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.

Charles Watkin Williams Wynn (1775–1850): Politician. The second son of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, 4th Baronet, and his second wife Charlotte Grenville. He was educated at home by a tutor, the Revd Robert Nares, and later at Westminster (adm. 1784) and Christ Church, Oxford (matric. 1791, BA 1795, MA 1798, DCL 1810). Entered Lincoln’s Inn in 1795 and was called to the Bar in 1798. He married Mary Cunliffe, daughter of a baronet, in 1806. Wynn had excellent family and political connections as his maternal grandfather was the Prime Minister George Grenville (1712–1770; DNB).

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.

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.

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

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 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.

Robert Wilberforce (1802–1857): The second son of William Wilberforce and his wife Barbara. He was educated privately and then at Oriel College, Oxford, becoming a Fellow of the latter in 1826. However, he resigned his Fellowship in 1831 and took up a career in the Church of England, becoming Archdeacon of the East Riding in 1841. He was close to many of the leading figures in the Oxford Movement and converted to Roman Catholicism in 1854. Wilberforce met Southey as a young man during family visits to the Lake District.

Simon Wilkin (1790–1862): Owner of a paper mill in Norwich, with wide interests, including entomology. Bankruptcy led him to establish a printing and publishing business in Norwich which produced the work of, among others, Amelia Opie and William Taylor. His most impressive project was his new edition of the life and works of Sir Thomas Browne (1605–1682; DNB), which finally appeared in 1835–1836. Southey advised Wilkin on the early stages of this project and greatly admired Wilkin’s work.

Richard White (1771–1847): Partner in Blake, White and Ainger, solicitors of Essex Street, London, who handled the business affairs of Jacob Pleydell–Bouverie, 2nd Earl of Radnor (1750–1828). White corresponded with Southey in 1826 when the Earl arranged Southey’s election (without his knowledge) for the pocket borough of Downton.