Edith Fricker (1774–1837): Southey’s first wife. The third surviving child of Stephen Fricker and Martha Rowles. Southey and Edith met as children in Bristol. They married in secret on 14 November 1795 at St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol. As her sister Sarah later explained, Southey ‘left ... [Edith] at the Church door’ and the following day departed for Spain and Portugal. Edith spent the early days of her marriage living with the Cottle sisters and using her maiden name, only reverting to ‘Southey’ when the secret became public in early 1796.

Bartholomew Frere (1776–1851): Diplomat. The younger brother of John Hookham Frere, he attended Trinity College, Cambridge, and in 1801 embarked on a diplomatic career. Frere was Secretary of Legation in the British Embassies to Portugal 1801–1802, Spain 1802–1805, 1808–1810 and Prussia 1805–1807. He then served as Secretary to the Embassy to the Ottoman Empire 1807–1808, 1811–1821, and it was in this capacity that Southey wrote to him, introducing Wade Browne (1796–1851), the son of his friend Wade Browne.

Francis Freeling, 1st Baronet (1764–1836): Postal administrator and book collector. A supporter of William Pitt (1759–1806; DNB), in the 1790s Freeling was involved in monitoring the activities of corresponding societies and supporters of the French revolution. A bibliophile, he was elected to the fellowship of the Society of Antiquaries in 1801. Southey and Freeling were both the sons of Bristol tradesmen.

Henry Richard Fox, 3rd Lord Holland (1773–1840): Whig politician and Hispanophile; nephew of the Whig politician Charles James Fox. Lord Holland gave Southey access to his superb library of books and manuscripts relating to Spain, Portugal and their colonies. Southey used it to research his History of Brazil (1810–1819).

Elizabeth Vassall Fox (1771–1845): The wife of Henry Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland, and a renowned political and literary hostess. Lady Holland discussed Spain and Portugal with Southey, and welcomed him to Holland House where he used the library.

Charles James Fox (1749–1806): A hero of Southey’s in the 1790s as the great radical Whig leader and ‘Friend of the People’ who opposed the anti-reform policies of William Pitt’s (1759–1806; DNB) government. Fox was an admirer of pastoral poetry and for this reason Southey sent him a presentation copy of Madoc (Wordsworth had done likewise with Lyrical Ballads).

Benjamin Flower (1755–1829): Writer and publisher of the radical newspaper the Cambridge Intelligencer. In 1799, Flower was sentenced to six months imprisonment and a fine of £100 for a libel against Richard Watson, the Bishop of Llandaff.

Samuel Favell (1775-1812): Son of John Favell (dates unknown), a house-painter in Cambridge. Favell attended Christ’s Hospital School 1786-1795, where he encountered both Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Charles Lamb. He entered Pembroke College, Cambridge in 1795, but did not graduate and joined the 61st Regiment of Foot, becoming a Captain in 1809. He was killed at the Battle of Salamanca in 1812

James Everett (1784–1872): Methodist Minister, bookseller, historian, polemicist and dissident. He was expelled from the main body of Methodists in 1849 and became a central figure in the United Methodist Free Church. He struck up a surprisingly amicable correspondence with Southey, prompted by the latter’s biographical sketch of John Wesley (1703–1791; DNB) in the Correspondent (1817).

Edward Everett (1794–1865): American polymath and politician. Everett was appointed to a newly endowed Chair in Greek at Harvard in 1815. This permitted him to study and travel in Europe, which he did between 1815–1819, enrolling for part of this time at Göttingen University alongside his friend George Ticknor. In summer 1818 Everett visited the Lakes and called on Southey. The latter described him as ‘one of the most interesting men I have seen’. Everett returned to America in 1819 and became editor of the North American Review in the following year.