John Samuel Murray (1778–1843): Publisher, who inherited his business from his father, John (1737–1793; DNB). After Murray took sole control of the firm in 1803, he proved a shrewd businessman. He published everything from cookery books and cheap reprints to the works of Byron, Scott, Crabbe and Jane Austen. After he purchased the business and premises at 50 Albemarle Street of William Miller (1769–1844; DNB) in 1812, he was at the centre of London literary life.

William Mudford (1782–1848): Writer, translator and journalist. Born in London, the son of a shopkeeper in Piccadilly. His first novel, Augustus and Mary, was published in 1803. Thereafter Mudford moved between translation, editing and writing biographies, fiction and journalism. His best-known writings were short stories for Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, especially ‘The Iron Shroud’ (1830), which may have inspired Edgar Allen Poe’s (1809–1849) ‘The Pit and the Pendulum’ (1842).

John Morrison (dates unknown): An attorney in Whitehaven, who was involved in administering the complex affairs of Greta Hall, the house that Southey rented from 1803 onwards. He corresponded with Southey on business matters.

William Richard Morris (1802–1849): Fourth son of John Morris (1765–1840), Director of the East India Company. From 1818 he was a member of the Bombay civil service. He befriended the East India Company army officer and historian James Grant Duff (1789–1858; DNB) and acted as his ‘first assistant’ on a three-volume History of the Mahrattas (1826). In 1826 Southey wrote to him to thank him for a copy of the History.

Robert Morris (dates unknown): Southey wrote to him in 1826 about Hartley Coleridge’s annuity from William Jackson, which was secured on the Greta Hall estate. It has otherwise not been possible to identify Morris.

Mary Morgan (née Brent; b. 1782): The wife of one of Southey’s oldest friends, John James Morgan. She was the daughter of Moses Brent (d. 1817), a silversmith, and had married John James Morgan in 1800.

John James Morgan (d. 1820): Businessman. His friendship with Southey dated from their time as pupils at Williams’ School, Bristol. From 1810–1816, Morgan and his wife took in Samuel Taylor Coleridge and attempted to cure him of his opium addiction. When Morgan’s finances collapsed in 1819, Southey, Charles Lamb and other friends contributed to an annuity for him.

Hannah More (1745–1833): Writer, educationist and conservative. More was born in Bristol, where her father, Jacob More (1700–1783) founded a series of schools. More taught in these schools until an annuity she received as compensation from her ex-fiancée for breaking off their engagement allowed her to concentrate on literature. Her first efforts were pastoral plays, and from 1773–1774 onwards she visited London regularly and became well-known in literary circles.

Thomas Moore (1779–1852): Irish poet, playwright, and satirist, who in later life turned to writing biography, including a life of his friend Byron, whose Whig politics he shared. As a poet Moore achieved commercial success with his Poetical Works of the Late Thomas Little (1801); subsequent volumes included Irish Melodies (1808–1834), Intercepted Letters, or, The Twopenny Post-Bag (1813), and The Fudge Family in Paris (1818).

Edward Moor (1771–1848): Army officer and writer. He served in the army of the East India Company, rising to the rank of Major. After retiring back to his home county of Suffolk due to ill health, he produced the Hindu Pantheon (1810), which for over fifty years was the only authoritative book in English on the subject, and thus widely consulted. Other publications included Hindu Infanticide: an Account of the Measures Adopted for Suppressing the Practice (1811), Oriental Fragments (1834), and Suffolk Words and Phrases (1823).