Herbert Hill (c. 1749–1828): Southey’s maternal uncle. Hill was the product of a second marriage, and after his father’s death was left short of money (even having to ‘pay his own school bills when it was in his power’) and on extremely bad terms with his older half-brother. Hill was educated at Christ Church, Oxford (BA 1772, MA 1774). From 1782–1807, he was chaplain to the British factory at Lisbon. Hill took a paternal interest in his nephews, and helped finance Southey’s education.

Georgiana Hill (1816–1873): The only daughter of Herbert Hill and his wife Catherine.

Errol Hill (1812–1844): Third son of Herbert and Catherine Hill; a clergyman and Fellow of New College, Oxford. He was reputed to have proposed marriage to Southey’s daughter Katherine (Kate), but was turned down.

Edward Hill (1809–1900): Eldest son of Herbert and Catherine Hill. Educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford. Southey provided a stream of advice on Edward’s education, including the process of being elected a King’s Scholar at Westminster – an honour Edward achieved in 1823 – and whether he should proceed to Oxford or Cambridge. Edward was an excellent scholar and graduated with a First in 1830, becoming a Tutor at Christ Church. Southey liked and respected Edward and invited him to spend a number of holidays in Keswick, beginning in 1824.

Catherine Hill (1775–1848): Daughter of Lovelace Bigg-Wither (1741–1813), a Hampshire landowner. She and her sisters were friends of Jane Austen (1775–1817; DNB). In 1808 she married Herbert Hill and the couple had six children.

Alfred Hill (b. 1815): Fourth son of Herbert and Catherine Hill. He became a lawyer.

Poet, dramatist, reviewer and editor. The son of the law stationer James Abraham Heraud (d. 1846) and his wife Jane (d. 1850), he was educated privately. Eschewing the business career for which he had been intended, Heraud embarked on a literary life. He wrote essays, including ones on German literature, for periodicals, contributing to the Quarterly Review from 1827 and the Athenaeum from 1843. He was the assistant editor of Fraser’s Magazine 1830–1833.

Ann Elizabeth Heraud (d. 1867): Daughter of Henry Baddams (1776–1842); she married John Abraham Heraud on 15 May 1823 and the couple had six children, one of whom, Edith Heraud (d. 1899), an actress, wrote a Memoir of her father (1898).

Richard Heber (1774–1833): Book-collector. Son of Reginald Heber, clergyman and landowner. Educated at Brasenose College, Oxford (BA 1796, MA, 1797). Heber edited some minor classical writers, but his main interest was his book collection, which finally totalled over 100,000 volumes housed in eight different locations. Though he concentrated on early English poetry and drama his library included classical works and a wide selection of European and Latin American literature. Heber was exceptionally generous in lending his books, and let Southey use his copy of Amadis of Gaul.

Reginald Heber (1783–1826): Younger half-brother of Richard Heber, he was ordained in 1807 and gained some reputation as an Anglican theologian and hymn-writer. He was deeply interested in missionary work, was well-read on West and South Asia and was an occasional contributor to the Quarterly Review. In 1823 his friend Wynn obtained for him the post of Bishop of Calcutta and he died in India after a brief, but highly successful, term of office. Southey wrote a poem in memory of Heber for the Life of Reginald Heber (1830).