Sarah Southey (née Castle; 1782–1849): The daughter of a lawyer from Durham. She married Tom Southey in June 1810. Their nine surviving children were born between 1811–1824.

Thomas (‘Tom'; 1777–1838)Sailor and farmer. Southey’s younger brother and the one to whom he was in the 1790s closest. Tom entered the navy as a midshipman at the age of 12, saw action in several major battles of the French revolutionary wars (including Cape St Vincent and Copenhagen), was captured on one occasion, wounded on several others, and was made a lieutenant as reward for his bravery in the fight between Mars and L’Hercule on 21 April 1798.

Thomas Southey (1748–1811): Younger brother and at one time the business partner of Southey’s father, Robert Southey Senior. He was the beneficiary of the will of John Southey, to Southey’s envy and dismay, thus becoming a rich man. He spent his later years in Taunton, Somerset. Although unmarried, childless, and wealthy Thomas Southey was on distant terms with his brother Robert’s sons. Thomas Southey’s Will held no surprises — it cut his nephews off without a penny, ‘his last boast being ... that no one of his own name should ever be a shilling the better for him’.

John Spedding (1770–1851): Of Mirehouse, near Keswick. A boyhood friend of Wordsworth who became a close friend of the Southey family.

Hugh Chudleigh Standert (1782–1850): Surgeon at Taunton with literary inclinations, and a friend of James Montgomery. Standert was known to Southey through the latter’s extensive family connections in Taunton and the two men occasionally corresponded.

Grace Smith (née Weatherall; 1751/2–1832): Wife of Major-General John Smith (1754–1837; DNB); grandmother of Charlotte-Julia Jephson. She visited the Lakes, including Keswick, in 1812.

Percy Bysshe Shelley: (1792–1822): Eldest son of the wealthy Sussex landowner, baronet and MP, Sir Timothy Shelley (1753–1844). He became a published poet and novelist while still at Eton and was expelled from University College, Oxford, in March 1811 for writing The Necessity of Atheism (1811). In August 1811 he eloped with, and married, Harriet Westbrook (1795–1816), causing a temporary breakdown in relations with his family.

Elizabeth Smith (c. 1764–1859): Wife of Thomas Smith and a noted collector of autographs and manuscripts.

Harriet Shelley (née Westbrook; 1795–1816): Shelley’s first wife. They eloped and married in 1811. They had two children, but Shelley left her in 1814. She committed suicide two years later.

William Shield (c. 1748/9–1829): Master of the King’s Music 1817–1829. Shield was born near Gateshead and made a name as a violinist in Newcastle, before moving to London, where he became principal violinist at Covent Garden in 1773 and later ‘house composer’ for the theatre. Shield made use of Northumbrian folk tunes, and wrote light operas and music for string quartets and trios. He was also a friend of Joseph Haydn (1732–1809; DNB).