Hallam, Henry, 1777-1859

English barrister, historian, fellow of the Royal Society, and trustee of the British Museum. He is best remembered for his works View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages (1818), The Constitutional History of England (1827), and Introduction to the Literature of Europe, in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (1837).

Habington, William, 1605-1654

English poet and historian, son of Mary Habington and Sir Thomas Habington and nephew of Sir Edward Habington, all of whom had been implicated in political conspiracies surrounding the crown. Habington's most notable work, Castara, is a collection of poems dedicated to his wife and revered for its imaginativeness.

Gwyn, Nell, 1650-1687

English actress, mistress of Charles II, and mother of James and Charles Beauclerk. Deemed "pretty, witty Nell" by Samuel Pepys, Gwyn was among the most famous of the Restoration figures of celebrity, regarded as the embodiment of the anti-Puritan attitudes of the Restoration period.