THE most searched for celebrities from Essex has been revealed in an interactive map.

The map links place names with their most searched for public figure on Wikipedia.

It includes a wide-reaching spectrum of celebrities, and counts 18th-century poets and wrestling champions among its pinpoints.

The link between the location and the celebrity ranges from their place of birth, their current home or a connection.

Produced by The Pudding, an online publication which debates culture in visual essays, the map covers villages, towns and cities across the UK.

Here are the most famous people from different parts of Essex:

Southend and Rochford 

Replacing both Southend and Rochford on the map is Countdown star Rachel Riley.

She was born in Rochford but spent her childhood in Thorpe Bay and attended Southend High School for girls.

Colchester

Most people would probably guess at a member of a certain Britpop band for this one - but you'd be mistaken.

Despite Colchester being the home town of Blur and Gorillaz icon Damon Alban as well as guitarist Graham Coxon - neither are the most searched for famous people in Colchester.

This accolade goes to acclaimed comedy writer and director Chris Morris.

The sometimes controversial writer was born in the town before going on to create the likes of Brass Eye and Four Lions.

Westcliff 

Dame Helen Mirren replaced the area on the map. 

She grew up in Leigh but attended Hamlet Court primary school in Westcliff.

Chelmsford

And replacing Chelmsford on the map is Joe Thomas.

The 37-year-old comedian is best known for playing Simon Cooper in the award-winning E4 sitcom The Inbetweeners (2008–2010) and its two film adaptions, The Inbetweeners Movie (2011) and The Inbetweeners 2 (2014), both achieving box office success.

Billericay

The area has been replaced by Russell Tovey. 

The actor grew up in Billericay and attended Harold Court School in Harold Wood and Shenfield High School.

Braintree

Braintree was replaced by The Prodigy.

The band hail for Braintree and was formed in 1990 by keyboardist and songwriter Liam Howlett.

Brightlingsea

Although she wasn't born in the coastal town, Brightlingsea was home to Dragon's Den entrepreneur Deborah Meaden in her youth.

Hence her being the most searched for person with a connection to the town.

She is worth an estimated £40 million these days.

Witham

Witham has been replaced on the map by singer Olly Murs. 

The number one hitmaker, 37, was runner-up in the 2009 series of X Factor. 

He has since gone on to have a successful recording career. 

Harwich

One for the history buffs.

Christopher Jones, the captain of the famous Mayflower ship, is the most searched for residents of Harwich.

Halstead

Halstead takes the name of Matt Cardle. 

Cardle, 38, who won X Factor back in 2010 grew up in the town.

Wivenhoe

The most searched for famous person from Wivenhoe is Keith Christmas.

The English singer songwriter is perhaps best known for playing acoustic guitar of David Bowie's Space Oddity album, but also released his own albums and toured with some of the biggest acts in the world including The Who and The Kinks.

Clacton

Did you know the author behind the famous Call the Midwive TV series was from Clacton? Well you do now.

Jennifer Worth, writer of the famous series of books, was born in the town back in 1935.

She is the most searched for person from Clacton.

Maldon

Replacing Maldon on the map is Horatio Gates. 

Gates was a Maldon born soldier who served as a leading American general during the early years of the Revolutionary War. 

Harlow

Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint replaces the town on the map. 

The star was born in the town.

Not surprisingly, the Queen is the most searched for person connected to London's upmarket Mayfair district, while Margaret Thatcher has the honour in Grantham, Lincolnshire, which was her birthplace.

Ed Sheeran is the most searched for person in Halifax, while it’s Winston Churchill with Aberdeen and Bristol.

The Bee Gees have the most searches for Manchester, while The Beatles are tops for Liverpool.

The Pudding map states: “Person/city associations were based on the thousands of “People by city or town” pages on Wikipedia.

“The top person from each city was determined by using median pageviews (with a minimum of 1 year of traffic).

“We chose to include multiple occurrences for a single person because there is both no way to determine which is more accurate and people can 'be from' multiple places."

The People Map of the UK website is based on data collected and processed using Wikipedia from July 2015 to May 2020.