# List of people from Sussex

This is a list of people from Sussex, a historic county in southern England. The following are people who were either born, brought up or have lived for a significant period of time in Sussex, or for whom Sussex is a significant part of their identity. Only those meeting notability criteria are included. A few people appear in more than one section of the list.

## Arts
### Actors

* George K. Arthur (1899–1985)
* Alexandra Bastedo (1946–2014)
* Daniel Betts (born 1971)
* Gwendoline Christie (born 1978)
* Sophie Cookson (born 1990)
* Michael Elphick (1946–2002)
* Tara Fitzgerald (born 1967)
* Philip Friend (born 1915–1987)
* Judy Geeson (born 1948)
* Nigel Humphreys (born 1951)
* Katie Johnson (born 1878–1957)
* Jane Leeves (born 1961) ('Frasier')
* Lesley Manville (born 1956)
* Charlotte Mardyn (1789–1844)
* Anna Massey (1937–2011)
* Tamzin Merchant (born 1987)
* Cecil Parker (1897–1971)
* Amanda Redman (born 1957)
* Dakota Blue Richards (born 1994)
* David Ryall (1935–2014)
* Greta Scacchi (born 1960)
* Nicollette Sheridan (born 1963)
* Hugh Williams (1904–1969)

### Architects

* Robert Knott Blessley (1833–1923), architect
* Charles Busby (1786–1834), architect
* Somers Clarke (1841–1926), architect
* Ernest Coxhead (1863–1933), Sussex-born American architect
* John Leopold Denman (1882–1975), architect
* George Devey (1820–1886), architect
* Frederick Charles Eden (1864–1944), architect
* Walter Godfrey (1881–1961), architect
* Piers Gough (born 1946), architect
* Nicholas Grimshaw (born 1939), architect
* Thomas Lainson (1825–1898), architect
* Harvey Lonsdale Elmes (1814–1847), architect
* Hugh May (1621–1684), architect
* John Rebecca (died 1847), architect
* Ian Ritchie (born 1947), architect
* Edward Sargent (1842–1914), Sussex-born American architect
* Henry Bingham Towner (1909–1997), architect
* Randall Wells (1877–1942), architect
* Amon Henry Wilds (1784 or 1790–1857), architect
* Amon Wilds (1762–1833), architect

### Artists

* Helen Cordelia Angell (1847–1884), watercolour painter
* Aubrey Beardsley (1872–1898), illustrator
* Raymond Briggs (1934–2022), illustrator, cartoonist and graphic novelist
* Edward Burra (1905–1976), painter
* Russell Drysdale (1912–1981), Sussex-born Australian artist
* Clifford Ellis (1907–1985), printmaker, painter and designer
* Ralph Ellis (1885–1963), painter and designer of inn signs
* Eric Gill (1882–1940), sculptor, typeface designer and printmaker
* Gluck (1895–1978), painter
* Patricia Goldsmith (1929–2017), painter and printmaker
* Captain Thomas Honywood (1819–1888), photographer
* Jamie Hewlett (born 1968), comic creator, animator and designer
* Edward Johnston (1872–1944), Uruguayan-born craftsman and calligrapher
* Alison Lapper (born 1965), artist
* Raoul Millais (1901–1999), portrait painter and equestrian artist
* Lee Miller (1907–1977), American-born photographer
* Marianne North (1830–1890), botanical artist
* Paul Pagk (born 1962), painter
* Roland Penrose (1900–1984), artist and collector of modern art
* Eric Ravilious (1903–1942), painter, designer, book illustrator and wood-engraver
* George Smith (1713/14-1776), landscape painter
* Hilary Stratton (1906–1985), sculptor
* Paddy Summerfield (born 1929), artist
* Paul Tanqueray (1905–1991), photographer
* Alan Thornhill (1921–2020), sculptor
* Alfred Tidey (1808–1892), miniature-painter

### Broadcasters

* Zoe Ball (born 1970), television and radio presenter
* Hermione Cockburn (born 1973), television and radio presenter
* Simon Fuller (born 1960), television producer
* Sarah Kennedy (born 1950), television and radio presenter
* Des Lynam (born 1942), television presenter
* Piers Morgan (born 1965), broadcaster and journalist
* Richard Osman (born 1970), television presenter
* Jon Snow (born 1947), television presenter and journalist
* Jamie Theakston (born 1970), television and radio presenter
* Dan Walker (born 1977), television presenter, journalist and newsreader
* Holly Willoughby (born 1981), television presenter

### Comedians

* James Bachman (born 1972), comedian
* Jo Brand (born 1957), comedian
* Harry Enfield (born 1961), comedian
* Stephen Grant (born 1973), comedian
* Tony Hawks (born 1960), comedian
* Alex Horne (born 1978), comedian
* Zoe Lyons (born 1971), comedian
* Max Miller (1894–1963), comedian
* Simon Nye (born 1958), comic television writer
* Paul Putner (born 1966), comedian
* Romesh Ranganathan (born 1978), comedian

### Dancers

* Francesca Hayward (born 1992), ballet dancer
* Nancy Osbaldeston (born 1989), ballet dancer

### Fashion designers

* Stella McCartney (born 1971)
* Ted Tinling (1910–1990)

### Filmmakers

* Beryl Armstrong (born 1928), film director, screenwriter, producer and author
* Adrian Brunel (1892–1958), film director and screenwriter
* Charles Bennett (1899–1995), film director and screenwriter
* Don Chaffey (1917–1990), film director, screenwriter and producer
* Matt Charman (born 1979), screenwriter and producer
* Jack Clayton (1921–1995), film director and producer
* Graham Cutts (1884–1958), film director
* Brian Eastman (born 1949), film producer
* Sean Ellis (born 1970), film director, screenwriter and producer
* Robert Fox (born 1952), film producer
* Charles Frend (1909–1977), film director
* Manning Haynes (1889–1957), film director
* Adam Stephen Kelly (born 1990), film director, screenwriter and producer
* Pete Walker (born 1939), film director, screenwriter and producer

### Musicians

* Charlesia Alexis (1934–2012), Chagossian singer
* Anohni (born 1971), singer
* Brett Anderson (born 1967), singer (Suede, The Tears)
* Florence Aylward (1862–1950), composer
* Tony Banks (born 1950), keyboardist
* Natasha Bedingfield (born 1981), singer-songwriter
* Wilfred Brown (1921–1971), tenor
* Henry Burstow (1826–1916), folk singer and bellringer
* Clara Butt (1872–1936), contralto
* Nick Cave (born 1957), Australian-born singer, songwriter
* Celeste (born 1994), singer and songwriter
* Tom Chaplin (born 1979), singer-songwriter and musician (Keane)
* Shirley Collins (born 1935), folk singer
* Ms. Dynamite (born 1981), singer
* Keith Emerson (1944–2016), keyboardist, songwriter and composer
* Gary Farr (born 1944), folk/blues singer
* Ruth Gipps (1921–1999), composer
* Dominic Glynn (born 1960), electronic composer
* Harry Gregson-Williams (born 1961), composer
* Mike Hazlewood (1941–2001), singer, composer and songwriter
* Nigel Kennedy (born 1956), violinist and violist
* William Henry Kerridge (1881–1940), organist
* Pete Kirtley (born 1972), songwriter
* Vera Lynn (1917–2020), singer and songwriter
* Conor Maynard (born 1992), singer-songwriter
* James McCartney (born 1977), musician and songwriter
* Paul McCartney (born 1942), singer-songwriter, has lived near Rye since the late 1970s
* Isolde Menges (1893–1976), violinist
* Tom Odell (born 1990), singer-songwriter
* Ray Noble (1903–1978), bandleader
* Passenger (born 1984), singer-songwriter, musician
* Maisie Peters (born 2000), singer-songwriter
* Luke Pritchard (born 1985), lead-singer of The Kooks
* Rag'n'Bone Man (born 1985), singer and songwriter
* Leslie Rands (1900–1972), opera singer
* Tim Rice-Oxley (born 1976), musician and singer (Keane)
* Leo Sayer (born 1948), singer-songwriter
* Robert Smith (born 1959), singer, songwriter, musician (The Cure)
* Spider Stacy (born 1958), musician, singer, songwriter (The Pogues)
* Suggs (born 1961), singer-songwriter, musician (Madness)
* Nick Van Eede (born 1958), musician, producer, songwriter
* Thomas Weelkes (1576–1623), composer and organist
* Bruce Welch (born 1941), guitarist
* Wreckless Eric (born 1954), singer-songwriter
* Nicholas Yonge (c.1560–1619), singer

### Writers

* Conrad Aiken (1889–1973), American-born writer and poet
* Joan Aiken (1924–2004), novelist
* Jane Aiken Hodge (1917–2009), American-born writer
* John Agard (born 1949), Guyanese-born poet
* Vivien Alcock (1924–2003), writer of children's books
* Val Andrews (1926–2006), prolific writer on magic
* Attila the Stockbroker (born 1957), punk poet
* David Bangs, writer and conservationist
* Elizabeth Bartlett (1924–2008), poet
* Viola Bayley (1911–1997), children's author
* Aubrey Beardsley (1872–1898), author
* Archibald Stansfield Belaney (commonly known as Grey Owl) (1888–1938)
* Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953), poet and writer
* Marie Belloc Lowndes (1868–1947), novelist
* E. F. Benson (1867–1940), writer
* Clementina Black (1853–1922), writer
* William Blake (1757–1827), poet
* Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (1840–1922), poet and writer
* Andrew Boorde (c.1490–1549)
* Joyce Lankester Brisley (1896–1978), writer
* Arabella Buckley (1840–1929), writer
* Anthony Burgess (1917–1993), novelist, wrote A Clockwork Orange in Etchingham
* Anna Burns (born 1962), novelist
* Edward Carpenter (1844–1929), poet
* John Caryll (senior) (1625–1711), poet and dramatist
* William Collins (1721–1759), poet
* Eliza Cook (1818–1889), writer and Chartist
* Catherine Cookson (1906–1998), author (citation required)
* E.M. Delafield (1890–1943), author
* Alice Dudeney (1866–1945), author and short story writer
* Henry Dudeney (1857–1930), author
* Maureen Duffy (born 1933), poet, novelist, non-fiction author
* Anne Francis (1738–1800), author
* John Fletcher (1579–1625), playwright
* Ford Maddox Ford (1873–1939), novelist and poet
* John Galsworthy (1867–1933), novelist and playwright
* Neil Gaiman (born 1960), fantasy writer
* Leon Garfield (1921–1996), writer of children's fiction
* Angelica Garnett (1918–2012), writer and artist
* David Garnett (1892–1981), writer
* Rumer Godden (1907–1998), writer
* Leon Gordon (1891–1960), playwright
* Elly Griffiths (born 1963), crime novelist
* Patrick Hamilton (1904–1962), playwright and novelist
* David Hare (born 1947), playwright and screenwriter
* William Hay (1695–1755), writer
* William Hayley (1745–1820), writer
* Ralph Hammond Innes (1913–1998), novelist
* Edward James (1907–1984), poet
* Henry James (1843–1916), American author
* Peter James (born 1948), writer of crime fiction
* P.J. Kavanagh (1931–2015), poet
* Sheila Kaye-Smith (1887–1956), novelist
* Grace Kimmins (1870–1954)
* Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936), poet and novelist
* Damian Le Bas (born 1985), writer
* Theodora Elizabeth Lynch (1812–1885), poet and novelist
* Peter Marshall (born 1946), biographer, travel writer and poet
* Thomas May (1594/5-1650), poet and dramatist
* Thomas Medwin (1788–1869), writer and poet
* A. A. Milne (1882–1956), author, best known for his Winnie-the-Pooh books
* Kate Mosse (born 1961), novelist
* Grace Nichols (born 1950), Guyanese-born poet
* William Nicholson (born 1948), screenwriter, novelist and playwright
* Thomas Otway (1652–1685), dramatist
* Hilary Douglas Clark Pepler (1878–1951), writer and poet
* Roland Penrose (1900–1984), poet and artist
* Valentine Penrose (1898–1978), French-born surrealist poet and author
* Alex Preston (born 1979), author and journalist
* Bessie Rayner Parkes (1829–1925), writer
* Richard Realf (1832–1878), poet
* Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset (1536–1608), poet and dramatist
* Malcolm Saville (1901–1982), author
* Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822), Romantic poet
* Chris Simms (born 1969), author of crime novels
* George Smith (1713/14-1776), poet
* Noel Streatfeild (1895–1986), author
* Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892), poet
* Isabella Tree (born 1964), writer and conservationist
* Robert Tressell (1870–1911), novelist, The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists
* Frank Tuohy (1925–1999), writer
* Charles Webb (1939–2020), American novelist, The Graduate
* H. G. Wells (1866–1946), writer
* Barbara Willard (1909–1994), novelist
* Angus Wilson (1913–1991), novelist and short-story writer
* Virginia Woolf (1882–1941), writer

## Explorers

* Thomas Bannister (1799–1874), explorer of Western Australia
* Victor L. A. Campbell (1875–1956), Antarctic explorer
* Isabella Charlet-Straton (1838–1918), mountaineer, made first winter ascent of Mont Blanc
* Rosemary Coogan (born 1991), Northern Ireland-born astronaut
* Charles Cooke Hunt (1833–1868), explorer of interior of Western Australia
* Nicholas Crane (born 1954), explorer and television presenter
* Ernest Joyce (1875–1940), Antarctic explorer
* Cecil Pashley (1891–1961), aviation pioneer
* Tim Peake (born 1972), astronaut
* Piers Sellers (1955–2016), astronaut

## Military personnel

* Sidney Godley (1889–1957), recipient of Victoria Cross
* G. F. Gorringe (1868–1945), field commander
* Roger P. Hill (1910–2001), Royal Navy commander
* Ernest Joyce (1875–1940), Royal Navy seaman and explorer
* Frederick Tees (1922–1982), RAF gunner (Operation Chastise)
* Arthur David Torlesse (1902–1995), Royal Navy officer
* Cicely Ethel Wilkinson (1882/83—1967), possibly the only woman to qualify as a pilot in Britain during the First World War

## Monarchs and nobility

* Adeliza of Louvain (c.1103—1151), Queen of England 1121–1135
* Aelle of Sussex (fl.c.477—c.514), King of Sussex
* Aethelwalh of Sussex (fl.c.660—c.685), King of Sussex
* Queen Camilla (born 1947), wife of Charles III
* Eppillus (fl. c. 20BC—AD7), Iron Age king with capital at Chichester
* Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus (fl. 1st century AD), king of Regni
* George IV (1762–1830), King of the United Kingdom and King of Hanover 1820–1830
* Godwin, Earl of Wessex (died 1053), Earl of Wessex and father of Harold Godwinson, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England
* Verica (fl. c. AD15—AD42), king of southern Atrebates with capital at Chichester

## Philanthropists

* Octav Botnar (1913–1998)
* Richard Churcher (1659–1723)
* Mad Jack Fuller (1757–1834)
* Ann Thwaytes (1789–1866)
* Jane Woodward (1823/4—1894)

## Politicians and activists

* Edith Ayrton (1879–1945), suffragist
* Barbara Bodichon (1827–1891), feminist and women's rights activist
* Clementina Black (1853–1922), feminist and trade unionist
* James Callaghan (1912–2005), former prime minister of the United Kingdom 1976–1979
* Anna Campbell (1991–2018), feminist, anarchist and prison abolition activist who fought with the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) in the Rojava Conflict of the Syrian Civil War
* Edward Carpenter (1844–1929), early activist for gay rights and animal rights
* William Cawley (1602–1667), regicide and MP
* Jane Cobden (1851–1947), suffragist
* Richard Cobden (1804–1865), MP and co-founder of Anti-Corn Law League
* Maureen Colquhoun (1928–2021), UK's first openly lesbian MP
* Margery Corbett Ashby (1882–1981), suffragist, feminist and internationalist
* Cicely Corbett Fisher (1885–1959), suffragist and workers' rights activist
* Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon (1866–1941), politician, former governor general of Canada and former viceroy and governor-general of India
* Harry Hay (1912–2002), Sussex-born American gay rights activist
* James Henty (1800–1882), Sussex-born Australian politician
* Douglas Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham, lawyer, politician and Lord Chancellor
* Sabrina Jean (born 1973), Chagossian activist
* Sophia Jex-Blake (1840–1912), suffragist
* Jenny Jones, Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (born 1949), first Green Party member of the House of Lords
* Helen Joseph (1905–1992), anti-apartheid activist
* Jomo Kenyatta (c.1897–1978), first prime minister and president of Kenya
* Imran Khan (born 1952), current prime minister of Pakistan
* Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond (1735–1806), known as the 'radical duke', probable owner of 'Sussex declaration' of US independence
* Caroline Lucas (born 1960), first and only Green Party MP
* Harold Macmillan (1894–1986), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1957–1963
* Louisa Martindale (1839–1914), suffragist and workers' rights activist
* Theresa May (born 1956), former prime minister of the United Kingdom 2016–2019
* John Merfold (fl 1450–51), leader of 1450 uprising Henry VI
* William Merfold (fl 1450–51), leader of 1450 uprising against Henry VI
* Ralph Neville (died 1244), Lord Chancellor of England
* Thomas Paine (1737–1809), political activist
* Henry Pelham (1694–1754), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1743–1754
* Tony Penikett (born 1945), Premier of Yukon 1985–1992
* William Penn (1644–1718), founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, lived at Warminghurst
* Bessie Rayner Parkes (1829–1925), feminist
* Anita Roddick (1942–2007), human rights activist and environmental campaigner
* Anthony Stapley (1590–1655), regicide and MP
* William Bridgland Steer (1867–1939), trade unionist and politician
* Allen Vincatassin, first and current president of the Diego Garcia and Chagos Islands Council

## Religious figures
### Archbishops

* Thomas Arundel (1353–1414), Archbishop of Canterbury, 1397–1399 and Archbishop of York
* Thomas Bradwardine (1300–1349), Archbishop of Canterbury, 1349
* Accepted Frewen (1588–1664), Archbishop of York
* William Juxon (1582–1663), Archbishop of Canterbury 1660–1663
* Henry Edward Manning (1808–1892), Archbishop of Westminster (1865–1892) and cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church
* Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (1932–2017), Archbishop of Westminster and cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church (2000–2009)
* John Peckham (c.1230–1292), Archbishop of Canterbury 1279–1292

### Martyrs

* George Gervase (1571–1608), martyred Catholic priest
* James Hannington (1847–1885), Anglican missionary and martyr
* Thomas Pilchard (11557-1587), Catholic priest and martyr
* Edward Shelley (c.1530–1588), Catholic martyr
* Richard Shelley (died 1586), Catholic recusant
* Richard Woodman (c.1524–1557), Protestant martyr

### Saints

* Cuthmann of Steyning (c.681–8th century), saint
* Leofwynn of Bishopstone (fl 7th century), saint
* Richard of Chichester (1197–1253), patron saint of Sussex
* Philip Howard, 13th Earl of Arundel (1557–1595), Catholic saint

### Other religious leaders

* Matthew Caffyn (1628–1714), General Baptist preacher
* Richard Challoner (1691–1781), Roman Catholic bishop and leading figure of English Catholicism
* Cornelia Connelly (1809–1879), US-born founder of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus and Mayfield School, Mayfield
* Richard Enraght (1837–1898), Irish-born Anglo-Catholic priest
* John Sirgood (1822–1885), Gloucestershire-born fundamentalist lay preacher, founder of Society of Dependants
* Thomas Stapleton (1535–1598), Catholic theologian
* Fiona Windsor (born 1956), archdeacon of Horsham, and the first female archdeacon in Sussex

## Scientists and scholars
### Anthropologists

* E.E. Evans-Pritchard (1902–1973), anthropologist
* David Pilbeam (born 1940), palaeoanthropologist

### Archaeologists

* John Pull (1899–1960)
* Mark Roberts (archaeologist) (born 1961)

### Astronomers

* Patrick Moore (1923–2012), astronomer and broadcaster
* Ian Morison (born 1943), astronomer and astrophysicist
* Martin Ryle (1918–1984), radio astronomer, winner of Nobel Prize

### Biologists

* William Borrer (1781–1862), botanist
* Edward Boyse (1923–2007), physician and biologist
* Barry Fell (1917–1994), zoologist
* Isabella Forshall (1900–1989), paediatric surgeon
* John Braxton Hicks (1823–1897), doctor and obstrecian
* Frederick Gowland Hopkins (1861–1947), biochemist and Nobel Prize winner
* Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895), biologist and anthropologist
* Sophia Jex-Blake (1840–1912), physician, pioneer female doctor
* Thomas H. Jukes (1906–1999), biologist known for his work in nutrition and molecular evolution
* Martin Holdgate (born 1931), biologist and environmental scientist
* Marianne North (1830–1890), biologist
* Richard Russell (1687–1759), physician
* Edith Rebecca Saunders (1865–1945), geneticist and plant anatomist
* F. M. L. Sheffield (1904–1973), botanist
* David Sims (born 1969), marine biologist
* Octavia Wilberforce (1888–1963), physician

### Chemists

* Tom Blundell (born 1942), biochemist
* Martin Fleischmann (1927–2012), electrochemist
* Frederick Gowland Hopkins (1861–1947), biochemist and Nobel Prize winner
* Frederick Soddy (1877–1956), radiochemist

### Computer scientists

* Stanley Gill (1926–1975), co-inventor of first computer subroutine
* Alan Turing (1912–1954)

### Economists

* Richard Blundell (born 1952), economist and econometrician
* Richard Jolly (born 1934), development economist
* John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946), founder of Keynesian economics
* George Paish (1867–1957), economist

### Geologists and palaeontologists

* Gideon Mantell (1790–1852), geologist, palaeontologist and obstetrician (discoverer of Iguanadon)

### Historians

* Kevin Brownlow (born 1938), film historian
* Thomas Walker Horsfield (1792–1837), Yorkshire-born historian best known for his works on Sussex history
* Mark Antony Lower (1813–1876), known for his works on Sussex history, anti-Catholic propagandist and founder member of the Sussex Archaeological Society
* Elizabeth Norton (born 1986)
* Philip Payton (born 1953)
* Louis Francis Salzman (1878–1971), economic historian

### Mathematicians

* Frank Anscombe (1918–2001), statistician
* Ruth Lawrence (born 1971)
* David Mumford (born 1937)
* John Pell (1611–1685)
* Harold Stanley Ruse (1905–1974)

### Philosophers

* Thomas Bradwardine (1300–1349)
* Peter Kropotkin (1842–1921), anarcho-communist philosopher lived in Brighton
* Gilbert Ryle (1900–1976)

### Physicists

* Emma Bunce (born 1975), space physicist
* Anthony French (1920–2017), physicist
* Alan Ernest Owen (1928–1999), physicist specialising in glass technology
* William Francis Gray Swann (1884–1962), physicist noted for his research into cosmic rays

### Psychologists

* William Brown (1881–1952)
* Edward B. Titchener (1867–1927)

## Sportspeople
### Boxers

* Chris Eubank Jr. (born 1989)
* Alan Minter (1951–2020)
* Tom Sayers (1826–1865)
* Scott Welch (born 1968), known as 'the Brighton Rock'

### Cricketers

* Chris Adams (born 1970), captain of the Sussex men's team during their 'golden era' in the early 2000s
* Georgia Adams (born 1993)
* Caroline Atkins (born 1981)
* Jem Broadbridge (1795–1843)
* Henry Charlwood (1846–1888)
* Holly Colvin (born 1989)
* Clare Connor (born 1976)
* George Cox Sr (1873–1949)
* Mason Crane (born 1997)
* Jemmy Dean (1816–1881)
* Duleepsinhji (1905–1959)
* Ed Giddins (born 1971)
* William Henty (1808–1881), bowled the first ever ball in a first class cricket match in Australia
* Jack Hobbs (1882–1963)
* Chris Jordan (born 1988)
* James Kirtley (born 1975)
* James Langridge (1906–1966)
* James Lillywhite (1842–1929)
* John Lillywhite (1826–1874)
* William Lillywhite (1792–1854)
* Kate Oakenfold (born 1984)
* Alan Oakman (1930–2018)
* Jim Parks (born 1903) (1903–1980)
* Jim Parks (born 1931) (born 1931)
* Barbara Pont (born 1933)
* Matt Prior (born 1982), South African-born cricketer for Sussex and England
* Ranjitsinhji (1872–1933)
* Albert Relf (1874–1937)
* Charlie Russell (born 1988)
* James Southerton (1827–1880)
* Maurice Tate (1895–1956)
* Joe Vine (1875–1946)
* Alexia Walker (born 1982)
* Alan Wells (born 1961)
* Colin Wells (born 1960)
* John Wisden (1826–1884)
* Elaine Wulcko (born 1959)

### Footballers

* Gareth Barry (born 1981)
* Tony Bloom (born 1970), chairman and owner of Brighton & Hove Albion and Royale Union Saint-Gilloise
* Lewis Dunk (born 1991)
* Jarvis Kenrick (1852–1949)
* Bobby Tambling (born 1941)
* Charles Wollaston (1849–1926)

### Golfers

* Max Faulkner (1916–2005)
* Abe Mitchell (1887–1947)
* Mark Seymour (1897–1952)

### Racing drivers

* Derek Bell (born 1941)
* Martin Dugard (born 1969)
* Selwyn Edge (1868–1940)
* David Nye (born 1958)
* Jolyon Palmer (born 1991)
* Will Palmer (born 1997)
* David Purley (1945–1985)
* Richard Seaman (1913–1939)
* Jimmy Broadbent (born 1991)

### Other sportspeople

* Chemmy Alcott (born 1982), ski racer
* Bob Champion (born 1948), jump jockey and Grand National winner
* Mark Davis (born 1972), snooker player
* Mercedes Gleitze (1900–1981), swimmer (first person to swim the Strait of Gibraltar, first British woman to swim the English Channel)
* Leslie Godfree (1885–1971), tennis player and winner of men's doubles at Wimbledon
* Will Green (born 1973), rugby union player
* Guy Harwood (born 1939), racehorse trainer
* David Howell (born 1990), youngest UK chess grandmaster
* Johanna Konta (born 1991), tennis player
* Richard Leman (born 1959), field hockey player
* Michael Olowokandi (born 1975), former NBA player
* Liam Treadwell (1986–2000), jockey

## Other notables

* Beachy Head Lady (fl. early to mid 3rd century AD), thought to be the first known person of sub-Saharan origin in Britain.
* Charles Burrell (born 1962), conservationist (Knepp Wildland Project)
* John Cripps (1927–2022), orchardist, responsible for creation of the Pink Lady ('Cripps Pink') and Sundowner ('Cripps Red') apples
* Martin Coles Harman (1885–1954), self-proclaimed king of Lundy
* Cecil Hurst (1870–1963), international lawyer, President of the Permanent Court of International Justice in The Hague (1934–1936) and Chairman of the United Nations War Crimes Commission (1943–1945)
* Peter Love (died 1610), pirate
* John Selden (1584–1654), jurist
* Maria Ann Smith (1799–1870), orchardist, responsible for creation of the Granny Smith apple