John Bowring (1792-1872): Politician, diplomat and writer. He was the eldest son of the Exeter wool merchant Charles Bowring (1769–1856) and his wife Sarah Jane Anne (d. 1828). A Unitarian, he worked initially for his father’s wool business and then in the counting-house of Kennaway & Co. In 1811 he moved to London where he was employed by Milford & Co, suppliers to Wellington’s troops in the Iberian peninsula. Bowring travelled widely in Europe on company business.
William Lisle Bowles (1762–1850): Church of England clergyman and poet, whose Fourteen Sonnets (1789) were a key contribution to the revival of the sonnet form and a major influence on Coleridge and Southey in the mid-1790s. Bowles was descended from a long line of clergymen and was educated at Winchester College and Trinity College, Oxford. He followed in his family’s tradition and was ordained. He became Vicar of Bremhill, Wiltshire in 1804, a chaplain to the Prince Regent in 1818 and a Canon of Salisbury Cathedral in 1828.
Caroline Bowles (1786-1854): Writer. Born in Hampshire, she was the only surviving child of Charles Bowles (1737–1801), a retired Captain in the East India service, and Ann Burrard (1753–1817). The continuing decline in her family’s finances was reflected in their move from Buckland Manor, Bowles’s birthplace, to the more modest Buckland Cottage. In 1818, Bowles, fearing that she would lose her home due to the mismanagement of her guardian, wrote to Southey asking his advice about publishing her poetry with the aim of earning much-needed cash.
Joseph Bounden (fl. 1805-1824): Author whose works included Fatal Curiosity; or, the Vision of Silvester. A Poem (1805) and The Murderer, or, The Fall of Lecas: A Tale (1808). Bounden shared a publisher with Southey – Longman and his associates. He was also acquainted with John Abraham Heraud through the Philomathic Society and, via this connection, in August 1824 wrote to Southey, sending a copy of his most recent work, The Deserted City; Eva, a Tale in Two Cantos; and Other Poems (1824).
Jonathan Boucher (1738-1804): Schoolmaster, clergyman and lexicographer. Southey corresponded with him in 1802 concerning Thomas Chatterton (1752–1770; DNB).
Robert Bloomfield (1766-1823): Brought up in Suffolk as a farmhand, Bloomfield became a shoemaker in London. His Georgic poem The Farmer’s Boy (1800) sold over 25,000 copies, and later collections Rural Tales (1802) and Wild Flowers (1806) also sold by the thousands. After 1813, owing to the bankruptcy of his publisher, Bloomfield was afflicted by poverty; Southey advised on schemes to raise money for his benefit. Bloomfield and Southey briefly corresponded in 1817.
Charles James Blomfeld (1786-1857): Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Greek scholar and clergyman. He was later Bishop of Chester, 1824–1828, and Bishop of London, 1828–1856. Southey met Blomfield in 1825 and the two men corresponded briefly.
Robert Blakeney (1758-1822): Secretary and Treasurer to the Whitehaven Harbour Trustees. He was well known to Wordsworth through the latter’s work as Distributor of Stamps for Westmorland.
William Blackwood (1776-1834): Edinburgh-based publisher whose firm, William Blackwood and Sons, became the leading Scottish publisher of the 1820s and 1830s. Blackwood’s career started in the antiquarian bookselling business, but gradually moved into publishing. His appointment, in 1811, as Edinburgh agent for John Murray gave him excellent links to the English book trade and English authors. In 1817 he founded a new Tory periodical – the Edinburgh Monthly Magazine.
Robert Bill (c. 1790–1823): The elder son of John Bill (d. 1847), a surgeon to the Manchester Infirmary who inherited the Farley estate, near Alton, Staffordshire. Robert Bill was educated at Macclesfield School (now the King’s School, Macclesfield), whose headmaster was Dr David Davies (1755–1828). Bill matriculated at Oriel College, Oxford, in 1807 graduating BA 1810 and MA 1814. He pursued a career as a barrister. In 1820 he married Louisa Dauncey, the daughter of Philip Dauncey K.C. (d.
