), is an Iranian-born British-based boxer living in Margate.
• Douglas Trendle, better known as Buster Bloodvessel (born 6 September 1958), is a Ska singer of the 1980s British band Bad Manners, and ran the hotel in Margate called Fatty Towers for part of the 1990s.
• J. M. W. Turner sketched many Margate skies that were later incorporated into his paintings. The Turner Contemporary Art Gallery is named in his honour.
• Sir Robert Walpole, the British prime minister, spent summers in Cliftonville, Margate and has Walpole Bay and the Walpole Bay Hotel named in his honour.
• David Watkin (1925–2008), Oscar-winning cinematographer, was born in Margate.
• Lilian Wyles (1885–1975), pioneer woman detective at Scotland Yard, was educated at Thanet Hall, Margate.