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.

Mary Wynn (née Cunliffe; d. 1838): Daughter of Foster Cunliffe, 3rd Baronet (1755–1834) and wife of Charles Watkin Williams Wynn.

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.

Francis Wrangham (1769–1842): Writer and Church of England clergyman. Wrangham was born at Raysthorpe, near Malton, Yorkshire, the son of George Wrangham (1741–1791), a prosperous farmer. He was educated at Hull Grammar School and Magdalene and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Wrangham was ordained in 1793 and enjoyed a successful career in the Church thanks to the initial patronage of the Dukes of Manchester, culminating in posts as Archdeacon of Cleveland 1820–1828 and of the East Riding 1828–1841.

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.

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

Richard York (1778–1843): Deputy Lieutenant for the West Riding of Yorkshire and Lieutenant-Colonel in the yeomanry. He lived at Wighill Park, Tadcaster, Yorkshire. York married Lady Mary-Anne Lascelles (1775–1831), daughter of Edward, 1st Earl of Harewood (1740–1820), a Yorkshire landowner with extensive interests in the West Indies, in 1801. York was an occasional correspondent of Southey’s. In 1822 Southey thanked him for a gift of some pheasants and for compliments on his recent letter in the Courier.

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.

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.