William Wordsworth (1770–1850): Poet. Wordsworth was born in Cockermouth, the second of five of five children of John Wordsworth (1741–1783), a legal agent for the Lowther family, the most powerful landowners in the Lake District. After his mother died in 1778, Wordsworth was sent to Hawkshead Grammar School and then St John’s College, Cambridge (1787–1791). In 1791 he visited France and had a brief relationship with Annette Vallon, with whom he had a daughter, Caroline.

Thomas Wordsworth (1806–1812): Third child of Mary and William Wordsworth. Born 15 June 1806. Died of measles 1 December 1812.

Mary Wordsworth (1770–1859): Wife of William Wordsworth. Mary was the daughter of John Hutchinson (1736–1783), a farmer. After her father’s death she lived with an aunt in Penrith. She became friendly with Dorothy Wordsworth, when the latter moved to Penrith in 1787 and the Wordsworth and Hutchinson families became increasingly close, visiting each other throughout the 1790s. Mary and William married on 4 October 1802 and had five children, two of whom died in childhood.

John Wordsworth (1803–1875): Eldest son of William Wordsworth. He was educated locally at Ambleside school; William Wordsworth had some difficulty finding him a university place, before settling on New College, Oxford, in 1823. John Wordsworth was ordained in 1828 and became Rector of Moresby 1828–1832, and later Vicar of Brigham 1832–1875, Rector of Workington 1834–1837 and Rector of Plumbland 1840–1875.

Dorothy Wordsworth (‘Dora’) (1804–1847): The eldest daughter of William and Mary Wordsworth. Dora was named after her aunt, Dorothy Wordsworth, and was exceptionally close to her father. She became the second wife of the poet Edward Quillinan, a widowed family friend, in 1841. Dora was a talented artist and also published a Journal of a Few Months Residence in Portugal, and Glimpses of the South of Spain (1847). She was part of Southey’s extended family circle, and was on good terms with his daughters.

Dorothy Wordsworth (1771–1855): Author, poet and diarist. Dorothy was born in Cockermouth, the younger sister of William Wordsworth and the third of five children of John Wordsworth (1741–1783), a legal agent for the Lowther family, the most powerful landowners in the Lake District. The early death of her parents led to Dorothy spending the period 1778–1787 with a cousin in Halifax, followed by time in Penrith with her grandparents and with an uncle in Norfolk. From 1794 she began sharing a house with her brother William and the two siblings remained very close for the rest of their lives.

Christopher Wordsworth (1774–1846): Anglican clergyman and scholar. He was the youngest brother of William Wordsworth and, like his older brother, was educated at Hawkshead School and Trinity College, Cambridge (1792–1796), where he became a Fellow in 1798. He was ordained in 1799 and enjoyed a successful clerical career through the patronage of Charles Manners-Sutton (1755–1828; DNB), Archbishop of Canterbury 1805–1828, whose son Wordsworth had tutored.

Catherine Wordsworth (1808–1812): Fourth child of Mary and William Wordsworth. Born 5 September 1808. Died of convulsions on 4 June 1812.

Sara Wood (dates unknown): A resident of the Cumbrian port of Maryport. She was possibly a member of the Wood family, who were leading shipbuilders in the town. Miss Wood was the mortgagee of Greta Hall, Southey’s home, from 1815, and Southey paid his rent directly to her for a period from 1817 onwards. Southey corresponded with her intermittently on a professional basis.

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797): Author and promoter of women’s rights. Wollstonecraft was born in London, the fifth of seven children of Edward John Wollstonecraft (1736–1803), an increasingly unsuccessful businessman and farmer. Financial troubles forced the family to move frequently. Wollstonecraft initially worked as a lady’s companion, in a school she set up with her sisters and a friend, and as a governess. But in 1787 she decided to concentrate on a literary career, aided by the radical publisher, Joseph Johnson (1738–1809; DNB), for whom she wrote reviews and translations.