Site Index: Additions Template, for Adding and Updating Named Entities in the Digital Mitford Archive

Joseph Acerbi Giuseppe Joseph Acerbi Signor Castel Goffredo, Italy traveller literary naturalist musician composer Author of Travels through Sweden, Finland, and Lapland to the North Cape, in the years 1798 and 1799. General Sir George Pownoll Adams George PownollPownall Adams General Sir Knight Commander of Hanover (KCH) Totnes, Devon, England East Budleigh, Devon, England military army officer Husband of Elizabeth Elford, second daughter of Dr. Richard Valpy. Adams was baptized at Totnes, Devon, on January 1, 1779 and so was likely born in late 1778. He died in April 1856 at East Budleigh, Devon. George was the younger son of merchant William Adams (1752-1811), MP for Plympton Erle (1796-1801) and for Totnes (1801-1811), and Mary Chadder. He was the younger brother of William Dacres Adams (1775-1862), who became Private Secretary to two Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom: Pitt the Younger (1804–1806) and the Duke of Portland (1807-1809). William Dacres Adams inherited the estate of Bowden in the parish of Ashprington, near Totnes in Devon, from his father, who had purchased it from the Trist family about 1800; William Dacres Adams allowed George and his family to live there after his own marriage. Bowden House, the Georgian mansion located on the former estate, is currently a grade I listed building. His middle name is variously recorded as 'Pownoll' and 'Pownall.' Joseph Addison Addison Joseph Millstone, Wiltshire, England; ' Holland House, London, England literary editor essayist politician English politician and writer who, with his friend Sir Richard Steele, edited the journal The Spectator. John Leycester Adolphus Adolphus John Leycester legal barrister literary historian essayist Barrister, historian, and author of a literary essay in which he speculates on the identity of the author of the Waverley Novels. Aeschylus 525 BC Eleusis, West Attica 455 BC Gela, Sicily literary theater playwright Ancient writer of tragedies, the earliest of the three celebrated progenitors of classical tragedy, including Euripides and Sophocles against both of whom he successfully competed for prize-winning plays in ancient Greece. His plays are some of the earliest existing examples of tragedy, though the genre likely predates him. Aeschylus, like Euripides and Sophocles, served in military roles to fight the Persians. Author of the historical tragedy, Persians (472 BC), as well as the Oresteia (458 BC, the only complete trilogy cycle of plays from ancient Greece, Aeschylus was credited by the librarians at Alexandria with writing Prometheus Bound, though the authorship is now disputed. Mitford knew and discussed the eighteenth-century translation of Aeschylus's plays by Robert Potter . Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Albert Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emmanuel House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Prince Consort Schloss Rosenau, near Coburg, Bavaria Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England royalty Queen Victoria's first cousin and spouse, whose death at the age of forty-eight led her to a prolonged period of mourning as the 'Widow at Windsor.' Count Vittorio Alfieri Alfieri Vittorio Count Asti, Piedmont region, Italy Florence, Italy literary theater playwright Credited with reviving Italian tragedy in the eighteenth century, Alfieri's plays included Filippo, Polinice, Antigone, Virginia,and the highly acclaimed Saul. He also authored an ode on American Independence and a satirical poem, The Antigallican, on the French Revolution. Alfred I, King of the West Saxons Alfred of Wessex King of the West Saxons King of the Anglo-Saxons Alfred the Great Wantage, Oxfordshire, England Winchester, Hampshire, England military monarch King of the West Saxons, of the House of Wessex, later styled King of the Anglo-Saxons. In addition to his military victories, including the defeat of the Danes at the Battle of Edington, Alfred is known for his wise governmental administration and promotion of learning and literacy. Source: DNB. Sir William Allan Allan William Sir Edinburgh, Scotland Edinburgh, Scotland artist painter Allan was an artist who painted portraits of Scott, Byron, and Burns, as well as Scottish, English, and Russian historical subjects. Mitford was aware through Benjamin Robert Haydon of his painting, The Broken Fiddle. In 1838 he was appointed president of the Royal Scottish Academy, and in 1841 he became the queen's limner in Scotland and was knighted Source: ODNB. Anacreon Teos, Ionia literary poet Ionian lyric poet of the ancient world, later considered one of nine canonical Greek poets; known for composing bacchanalian and amatory lyrics and hymns. Associated with the poetic genre known as the Anacreontic Ode; many examples are drinking songs. Anne servant Servant in the Mitford household. Surname unknown. More research needed. Source: Needham Papers, Reading Central Library. Francis Annesley Annesley Francis Reading, Berkshire, England educator politician First Master of Downing College, Cambridge University from 1800 until his death in, Annesley also served as Member of Parliament for the borough of Reading between 1774 and 1806. In a note among his Mitford papers, Needham identifies Annesley as the basis for the old beau in "Modern Antiques", an identification he cites from Harness 1.20. Ariosto Ludovico Arisoto Reggio Emilia, Duchy of Modena and Reggio Ferrara, Duchy of Ferrara literary poet playwright theater courtier diplomat Medieval poet, courtier, and diplomat. Author of the epic Orlando Furioso (1516), a sequel to Matteo Maria Boiardo's Orlando innamorato, and written in ottava rima. Alexander Baring, Baron Ashburton Baring Alexander First Baron Ashburton Longleat, Wiltshire, England banker politician government diplomat Influential financier, politician, and government official. Head of Baring Brothers, Merchants, which later operated as Barings Bank, which upon its collapse in 1995 was Britain's oldest merchant bank. Barings also served as Member of Parliament for Taunton and later, for North Essex, and as Master of the Mint, President of the Board of Trade, and Ambassador to the United States. In 1842, as Ambassador, he was responsible for the Ashburton Treaty, which delimited the frontiers between British North America and the U.S.A. John Aubrey John Aubrey Kington St. Michael, Wiltshire, Malmesbury, England Oxford, Oxfordshire, England literary biographer antiquarian naturalist Seventeenth-century antiquarian, naturalist, and writer. In the nineteenth century, best known as the author of biographical sketches known informally as Brief Lives or Aubrey's Lives. Mitford's reading included Letters Written by Eminent Persons in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries: To Which are Added, Hearne's Journeys to Reading, and to Whaddon Hall, the Seat of Browne Willis, Esq., and Lives of Eminent Men by John Aubrey, Esq., which she admired. Jane Austen Jane Austen Steventon, Hampshire, England Winchester, Hampshire, England literary novelist Novelist celebrated for her wit and style, whose works investigated women's social and economic vulnerabilities in English society. During her lifetime she published anonymously. Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1815), all anonymously. Northanger Abbey, the first written of her novels (composed in 1798-1799) was published posthumously in 1818 (the title was chosen by surviving family) along with her final completed novel, Persuasion. Mitford claims in a letter to Sir William Elford of 3 April 1815 that she has recently discovered Austen is my countrywoman,, that is, a neighbor. Later in a letter of 2 July 1816 praised Emma in particular among Austen's novels. She and Elford evidently knew the identity of Austen as the author long before the information was public knowledge, and she claims in the April 3 letter that her mother remembered Jane Austen in her youth as the prettiest, silliest, most affected, husband-hunting butterfly she ever remembers, but that Jane was by the 1810s extremely quiet, which impressed Mitford: till Pride and Prejudice showed what a precious gem was hidden in that unbending case, she was no more regarded in society than a poker or a fire-screen, or any other thin upright piece of wood or iron that fills its corner in peace and quietness. The case is very different now; she is still a poker--but a poker of whom every one is afraid. It must be confessed that this silent observation from such an observer is rather formidable. Most writers are good-humoured chatterers--neither very wise nor very witty:--but nine times out of ten (at least in the few that I have known) unaffected and pleasant, and quite removing by their conversation any awe that may have been excited by their works. But a wit, a delineator of character, who does not talk, is terrific indeed! Source: L'Estrange. Francis Bacon Francis Bacon Sir Viscount St. Alban Attorney General of England and Wales Lord Chancellor of England Strand, London, England Highgate, Middlesex, England legal literary orator philosopher politician naturalist A writer and philosopher who made important methodological contributions to science, particularly championing empiricism. His philosophical works include the Novum Organum Scientiarum (New Organon), Advancement of Learning, Essays, and New Atlantis. A nephew of the powerful Elizabethan politician William Cecil, Lord Burleigh (or Burghley), he served as Member of Parliament for various constituencies at various times, as an advisor to Elizabeth's doomed favourite and failed usurper Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, and as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor under James I. In 1621, he was prosecuted for corruption and barred from further public service. He has been controversially reputed to be homosexual, on the grounds that a fellow M.P. called one of his (Bacon's) servingmen "his catamite and bed-fellow." In 1845 (during Mitford's lifetime), this passage was published for the first time. Joanna Baillie Baillie Joanna Bothwell, Lanarkshire, Scotland Hampstead, England literary poet theater playwright Successful playwright, authored Poems: Wherein It Is Attempted to Describe Certain Views of Nature and of Rustic Manners (1790) and more than twenty-five plays. Her best-known works are included in Plays on the Passions (1798) and were later collected in The Dramatic and Poetical Works of Joanna Baillie(1851). The sister of the physicians and scientists John and William Hunter and the daughter of a Professor of Divinity at the University of Glasgow, Baillie belonged to an important literary-scientific family that operated as a kinship coterie. Robert Baldwin publisher printer bookseller Printer of the London Magazine; London printer and bookseller. Partners with Charles Cradock and William Joy; published works with them under firm name Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy. Also published separately under R. Baldwin. See Coles 14. John "Jack" Bannister Bannister John Jack Deptford, Kent, England theater actor theater manager Actor who performed at Haymarket and Drury Lane. Specialized in low comic roles. Played Don Whiskerando in The Critic in 1779 and played Joseph Surface in The School for Scandal. Manager of Drury Lane from 1802 to 1815. Elizabeth Barrett Browning Barrett Browning Barrett Moulton-Barrett Elizabeth Elizabeth Barrett Kelloe, Durham, England Florence, Italy literary poet Victorian poet, long-time correspondent, mentee, and friend of Mary Russell Mitford. She published alongside Mitford in the Finden's Tableaux series of annuals. Mrs. Bayley Bayley Mrs. Mrs. Bayley, spouse of Peter Bayley. After his sudden death in 1823, she arranged to publish his poems posthumously and to have performed and published his tragedy Orestes in Argos. Forename unknown. More research needed. Peter Bayley Peter Bayley London, England legal solicitor literary theater playwright poet editor Solicitor, poet, playwright, and editor of the The Museum. Married to the Mrs. Bayley mentioned in Mitford's letter to Talfourd of 11 May 1825 . Source: DNB. Francis Beaumont Beaumont Francis Grace-Dieu, Leicestershire, England London, England literary theater playwright poet Contributor to a corpus of plays published in the seventeenth century as the collaborative works of Beaumont and John Fletcher. Many of these plays are now thought to have been composed by only one of the duo, with or without a third author, or by neither. Perhaps the most famous Beaumont and Fletcher play is the ribald comedy The Knight of the Burning Pestle. Beaumont was also a poet and friend of Ben Jonson. He contributed prefatory verses to Jonson's comedy Volpone. Sir George Beaumont Beaumont George Howland Sir Seventh Baronet Member of Parliament Great Dunmow, Essex, England Coleorton, Leicestershire, England artist painter philanthropist Art collector, patron of the arts, and amateur painter. He donated the first collection to form the National Gallery in London. Exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1794 and 1825. Friend and patron to Wordsworth, Haydon, and Thomas Hearne. William Beechey William Beechey Sir Member of thee Royal Academy (RA) Burford, Oxfordshire, England London, England artist painter Official portrait painter to Queen Charlotte and member of the Royal Academy; he painted many members of the British royal family as well as celebrated figures such as Sarah Siddons and Admiral Nelson. He specialized in smaller scale full-length portraits. John Bellamy John Bellamy literary translator Hebraicist and author of The Holy Bible newly translated from the original Hebrew: with notes critical and explanatory, published for the author by subscription in 1818. Henry "Grey" Bennet Bennet Henry Grey Honourable Grey Bennet Member of Parliament for Shrewsbury (MP) Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society (FGS) Lake Como, Italy politician military legal M.P. for Shrewsbury after 1806 and into the 1820s, known as Grey Bennett, the brother of Charles Augustus Bennet (1776-1854) who shared his Whig politics and like him belonged to the Whig Brooks's Club. Advocate of Catholic emancipation and parliamentary reform. On 16 May 1816, he married Gertrude Frances, daughter of Lord William Russell. Bennet gave up his parliament seat in 1826 amid a cloud of scandal after a threat of prosecution for importuning a young male servant at Spa in August 1825 Source: ODNB. He had been travelling in Italy after the deaths of a son and daughter from consumption in 1824, and remained in exile with his wife until his death in 1836. George John Bennett Bennett George John Mr. Mr. Bennett Ripon, Yorkshire, England actor Versatile actor who played both comic and tragic roles with success. Performed in the provinces, then at Drury Lane from 1825-1826, in Dublin from 1826-28, and at Covent Garden in 1828 before moving to the suburban London theater of Sadler's Wells. Retired from acting in 1862. Said to have inaugurated a new, more sympathetic and serious style of playing Caliban, which had previously been considered a comic wild man character. William Cox Bennett Bennett William Cox Greenwich, England 4 Eliot Cottages, Blackheath, England literary journalist artisan watchmaker

A friend of Mitford's late in her life, William Cox Bennett addressed a sonnet to her ("To Mary Russell Mitford" (526), and a poem entitled "Lines Written in Miss Mitford's Garden" (483) , both of which appeared in his volume, Poems (second edition) of 1862 . She is also mentioned alongside Wordsworth in his poem "The Modern Griselda" (85-101) in that volume. Married to Elizabeth Sinnock Bennett and younger sibling of Sir John Bennett.

Cox organized the very Liberal political activity in Greenwich. In 1868 he helped stump for the Liberal William Gladstone in his first successful campaign for Prime Minister. He wrote for the Weekly Dispatch from 1869 to 1870, contributed to the London paper, Figaro , and edied of the literary periodical, The Lark, from 1883 to 1884 . Author of Prometheus the Fire Giver published in 1877 , and Songs for Sailors in 1878 . Source: ODNB.

Francis Bennoch Bennoch Francis Esq. literary poet philanthropist merchant Scottish silk merchant, amateur poet, and literary and art patron. Dedicatee of Mitford's Dramatic Works (1854), and assisted in publication of Atherton and Other Tales (1854). Also the friend and patron of Haydon and Hawthorne. Berengaria Berengaria of Navarre Queen Consort of England monarch courtier Queen Consort of Richard I of England, 1191-1199. Eldest daughter of King Sancho VI of Navarre and Sancha of Castile. She reportedly accompanied her new husband on his first Crusade but they returned separately. Berengaria remained in Europe and later attempted to raise money for his return after he was captured. Became proverbial for wifely faithfulness. James Beresford James Beresford Upham, Hampshire, England Kibworth, Leicestershire, England literary poet essayist clergy Clergyman and writer, best known as the author of the satirical work The Miseries of Human Life. Nicholaes Berghem Berchem Berghem Nicholaes Pieterszoon Haarlem, Holland Amsterdam, Holland artist painter printmaker Dutch landscape painter known for his pastoral subjects and scenes of rural village life in Holland and Italy. His works are signed both as Berghem and Berchem. Mitford employs Berghem. Elizabeth of Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury Elizabeth Hardwick Barley cavendish st. Loe Talbot Countess of Shrewsbury Bess of Hardwick courtier A very rich and powerful woman in Elizabethan England, Bess of Hardwick married four times, and her last husband, George Talbot, gave her the title Countess of Shrewsbury. While Mary Queen of Scots was held captive and under Talbot's guard at Sheffield Castle in 1568, Bess befriended her, and the two worked on the Oxburgh Hangings tapestries during the queen's confinement. After Talbot's death in 1590 she commissioned the architect Robert Smythson to build Hardwick Hall in Renaisssance style. The Bess of Hardwick's Letters site archives her complete correspondence from 1550 to 1608. Thomas Bewick Thomas Bewick Mickley, Northumberland, England Gateshead, Durham, England artist wood engraver naturalist literary Bewick is one of the most important practitioners of modern wood engraving. He is the best-known and one of the finest wood engravers employing a technique (which he did not invent) in which hard boxwood is carved on the end-grain using metal-engraver's tools. This technique allows for the creation of finer and more detailed engraved images and also results in an engraving block that is more durable than those carved with the grain. Notable works of literary illustration include editions of Oliver Goldsmith's The Traveller and The Deserted Village, Thomas Parnell's The Hermit, and William Somervile's The Chase. His major works as a naturalist include A History of British Birds and A General History of Quadrupeds, as well as a series of editions of Aesop's Fables. One of Bewick's specialties was his tail- or tale-pieces, small engraved illustrations used to fill gaps left by page breaks. British Birds features prominently in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, in which Jane prizes it more for its images than its text. William Bewick William Bewick Danlington, Durham, England Haughton-le-Skerne, Durham, England artist painter Pupil of the painter Benjamin Robert Haydon for about three years and attended the Royal Academy. Bewick was not a member of the family of Thomas Bewick the illustrator-engraver. Isaac Bickerstaffe Isaac John Bickerstaffe Bickerstaff Dublin, Ireland military literary theater playwright musician librettist Irish librettist and writer of musical theater and comic opera in London and for Drury Lane Theater. Commissioned first in the Northumberland Fusiliers, then in the marines. Author of several very popular comedies, including Thomas and Sally: or the Sailor's Return , Love in a Village (1762), Love in the City (1767), and the internationally successful play, The Padlock (1768), which was produced in Germany and Hungary. Bickerstaff went into exile from England due to published reports from a blackmailing soldier who accused him of a sodomitical encounter. He is known to have travelled in France, Austria, and Italy under assumed names, but his final whereabouts are unknown. The ODNB cites records that he was receiving army half pay in 1808, and perhaps died shortly thereafter; other reference works suggest he was alive as late as 1812. Hannah Bint Bint Hannah Shinfield parish, Berkshire, England Daughter of Thomas Bint and Sarah Bint. Baptised in Shinfield Parish on September 16, 1804. Above Hannah Bint's baptismal record, Needham has noted, "a large family followed"; "large family" is crossed out in pencil, and he has written "several children". In an attempt to establish the original for the story character, Needham also, on the same sheet of paper, lists a "Hannah Clark" who married a "William Bint" on April 16, 1800. Baptismal and family data as recorded by Needham in his Mitford notes, on a list of Shinfield records. A Bint family blog records that their Hannah Bint became a schoolmistress. Source: The Bint Family of Shinfield Fiction and Mary Russell Mitford, Morris Birkbeck Morris Birkbeck Settle, Yorkshire, England Bonpas Creek, Illinois, USA literary government reformer agronomist emigrant Quaker, abolitionist, radical reformer in politics and religion, and an agricultural experimenter in the cross-breeding of Merino sheep, Birkbeck emigrated to America in 1817 in order to establish a utopian community in the Illinois territory. Author of Notes on a Journey in America and Letters from Illinois. These much-read works, which presented a utopian, anti-clerical, and anti-aristocratic vision of American settlement, were believed to be instrumental in encouraging many disaffected Europeans to emigrate to the American prairies, and set off a pamphlet war about on the topic of American emigration to the so-called English Prairie. (See Eaton, Joseph. The Anglo-American Pamphlet War, 1800-1825. New York: Palgrave/Macmillan, 2012). He became president of Illinois's first agricultural society, worked against the establishment of slavery in the state, and briefly served as Secretary of State for Illinois. He was acquainted with Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Edward Coles, and Robert Owen, himself the founder of another midwestern utopian community in New Harmony, Indiana. William Blake William Blake Soho, London, England Charing Cross, London, England literary artist engraver First-generation British Romantic poet, artist, engraver, and religious visionary. Based in London, Blake left the city infrequently and both celebrates and critiques it in his often mystical works. His most famous poetic texts, often originally illustrated and printed by him, with color illustrations unique specific copies, include the collection Songs of Innocence and Experience, Visions of the Daughters of Albion, and Jerusalem, which contains his lyric "And Did Those Feet...", which since the First World War has been popularized as a song. Until the mid-Victorian era, Blake's work was not widely known or was dismissed as the product of mental illness. Ann Body Body Ann farmer trade A local farmer of Shinfield, farmed at Hyde end farm. Listed among the traders of Shinfield village and parish in 1847 and 1854 in the Post Office Directory of Berkshire , and noted by Needham on a list of local tradespeople. Richard Body Body Richard Arborfield, Berkshire, England Wokingham, Berkshire, England Needham tentatively identifies him as Mitford's landlord. Listed in 1841 census as "farmer" residing in Wokingham, Shinfield parish; also listed as "gentleman" in Reading directories. Buried 12 March 1842. Source: ancestry.com. Henry St. John, Lord Bolingbroke Henry St. John Lord Bolingbroke 1st Viscount Bolingbroke Battersea, Surrey, England Battersea, Surrey, England politician philosopher government Tory politician, political philosopher, and supporter of the 1715 Jacobite rebellion. His works influenced Voltaire as well as proponents of American republicanism such as Thomas Jefferson. Mitford mentions reading about Bolingbroke in Spence's Anecdotes. James Boswell James Boswell 9th Laird of Auchinlek Edinburgh, United Kingdom London, United Kingdom literary biographer memoirist legal advocate traveller Best known as the companion and biographer of Samuel Johnson, Boswell travelled extensively in Europe and Great Britain and published accounts of his travels in Corsica and in the Hebrides. Although never prominent in the legal profession, he was trained in Scotland and practiced as an advocate, and later also practiced at the English bar. Boswell represented the Scottish bookseller Alexander Donaldson in the important copyright case, Donaldson v. Beckett. Mitford compares his skill as a biographer unfavorably to that of Aubrey, preferring the latter's brevity. His voluminous journals and letters were rediscovered in the 1920s and edited and published in multiple volumes between 1950 and 1989. William Lisles Bowles Bowles William Lisle King's Sutton, Northamptonshire, England clergy literary poet antiquarian Clergyman and poet, known for his sonnets as well as for his long poems including The Missionary published 1813 , The Grave of the Last Saxon published 1822 and St. John in Patmos published 1833 . Bowles was an acquaintance of Mitford's father for over thirty years. Bowles was a key figure in the Romantic-era sonnet revival. As a literary critic, Bowles ignited the so-called "Pope-Bowles" controversy, a pamphlet war about Alexander Pope's moral authority and literary significance, upon which Mitfordcomments in her letters. John Bradshaw John Bradshaw Bradshawe legal magistrate judge politician regicide English Republican politician. Appointed Judge of the Sheriff's Court at the Guildhall in London, Bradshaw was the presiding judge who sentenced King Charles I to death on 27 January 1649 at Westminster Hall . He later served the Commonwealth as President of the Council of State, but objected to Cromwell's establishment of a dictatorship and reacted by leaving politics. His death two years before the Restoration caused him to avoid execution, the fate of many of his fellow regicides. At the Restoration, his remains were exhumed and publicly displayed, along with those of Henry Ireton and other regicides who had died before 1660. George Brent Brent George innkeeper trade Proprietor or innkeeper of the George and Dragon Inn, Three Mile Cross. Listed among the traders of Shinfield in the Post Office Directory of Berkshire, 1847 and 1854 , and noted by Needham on a list of local tradespeople. Joel Brent Brent Joel Shinfield parish Shinfield parish trade publican Son of John and Anne Brent. Baptismal data as noted by Needham on a list of other Shinfield parish records, and correlated to named characters in Our Village. Among Needham's Mitfordiana is a cutting from the Reading Mercury for October 10, 1958, reprinting an article from October 17, 1808 that described a spate of local deaths, including that of the wife of John Brent on August 8, 1808from a fit . Elsewhere among Needham's notes, he writes that he found no record of marriage, and lists a burial date. The Post Office Directory of Berkshire, 2nd ed., of 1854 lists a Joel Brentas a beer retailer. Sources: Needhamarchive, Reading Central Library; Post Office Directory of Berkshire, 2nd ed., 1854. Eliza "Lizzy" Brent Brent Eliza Brent Lizzy Three Mile Cross buried at Three Mile Cross There is no family information provided by Needham for Lizzy Brent, but she is likely related to others in the Brent family who are named and unnamed in Our Village. Lizzy Brent was likely the inspiration for Lizzy, the narrator's three-year old companion on many of her walks in Our Village. Note that her date of birth is tentative: Needham cites the Diary for the birth information but places a question mark next to the date of birth. Source: Needhamarchive, Reading Central Library. Roger Boyle, Lord Broghill Roger Boyle Lord Broghill Baron Boyle of Broghill 1st Earl of Orrerey member of Parliament for Arundel theater literary playwright military politician Lismore Castle, Waterford, Ireland Broghill defended his ancestral estate, Lismore Castle against an Irish rebellion in 1641-42, then defied his Royalist family by fighting for the Parliamentary cause in the Civil War. He tortured prisoners and committed other atrocities to intimidate the Royalists in Ireland. After the war, he received confiscated property in Ireland. He changed allegiances again at the Restoration, and supported Charles II. Broghill's literary works include several stage plays and a novel, Parthenissa (1655). William Bromley Bromley William baker shopkeeper trade Baker and shopkeeper of Three Mile Cross. Listed among the traders of Shinfieldin the Post Office Directory of Berkshire, 1847 , and noted by Needham on a list of local tradespeople. The 1854 edition of the Post Office Directory omits the "shopkeeper" occupation. Miss Brooke Brooke A correspondent of Mitford's, to whom she writes at 11 East Cliff, Brighton. William Colessuggests that this could be a summer address, and that she was a resident of Reading. She was courted by Dr. Valpy in October 1823. Source: Letter from William Coles to Needham, 10 November 1957 , Needham Papers, . Forename unknown. More research needed. Henry Peter Brougham 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux Lord Chancellor Cowgate, Edinburgh, Scotland Cannes, France legal politician government reformer orator One of the founders of the Edinburgh Review. Practiced law in Edinburgh and London. Whig reformer and member of Parliament; known for political, educational and legal reforms. While Lord Chancellor in the 1830s, he oversaw the Representation of the People Act of 1832 (voting reforms), the Slavery Abolition Act of 1832 (abolishing slavery throughout the British empire), and established the Central Criminal Court. Chief legal advisor to Queen Caroline and defended her in 1820. Designer of the fashionable four-wheeled carriage that bears his name. Helped popularize Cannes as a seaside resort. Betsy Broughton Betsy Broughton Local beauty from Three Mile Cross, engaged to Mr. Hawley through Mrs. Dickinson's matchmaking in 1821. Benjamin Brown Brown Benjamin blacksmith trade postmaster Listed as a blacksmith and postmaster of Three Mile Crossin the 1854 Post Office Directory of Berkshire . Needham notes his name on a list of local tradespeople taken from the 1847 edition, omitting his occupation as postmaster. Thomas Browne Browne Thomas London, England Norwich, England philosopher medical literary Physician, philosopher, and theologian who made considerable contributions to English thought, especially about science, and the English language (including over 700 neologisms), particularly during the turbulent era of the Civil Wars. His most famous works include "Religio Medici" (A Doctor's Religion), "Urne-Buriall", and the extraordinary encyclopedia of pseudoscientific error, the Pseudodoxia Epidemica (translated in 1672 as "Enquiries Into Commonly Presumed Truths.") Browne's writing was admired by many Romantic and Victorian authors, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Thomas Carlyle. The subject of a biography by Samuel Johnson, Browne has lost much of his cultural status since the end of the nineteenth century, but is now undergoing a cultural resurgence. Robert Browning Robert Browning Camberwell, London, England Venice, Italy literary poet playwright Victorian poet, married to Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Important philsopher-poet and practitioner of the dramatic monologue poetic form. His early poetry was influnced by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Pierre Brumoy Brumoy Pierre Father clergy literary French author and Jesuit priest, called "le pere Brumoy," or Father Brumoy, author of Theatre des Greces, later translated by Charlotte Lennox as "The Greek Theatre of Father Brumoy"(2 vols., 1759). According to her letters, Mitford read this work in the original French. Professor Very Reverend Alexander Brunton, D.D. Alexander Brunton Doctor of Divinity (DD) Edinburgh, Scotland Scotland clergy scholar educator linguist Spouse of Mary Brunton. Church of Scotland clergyman and Moderator of the General Assembly in 1823. Professor of Hebrew and Oriental Languages at the University of Edinburgh between 1813 and 1847. Mary Balfour Brunton Mary Balfour Brunton Burray, Orkney Islands, Scotland Edinburgh, Scotland literary novelist Author of novels Self Control and Discipline. Mitford pokes gentle fun at her under the name Mrs. Discipline in letters of 1819. Marcus Junius Brutus minor Marcus Junius Brutus June 85 BC Rome, Roman republic 23 October 42Philippi, Macedonia assassin rebel republican senator politician military orator Marcus Junius Brutus Minor or the younger was the son of Marcus Junius Brutus Major or the elder and is usually referred to as Brutus. He was a senator in the late Roman republic and played a leading role in the assassination of Julius Caesar. Frederick Bulley Bulley Frederick Reading, Berkshire, England Fairford, Gloucestershire, England educator Born in Reading, Berkshire, the third son of John Bulley and Charlotte Pocock. He obtained his BA (1829), MA (1832), BD (1840) and DD (1855) as a member of Magdalen College, University of Oxford. He became President of Magdalen Collegefrom 5 January 1855 until his death. William Bullock Bullock William Plymouth, Devon, England Chelsea, London, England naturalist artisan goldsmith jeweller traveller antiquarian emigrant Collector and systematic organizer of museums, including the Liverpool Museum at Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, London, which housed artifacts from Captain Cook's voyages that Bullock had acquired from other collections. An early British traveller to Mexico in 1822, after Mexican independence in 1821, Bullock returned in 1823 with Mexican artifacts that he exhibited at Egyptian Hall, and published catalogs as well as Six Months' Residence and Travels in Mexico in 1824 . Between 1825 and 1825 he travelled again in Mexico and the United States, where he purchased an estate called The Elms or Elmwood near Cincinnati on the Kentucky border, and laid out an unsuccessful but admired town plan called Hygeia that would become Ludlow, Kentucky. Source: ODNB. Sir Francis Burdett Burdett Francis Sir 5th Baronet of Bramcote Member of Parliament Foremarke Hall, Derbyshire, England St. James's Place, London, England government politician reformer orator Famous and frequently-caricatured radical and reformist politician, and member of Parliament. Gave many public speeches, protested abuse of prisoners and flogging of soldiers. His harsh critique of the House of Commons for excluding reporters from their debates led to the Commons voting to imprison Burdett in the Tower of London in 1810, where he was committed until June after clashes between crowds of Burdett's supporters and the army in London. The incident increased his popularity. Burdett introduced a parliamentary reform bill in 1818, condemned the Peterloo Massacre in 1820, and remained politically active into the 1830s. Source: ODNB. Mr. Burgess A "Mr. Burgess" who recommended a particular volume of Sophocles' plays to MRM, mentioned in her letter to Talfourd of Nov. 12-13 1821 . Edmund Burke Edmund Burke Dublin, Ireland Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England literary essayist editor philosopher politician government orator Member of Parliament within the conservative wing of the Whig Party, he supported Catholic Emancipation, the impeachment of Warren Hastings, and the aims of the American Revolution; he later opposed the aims of the French Revolution and broke with the Foxite Whigs. Known for his oratorical and authorial skills, he authored a work on aesthetics, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, as well as works of political philosophy such as Reflections on the Revolution in France. He founded the Annual Review. Mitford reports reading a collection of Burke's works in early 1819, including his An Account of the European Settlements in America. Frances Burney d' Arblay Frances Burney d' Arblay King's Lynn, Norfolk, England London, England literary novelist theater playwright biographer courtier Author of satirical comedies, blank verse tragedies, and novels of manners as well as a biographer of her father, musician Charles Burney. Her diaries and letters were published posthumously. Sarah Harriet Burney Sarah Harriet Burney Miss Burney Lynn Regis, Norfolk, England Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England literary Daughter of Charles Burney by his second wife, Elizabeth Allen. Half sister to Frances Burney. Robert Burns Robert Burns Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland Dumfries, Dumfriesshire, Scotland literary poet tax collector farmer Scottish poet, author of Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (1786). Rented and farmed the 170-acre Ellisand Farm, where he built a house and collected and rewrote local songs and ballads from his neighbors. Burns's poems and songs were mostly published in posthumous collections between 1799 and 1808 . Mr. Butler merchant A Reading shop owner and Palmerite mentioned in Mitford's discussion of the Reading elections in her letter to Sir William Elford of 20 March 1820. Samuel Butler Samuel Butler Strensham, Worcestershire, England London, England literary poet This poet fought on the Parliamentary side in the English Civil Wars and is best known for his satirical burlesque poem Hudibras, which was published in parts in the 1660s and 1670s. Transparently informed by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra's novel Don Quixote (1605), Hudibras features a bickering knight-and-servingman duo and scourges various kinds of hypocrisy. It won Butler the patronage of Charles II, despite the poet's earlier political activity. George Gordon, Lord Byron Byron George Gordon Noel sixth Baron Byron Holles Street, London, England Missolonghi, Greece literary poet theater playwright politician military philanthropist Romantic-era poet, playwright, and celebrity. English peer after he inherited the Barony of Byron of Rochdale in 1798. He died at Missolonghi fighting for independence for Greece. Friend of William Harness. Anne Isabella "Annabella" Noel Byron Annabella Anne Isabella Milbanke Noel Byron Baroness Byron Baroness Wentworth Baroness Noel-Byron A. I. Noel Byron Elemore Hall, Durham, England The wife of George Gordon, Lord Byron, and mother of mathematician Ada Augusta King (nee Byron), Countess of Lovelace. Married in 1815, Lady Byron formally separated from her husband almost a year later, shortly after Ada's birth. She had left her marital household with her child, having endured many of Lord Byron's outbursts, taunts, and (it has been rumored) rape. She encouraged her daughter's mathematical pursuits, engaging the celebrity mathematician Augustus de Morgan to instruct her. Late in life, Lady Byron was befriended by an American visitor, Uncle Tom's Cabin author Harriet Beecher Stowe, who, after Lady Byron's death, defended her separation from her husband in Lady Byron Vindicated, for which Stowe was widely condemned. Thomas Campbell Thomas Campbell Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland Boulogne-sur-Mer, France Scottish poet and editor: author of The Pleasures of Hope (1799) and Gertrude of Wyoming (1799). Editor of the New Monthly Magazine from 1821 to 1830, in which capacity he knew Thomas Noon Talfourd as a contributor. See Cyrus Redding's Literary Reminiscences and Memoirs of Thomas Campbell . Possibly the Mr. Campbell that Mitford mentions in her letter to Talfourd of 13 August 1822 . George Canning George Canning Member of Parliament Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Chancellor of the Exchequer Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Leader of the House of Commons President of the Board of Control Leader of the House of Commons Treasurer of the Navy Marylebone, London, England Chiswick, London, England politician ambassador orator Tory politician, supporter of William Pitt the Younger, and one of the founders of the political newspaper Anti-Jacobin. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom under George IV from 10 April 1827 to 8 August 1827. Chancellor of the Exchequer under George IV from 10 April 1827 to 8 August 1827. Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 13 September 1822 to 20 April 1827 and from 25 March 1807 to 11 October 1809. Leader of the House of Commons from 13 September 1822 to 20 April 1827, as successor to his rival Lord Castlereagh. President of the Board of Control (responsible for overseeing the East India Company) from 1816 to 1821. In 1820, he resigned from office in opposition to the treatment of Queen Caroline. Ambassador extraordinary to Portugal from October 1814 to June 1815. Treasurer of the Navy from 10 May 1804 to 23 January 1806. He holds the record for the shortest time in office of any U.K. Prime Minister (119 days). He is buried in Westminster Abbey. Major John Cartwright John Cartwright Royal Navy officer Major, Nottinghamshire militia Marnham, Nottinghamshire, England London, England reformer military politician Supported the aims of the American Revolution and radical and reformist causes in Great Britain. Corresponded with Thomas Jefferson. Wrote a pamphlet in 1776 advocating annual parliaments, the secret ballot, and universal manhood suffrage. Founder of the Society for Constutional Information, which developed into the London Corresponding Society. In 1794, was a witness at the so-called Treason Trials supporting Horne Took, Thelwall, and Hardy. Also associated with Sir Francis Burdett, William Cobbett, and Francis Place. In 1812, founded the Hampden Clubs, political clubs designed to bring together like-minded middle-class reformers and working-class radicals. Supporter of Thomas Wooler and The Black Dwarf. The Life and Correspondence of Major Cartwright was published in 1826. Robert Stewart, Lord Castlereagh Robert Stewart Lord Castlereagh 2nd Marquess of Londonderry Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Leader of the House of Commons Secretary of State for War and the Colonies President of the Board of Control Chief Secretary for Ireland Dublin, Ireland Loring Hall, Kent, England politician government diplomat Peer, politician, diplomat, and government official. From 1812,he helped organize the international coalition to defeat Napoleon and represented the British at the Congress of Vienna. He was leader of the House of Commons from 1812 to 1822. Mitford obliquely pokes fun at his oratorical skills in a letter of 1819 when says of a friend's circumlocutory letter that her style is as obscure as one of Lord Castlereagh's explanations. Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra MigueldeCervantes Saavedra Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra Alcalá de Henares, Spain Madrid, Spain literary military tax collector Spanish poet and novelist. A soldier in his youth, he was wounded at Lepanto during the wars between the Holy League and the Ottoman Empire, and also held captive and ransomed. He is best known for his romance (proto-novel) Don Quixote (1605), but also wrote other romances: La Galatea (1585) and Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda (The Labors of Persiles and Segismunda). This last romance was unfinished at his death. Romantic-period women authors often emulated Don Quixote. Examples include Mary Shelley's History of a Six Weeks' Tour, as the critic Jeanne Moskal has explained, and Charlotte Lennox's reactionary, misogynist The Female Quixote, or, the Adventures of Arabella. Alexander Chalmers Alexander Chalmers Abderdeen, Scotland London, England literary journalist editor An important nineteenth-century editor of collections of literary works from the eighteenth century, including an 1810 edition of Johnson's The Works of the English Poets, from Chaucer to Cowpwer, with prefaces, biographical and critical; as well as editions of works by Shakespeare and Pope. Francis Chantrey Francis Legatt Chantrey Jordanthorpe, Sheffield, Derbyshire, England London, England artist sculptor Important and celebrated sculptor in early-nineteenth-century Britain. Mitford mentions him in 1820 as one of the great men she most likes and admires, alongside Napoleon, Wordsworth and Haydon. Charles Spencer Charles Spencer critic Since 1991, Charles Spencer has been a theater critic for the conservative London paper The Daily Telegraph. Lord Charles Spencer-Churchill Charles Spencer-Churchill Member of Parliament military politician Second son of George Spencer-Churchill Charles I Charles Stuart Charles I King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc. Dunfermline Palace, Dunfermline, Scotland Whitehall, London, England monarch martyr

The only English king to have been tried and executed by the British people, Charles's autocratic rule resulted in the Civil War, his deposition and execution, and the founding of the short-lived English Republic. These events are the subject matter of Mitford's tragedy Charles the First.

The second son of James VI of Scotland, who became James I of England when Charles was three years old, the future king became James's heir in 1612, upon the death of his extremely popular brother Henry, Prince of Wales. As a king, he was susceptible to the influence of his father's ambitious favourite George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, until Buckingham's assassination by a disturbed veteran in 1628. Charles quarrelled with Parliament over matters ranging from finances to control of religion and cultural observances. He instituted a disastrous policy of "personal rule," and in August 1642, declared war on Parliament.

After the Parliamentary faction, with its New Model Army, achieved victory, Charles was tried for treason and, declaring himself "the martyr of the people," was executed outside the Banqueting House at Whitehall that had been designed by Inigo Jones for James I. A week after his execution, he was quietly buried at Windsor and the monarchy was abolished.

Charles I is the apocryphal author of the Eikon Basilike, or Pourctraiture of his Sacred Majesty in his Solitudes and Sufferings (1649), which was probably written substantially by John Gauden.

Charles II Charles Stuart Charles II King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc. Duke of Cornwall Prince of Wales St James's Palace, London, England Whitehall Palace, London, England king The son of the executed King Charles I, Charles II was restored to his father's kingdoms in 1660, occasioning the naming of his reign the Restoration. Edward Chatfield Edward Chatfield 66 Judd Street, Brunswick Square, London, England painter literary Chatfield was a pupil of Haydonat the same time as William Bewick. When Haydon was arrested for debt in June 1823, Chatfield was among those who had put their names to bills for him; reportedly, he was able to pay the debt and did not blame Haydon, who had not accepted any payment for his teaching. Source: DNB. Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer London, England London, England literary poet philosopher astronomer Medieval English poet, philsopher, and astronomer. Author of Canterbury Tales. Henry Fothergill Chorley Chorley Fothergill Henry Blackley Hurst, Lancashire, England London, England literary journalist music critic Of Quaker parentage, Chorley worked unhappily in clerical positions and cultivated the arts as a music and literary critic, publishing reviews of around 2500 books, weekly reviews of musical performances, and "columns of musical 'gossip'" for The Athenaeum from 1830 through 1868, "the most prolific of all its reviewers," according to the ODNB. Reviewed Nathaniel Hawthorne and Charles Dickens, and promoted the compositions and operas of Rossini, Mendelssohn, Meyerbeer, and Gounod, though he disliked Verdi. Felicia Hemans and E. T. A. Hoffman made lasting impressions on him. Wrote Memorials of Mrs. Hemans, in two volumes, published in 1836 . Served as editor of The Ladies' Companion in 1850 (after Jane Loudon), and wrote plays, novels, and short stories, though these did not receive much recognition. Correspondent of Mitford, as well as Elizabeth Barrett, Charles Dickens, and Arthur Sullivan. Edited the 1872 edition of Mitford's correspondence, Letters of Mary Russell Mitford, Second Series . Jonathan Henry Christie Jonathan Henry Christie literary Fought the duel on 27 February 1821 with John Scott that resulted in Scott's death; after a trial in April 1821, he was acquitted of murder; James Traill was his second. Christie was the literary agent of J. G. Lockhart. Meremoth Clargo shopkeeper Possibly a shopkeeper in Three Mile Cross. More research needed Edward Daniel Clarke Edward Daniel Clarke Dr. Clarke Professor of Mineralogy at Cambridge University Willingdon, Sussex, England London, England traveller literary naturalist Traveller, writer, and naturalist. Author of Travels in Various Countries of Europe, Asia and Africa. William Clarke Clarke William baker shopkeeper Listed as a shopkeeper in Three Mile Crossin the 1854 Post Office Directory of Berkshire . Needham notes his name on a list of local tradespeople taken from the 1847 edition, adding that Clarkewas also a baker. Pope Clement VI Pope Clement VI Roger Pierre Maumont, France Avignon, Papal States religion Clement the VI reigned the Pope, or patriarch of the Catholic Church, from 1329 to 1352. He is mentioned in Mitford's Rienzi, as an influential political power outside of the city of Rome, although he does he not appear on the stage. http://viaf.org/viaf/121108971/ William Cobbett William Cobbett Member of Parliament for Oldham Farnham, Surrey, England Normandy, Surrey, England politician reformer farmer agriculturalist military literary journalist editor essayist Politician, reformer, and journalist. Founded weekly newspaper The Political Register and also collected and published British state trials and parliamentary debates. He was frequently charged with seditious and treasonous libel because of his political writings; he supported Parliamentary reform, Catholic emancipation; and criticized the Corn Laws. He was a political supporter of Francis Burdett and John Cartwright. In a letter of 1825, Mitford compares Cobbett's character to that of William Macready: both men of headstrong passion--zealous partisans, vindictive enemies, fascinating companions--both great bullies--& as I suspect both great cowards. Mrs. Coffin Coffin Mrs. Mentioned in a letter to Mary Webb of January 10, 1819 as a woman who talked of books with taste and with that wide range which is my delight--old books--odd books--rare boooks. The letter suggests she met Mrs. Coffin on a January 9, 1819 trip into Reading with Mrs. Dickinson. Forename unidentified. Needs additional research. Henry Colburn Colburn Henry publisher editor Publisher of Caroline Lamb's Glenarvon (1816) and Owenson's France (1817). Major purveyor of fashionable "silver fork" novels in the 1820s. Founding editor of The Literary Gazette, the new Monthly Magazine, and the Athenaeum. Samuel Taylor Coleridge Coleridge Samuel Taylor Ottery St. Mary, Devon, England Highgate, Middlesex, England literary poet essayist lecturer Key Romantic-era poet and writer and lecturer on aesthetics. Early collaborator with Wordsworth. He provided comments on Mitford's Christina; and George Mitford may have played a role in securing Coleridge's discharge from the Army. Thomas Collins Collins Thomas "little Collins" Chichester, West Sussex, England Portsmouth, Hampshire, England theater actor Comic actor at Drury Lane. According to 1806 "Remarks" in Cumberland's British Theatre on Tobin's play The Honey Moon, Collins played Jaquez at Drury Lane and "died during the run of the comedy." Collins's obituary appears in the June 1, 1806 Monthly Magazine (vol. 21): 466. An 1804 biographical sketch in the Monthly Mirror (vol. 17 (1804): 147) indicates that Collins was born in Chichester in 1775 and began performing at Drury Lane in 1802; he was discovered by Sheridan while performing in Winchester. William Collins William Collins Chichester, Sussex, England literary poet Important poet of the mid eighteenth century, known for his lyrical Odes; he was profiled in Johnson's Lives of the Poets. His reputation increased into the nineteenth century and he influenced the poets of the Romantic and Victorian eras. George Colman the Elder George Coleman George Colman the Elder Florence, Italy (British subject) London, England literary theater playwright essayist theater manager George Colman the Elder (so named to distinquish him from his son George Colman, "the Younger") was an essayist, playwright, and manager of both Covent Garden and Haymarket Theaters. He wrote and produced a number of successful comedies in the 1760s, including The Jealous Wife, a comedy oosely based on the novel Tom Jones, and The Clandestine Marriage. Colman produced and authored several adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, as well as adaptations of plays by Beaumont and Fletcher, Ben Jonson and Milton. George Colman the younger Colman George the Younger the licenser London, England 22 Brompton Square, London, England Son of George Colman the Elder, he produced his first play at Haymarket Theater run by his father, and later he took over the management of that theater. He was appointed by the Lord Chamberlain, the Duke of Montrose, to be the Examiner of Plays, and was known for his severe censorship of profane language. He prevented Mitford's historical tragedy Charles the First from being performed in the London Royal Theatres in the 1820s on the grounds that it was a dangerous play for its historical authenticity in representing an unstable English government. William Congreve Congreve William Bardsey Grange, Yorkshire, England Surrey Street, London, England literary theater playwright Playwright and poet of the Restoration period, known for his satirical comedy, including The Way of the World. Captain James Cook Cook James Captain Marton, Yorkshire, England Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii navigator cartographer captain Mapped Newfoundland and explored the Pacific, including New Zealand and Australia, as well as the Antarctic Circle in three historic voyages between 1768 and 1779. Died in an unexpectedly hostile encounter with islanders on Hawaii. Pierre Corneille Corneille Pierre Rouen, France Paris, France literary theater playwright Seventeenth-century French tragedian. Author of The Cid and Cinna. Harriot Mellon Coutts Beauclerk, Duchess of St. Albans HarriotHarriet Mellon Coutts Beauclerk,Duchess of St. Albans theater actor banking Mrs. Coutts was the second wife of Thomas Coutts, banker; she was the former actor Harriot Mellon and later became Harriot Beauclerk, Duchess of St. Albans upon her second marriage. Her first name seems to be variously spelled Harriot and Harriet. She was widowed early 1822 and inherited the bulk of her husband Thomas Coutts's estate, including controlling shares in his banking interests. She gave a famous party at Holly Hill, Highgate in July 1822 . Thomas Coutts Thomas Coutts banking Director of the banking firm of Coutts & Co. in London. Hannah Cowley Parkhouse Cowley Hannah Tiverton, Devonshire, England Tiverton, Devonshire, England literary playwright theater poet Successful playwright at Drury Lane and Covent Garden from the 1770s to the 1790s, she was the associate of David Garrick and Richard Brinsley Sheridan upon launching her career as a playwright in the late 1770s with The Runaway (1776). In 1779, she was embroiled in a literary dispute with Hannah More over whether More's play Fatal Falsehood was plagiarised from her Albina (both 1779). Her best-known play, The Belle's Strategem, was produced at Covent Garden in 1780 and continued on London stages until 1800 . In the 1780s, she became part of the Della Cruscan circle of poets by corresponding as Anna Matilda with Robert Merry (Della Crusca) and Mary Robinson, Laura Maria, among others. Della Cruscan publisher John Bell featured her poetry in his literary newspapers and reprinted them in several volumes, including The Poetry of Anna Matilda (1788). Her collected works were published in 1813 . William Cowper William Cowper Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England East Dereham, Norfolk, England literary poet translator hymnodist Poet, hymnodist, and author of the most important translations of Homer since Pope. He was deeply committed to the anti-slavery movement and wrote several poems on the subject. His poetry continued to be much-admired and reprinted in the Romantic and Victorian period. Francis "Frank" Cowslade Francis Cowslade Frank As Coles notes, Francis or Frank Cowslade was one of the publishers of the Reading Mercury newspaper (Coles # 16, p.95, note 11). He appears to have also served as a Reading printer and bookseller; he is listed as such on two of the published political essays of "Timothy Trueman." William Coxe William Coxe Master of Arts Fellow of the Royal Society Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries Archdeacon of Wilts London, England clergy historian Author of Memoirs of John Duke of Marlborough. John Marten Cripps John Marten Cripps Sussex, England Novington, Sussex, England traveller antiquary E.D. Clarke was his tutor; Clarke accompanied Cripps on his travels. Both attended Jesus College, Cambridge. Source: Alumni Cambridgiensis. John Wilson Croker John Wilson Croker Member of Parliament Galway, Ireland literary editor essayist journalist politician government Tory politician and Member of Parliament. Founding editor and writer for the Quarterly Review and author of numerous Tory political pamphlets. He also edited Boswell's Life of Johnson. George Croly George Croly Dublin, Ireland Bloomsbury, London, England literary clergy An Irish writer and cleric who held the living of St. Stephen Walbrook in the City of London. Contributor to Blackwood's Magazine and other Tory periodicals. Oliver Cromwell Cromwell Oliver Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland Member of Parliament for Cambridge Member of Parliament for Huntingdon Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire, England Whitehall, London, England military government politician

English Republican military leader, politician, and dictator. The effective protagonist of Mitford's playCharles the First.

A descendant of the Tudor politician Thomas Cromwell, raised in the Cambridgeshire Fens and educated at Cambridge University, he became deeply spiritual in the 1620s, identifying as a Puritan. (He never called himself a "Roundhead," and resisted others' use of this Royalist slur.) He became an M.P. and, in 1641, attacked what he considered ecclesiastical tyranny and usurpation. During the Civil Wars, he commanded Parliamentary forces as Lieutenant-General, second only to Sir Thomas, Lord Fairfax, who served as the Parliamentary army's General. Cromwell quickly overshadowed Fairfax and devised the New Model Army (founded 1645).

After the king's capture and extradition from the Isle of Wight, Cromwell seemed not committed to the notion of trying and executing the king until the eleventh hour, but ultimately served as a Commissioner at the trial and signed the warrant.

In the aftermath of the King's execution, Ireland (which had rebelled in 1641) developed a Royalist resistance, which Cromwell and his son-in-law Henry Ireton suppressed between 1649 and 1651. This war resulted in genocide which killed (through violence, displacement, or disease) up to one third of the Irish population; the exact number of casualties and the time-extent of the period are still debated by historians. The period came to be called An Mallact Cromail (The Curse of Cromwell).

In Commonwealth England, Cromwell chaired the Republic's Council of State, then, 1653 until his death in 1658, served as Lord Protector, essentially converting the Republic to a dictatorship—and alienating many former supporters. After Cromwell's death and the abdication of the second Lord Protector, his son Richard Cromwell, the Republican experiment ended with Parliament inviting Charles I's son to return from exile to be restored as king.

Throughout the nineteenth century, Cromwell's reputation was on an upswing. The trend was towards viewing him as a man guided by devout faith in God, a desire to provide for his country, and a desire to purify the Protestantism in his country.

Henry Cromwell Henry Cromwell Henry Cromwell Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire, England Spinney Abbey, Northborough, England military politician The fourth of Oliver Cromwell's five sons (out of nine children total), Henry served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and in various capacities during his father's rise and regime. He corresponded copiously with his father. Source: ODNB. Elizabeth "Croppy" Cropp Cropp Elizabeth Croppy London, England Longtime servant in the Mitford household, who came to the family with Mitford's mother. She is the basis for Mrs. Mosse in the Our Village sketch of that title. Source: Francis Needham, letter to William Roberts, 16 June 1953 . Needham Papers, Reading Central Library . Mr. Crowther

The "dandy" Mitford pokes fun at in her letters of 9 and 10 January, 1819 . Possibly husband to Isabelle Crowther. According to Coles, forename may be Phillip; Coles is not completely confident that the "dandy" Mr. Crowther and Mr. [Phillip?] Crowther are the same person. The second Mr. Crowther is a correspondent of Mitford's, whom she writes to at Whitley cottage, near Reading. He may also have resided at Westbury on Trim near Bristol. William Coles is uncertain of whether Crowtheris the same Phillip Crowthermentioned in Mitford's Diary. Source: William Coles, Letter to Needham, 10 November 1957, NeedhamPapers, Reading Central Library.

William Alleyne Culpeper William Alleyne Culpeper St. George, Barbadoes Paris, France William Alleyn Culpeper of Barbadoes (second of that name), was the second husband of Martha Valpy Straker,Dr. Valpy's eldest daughter by his first wife, Martha Cornelia de Cartaret. They married at St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster, on November 21, 1815. They lived together at Cavendish Square, St Marylebone, Middlesex in 1841. According to probate records, he died in Paris, France on 29 January 1870, and was late of 17 Lansdowne Crescent, Notting-Hill, Middlesex. Although Mitford spells the name as Culpepper in her journal and letters, the majority of legal documents spell the name as Culpeper. Martha Carteretta Cornelia Valpy Straker Culpeper Valpy Straker Culpeper Martha Carteretta Cornelia Mrs. Culpepper St. Mary's, Suffolk, England Dr. Valpy's eldest daughter by his first wife, Martha Cornelia de Cartaret. Martha Carteretta Cornelia Valpy was born in late 1779 and baptized 16 November 1779 at St Mary's, Suffolk. She was married twice; first to Thomas James Straker, esq. of Barbados on May 3, 1804 at St. Lawrence, Reading, Berkshire, England , and second to William Alleyn Culpeper of Barbados (second of that name) at St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster on November 21, 1815 . Mitford spells her married name as Culpepper in her journal and letters. Burke's Family Records erroneously lists her name as Carteretta Cornelia. Her date of death is unknown; more research is needed. Richard Cumberland Cumberland Richard Trinity College, Cambridge, England London, England literary playwright theater government diplomat Older brother of poet Mary Alcock. Author of The West Indian (play, 1771) and The Wheel of Fortune (play, 1795). He is buried in Westminster Abbey. Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon d'Aubigné Françoise Marquise de Maintenon Madame Scarron Niort, France Saint-Cyr, France politician courtier philanthropist educator Aristocrat and second morganatic wife of Louis XIV of France (1635-1719); her first husband was Paul Scarron. From the 1680s until Louise XIV's death in 1715, she wielded a great deal of political influence. She founded the Maison royale de Saint-Louis at Saint-Cyr, a school for impoverished girls of noble birth. R. C. Dallas Dallas Robert Charles Sir Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council (PC) Serjeant-at-Law (SL) King's Counsel(KC) Member of Parliament (MP) Kingston, Jamaica literary biographer editor translator legal barrister judge R.C. Dallas was a prominent barrister and judge who worked on many parliamentary and privy council cases, including those on disputed parliamentary elections. His most notable legal accomplishments were serving as junior counsel at the trial of Warren Hastings (1787), defending General Thomas Picton (1806-1808), and representing Jamaican merchants and planters to oppose the 1807 Slave Trade Act. In 1818, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and was sworn to the Privy Council; between 1818 and 1823 he headed the special commission that tried the Cato Street conspirators, presided over the trial of James Ings, and advised Parliament on the 1820 Pains and Penalties Bill. He served briefly as a Member of Parliament in the Tory interest in two constitencies. He also wrote poetry, plays, novels, and nonfiction works such as History of the Maroons, from their Origin to their Establishment in Sierra Leone (1803) and Recollections of the Life of <persName ref="#Byron">Lord Byron</persName> from the year 1808 to the end of 1814 (1824). Mitford mentions his 1820 novel Sir Francis Darrell, or the Vortex , in her letters. Dallas is perhaps best known today as a Byron correspondent and biographer. His sister, Charlotte Henrietta Dallas, married Captain George Anson Byron, and their son George Anson Byron (1789-1868) inherited Byron's title upon his death in 1824. Source: History of Parliament Online: Note: The VIAF record apparently gives an incorrect year of birth of 1754 instead of 1756. Dante Durante degliAlighieri Dante Alighieri Florence, Tuscany, Italy Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy literary military politician Medieval poet, author of The Divine Comedy. Daphne Mitford's dog, a female greyhound. However, there is also a pug named Daphne in the Our Village sketch Our Godmothers from 3: 1828, 266-287 . That Daphne was a particularly ugly, noisy pug, that barked at every body that came into the house, and bit at most. Mary Ann Davenport Harvey Davenport Mary Ann Launceston, Cornwall, England 17 St. Michael's Place, Brompton, London, England theater musician actor singer Performed at Covent Garden and retired from the stage in 1830 after a career of nearly forty years. ODNB gives her birthdate as 1759 while the LOC gives it as possibly 1765. Obituaries give her date at death as 83, which makes 1759 the more likely birth date. Mentioned in Boaden's Memoirs of the Life of John Philip Kemble. William Davie Davie William shopkeeper publican beer retailer Noted by Needham as a beer retailer and possibly a butcher. His source is the 1847 Post Office Directory of Berkshire . Source: NeedhamPapers, Reading Central Library . Pierre Fleury de Chaboulon Pierre Alexandre Édouard Fleury deChaboulon politician government literary memoirist Cabinet secretary of Napoleon after his return from Elba. In 1820 he published Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire de la vie privée, du retour, et du règne de Napoléon. Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe London, England London, England literary journalist essayist merchant military spy government politician Early practitioner of the English novel, admired by Mitford for the vivid realism of his fictional portraits. Stéphanie Félicité de Genlis Stéphanie Félicité du Crest de Saint-Aubin Comtesse Comtesse de Genlis Madame de Genlis Issy-l'Évêque, Saône-et-Loire, France literary educator French author of sensibility novels as well as works for children based on the practices of Rousseau. Later an emigre to England in the wake of the French Revolution. Jean de Joinville Jean de Joinville military knight literary biographer Author of Life of St. Louis. Thomas Dekker Dekker Thomas London, England London, England literary theater playwright journalist Elizabethan poet, playwright, and political pamphleteer. Friedrich de la Motte, Baron Fouqué Friedrich Heinrich Karl de la Motte Baron Fouqué Brandenburg an der Havel, Brandenburg, Holy Roman Empire Berlin, Germany literary poet theater playwright German Romantic writer of works of medieval chivalry and Northern mythology, including an influential version of Undine, known to Mitford. Thomas de Quincey de Quincey Thomas Penson Manchester, Lancashire, England Edinburgh, Scotland literary essayist journalist Best known for Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1822). Also wrote Klosterheim (1832) and The Logic of Political Economy (1844). Published in the London Magazine, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, and Tait's Magazine. Germaine de Staël Anne Louise Germaine Necker de Staël-Holstein Madame de Staël Paris, France Coppet, Switzerland literary novelist essayist biographer memoirist French salonierre, celebrity and writer. Author of Corinne, influential novel about a celebrated Italian improvatrice. Thomas John Dibdin Dibdin Thomas John Peter Street (now Bloomsbury), London, England Pentonville, London, England theater musician playwright songwriter actor theater manager theatrical production designer English author, actor, and theater manager (1771-1841) Author of Something New (play); Best known for his operas, farces, and pantomimes such as Mother Goose (pantomime, 1807) and The High-Mettled Racer (pantomime adaptation of his father's play). His works were performed at Covent Garden, Drury Lane, and Astley's. Also published 2-volume Reminiscences (1827). Charles Dickinson Dickinson Charles Mr. Dickinson Pickwick Lodge, Corsham, Wiltshire, England Farley Hill, near Swallowfield, Berkshire, England literary poet publisher Friend of the Mitford family. CBorn on March 6, 1755 at Pickwick Lodge, Corsham, Wiltshire. He was the son of Vikris Dickinson and Elizabeth Marchant. The Dickinson family were Quakers who lived in the vicinity of Bristol, Gloucestershire. On August 3, 1807, he married Catherine Allingham at St Giles, South Mimms, Middlesex. They lived at Farley Hill, near Swallowfield, Berkshire, where their daughter Frances was born, and where the Mitfords visited them. Charles Dickinson owned a private press he employed to print literary works by his friends (See letters to Elford from March 13, 1819 and June 21, 1820). He wrote and published an epic poem in sixty-six cantos, The Travels of Cyllenius, in 1795. Charles Dickinson died at Farley Hill in 1827. Frances Vikris Dickinson Elliott Elliott Geils Dickinson Frances Vikris Farley Hill, near Swallowfield, Berkshire, England Siena, Toscana, Italy Frances Dickinson was the only child of Charles Dickinson and Catherine Allingham. She was born on 7 March 1820 at Farley Hill, near Swallowfield, Berkshire, and was baptized on April 17. Her father Charles died when she was seven years old. She died at Siena, Toscana, Italy on October, 26 1898 and is buried in Rome. She was married to and divorced from her first husband, John Edward Geils (1813-1894) and later married the Rev. Gilbert Elliott (1800-1891). Grandmama Dickinson More research needed. Frances Dickinson's paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Marchant Dickinson, died in 1790, and is therefore an unlikely candidate. Mrs. Dickinson Catherine Allingham Dickinson Middlesex, England St. Marylebone, Middlesex, England Catherine Allingham was born about 1787 in Middlesex, the daughter of Thomas Allingham. She married Charles Dickinson on August 2, 1807 at St. Giles, South Mimms, Middlesex. They lived in Swallowfield, Berkshire, where their daughter Frances was born, and where they were visited by the Mitford family. According to Mitford, Catherine Dickinson was fond of match-making among her friends and acquaintances. (See Mitford's February 8th, 1821 letter to Elford . Her husband Charles died in 1827, when her daughter was seven. She died on September 2, 1861 at St. Marylebone, Middlesex. Source: L'Estrange). Dickinson Nurse Unidentified. More research needed. Mrs. Dobbs Dobbs Mrs. An associate of both Mitford and Miss James, presumably older than both. Mentioned in connection to the James sisters. Needs additional research. Francesco Foscari Foscari Francesco Doge Historical Doge of Venice on whom Mitford based her Doge in Foscari. Mitford's declared historical source is A View of Society and Manners in Italy by Dr. John Moore. Donato Senator Historical personage on whom Mitford based Senator Donato in her play, Foscari. Mitford's declared historical source is A View of Society and Manners in Italy by Dr. John Moore. Andrea Doria Andrea Doria D'Oria Oneglia, Republic of Genoa Genoa, Republic of Genoa Condottiero admiral military Nathan Drake Nathan Drake Dr. Drake Nathan Drake, M.D. York, Yorkshire, England Hadleigh, Suffolk, England medical literary essayist Essayist and physician; his most ambitious work was Shakespeare and his Times. Disambiguation note: Nathan Drake the essayist is the son of the portrait and artist of the same name, who was known for his painting of provincial hunting and sporting scenes and lived from 1728 to 1778. James Drover Drover James 1762 March 15, 1816 Reading merchant shopkeeper Reading James Drover, Sr., and later his son, James Drover, Jr., operated a China shop at No. 15 Minster Street in Reading from around 1808 until about 1826. See obituary in The Monthly Repository of Theology and General Literature, Vol. XI, January-December, 1816 p. 183; p. 244-5. See Royal Berkshire History Miss Drover Drover Lived with her parents and brother on Minster Street. Forename and relationship unknown. Mr. Drover Drover James Barlow 1791 1823 merchant shopkeeperReading Son of James Drover, Sr. and Elizabeth Drover. He took over his father's China shop business after his death in 1816. See Royal Berkshire History Mrs. Drover Drover

Lived with her family on Minster Street. Forename unknown.

Elizabeth Drover Drover Barlow Elizabeth January 6, 1766 unknown Second wife of James Drover, Sr., whom she married in 1789, and mother of James Drover, Jr., both of whom operated a China shop on Minster Street in Reading. Sources: The Registers of the Parish of St. Mary's, Reading, Berks., 1538-1812. Vol. II: Marriages and Burials. Google Books. Ancestry.com. William Drummond Drummond William Drummond of Hawthornden Hawthornden Castle, Midlothian, Scotland Hawthornden Castle, Midlothian, Scotland literary poet Called Drummond of Hawthornden, Drummond was a Scottish lyric poet with royalist sympathies. He is one of the sixteen poets and writers whose heads appear on the Scott Monument on Princes Street in Edinburgh. John Dryden Dryden John Aldwincle, Northamptonshire, England London, England literary theater playwright Named Poet Laureate in 1668 , Dryden authored Annus mirabilis: the Year of Wonders, MDCLXVI in 1667 , reflecting on climactic events of the previous year, the Great Fire of London and the second Anglo-Dutch War. Dryden supported a revival of drama in Restoration England, and in 1668 he wrote Of Dramatick Poesie , which contained critiques of William Shakespeare's and Ben Jonson's plays and reflection on English and French theater and playwrights from the Renaissance to the Restoration in England. Several of his plays were staged in London in the 1670s, including his treatment of the Antony and Cleopatra narrative, in All for Love, or, The World Well Lost, performed in December 1677 and published in 1678 . His satirical poem Absalom and Achitophel, published in 1681, presents Restoration politicians and government figures in Old Testament roles, casting King Charles II in flattering terms as a merciful and benevolent David. James Graham, Marquess of Graham Graham James Marquess of Graham Duke of Montrose Grosvenor Square, London, England politician Lord Chamberlain who appointed George Colman the Younger to be the Examiner of plays, and had a role in approving Coleman's decision to forbid performance of Mitford's Charles the First . William George Spencer Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire William George Spencer Cavendish 6th Duke of Devonshire Marquess of Hartington Lord Chamberlain of the Household Licenser of Plays President of Royal Horticultural Society Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire Paris, France Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, England politician courtier ambassador arts patron British peer and Whig politician who supported his family's traditionally reformist causes such as Catholic emancipation, the abolition of slavery and improvements to factory working conditions. Friend of George IV, known as the "Bachelor Duke." He inherited eight estates including Chiswick House in London and Chatsworth and the village of Edensour in Devonshire, totaling more than 200,000 acres. Served as Lord Chamberlain of the Household under both George IV (1827-28) and William IV (1830-34) and therefore also as Licensor of Plays. A patron of arts and cultural organizations, he established the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew as a national botanic garden and helped found the Derby Museum and Art Gallery. Dukinfield Henry Duckinfield A patient of Mr. Sherwood. May be Henry Duckinfield (note alternate spelling), vicar of St. Giles from 1814-1834, according to a handwritten note at the bottom of the same page on which Needham has typed Dukinfield's name. Maria Rebecca Duncan Davison Davison Duncan Maria Rebecca Miss Duncan Mrs. Davison Brompton, Kent, England actor British actor, reported to have been born in Liverpool. Although she had acted in the provinces earlier, she appeared as "Miss Duncan from Edinburgh" at Drury Lane beginning in 1804 and later as Mrs. Davison after her 1812 marriage to James Davison. Specialized in comic and breeches parts, a rival of Dorothea Jordan in parts such as Nell in The Devil to Pay and Priscilla in The Romp. In The Honey Moon (1805), she created the role of Juliana. Active until 1829 at Drury Lane and Covent Garden. Written about by Hunt, Hazlitt, and by Talfourd in volume 6 of the New Monthly Magazine. Charles Dundas Charles Dundas 1st Baron Amesbury Member of Parliament for Berkshire Scotland Pimlico, Westminster, London, England politician Member of Parliament for Berkshire from 1794 to 1832. He generally sided with liberal and refomist policies but was not an active party member. His first wife Anne brought him the estate of Kintbury-Amesbury (or Barton Court) in Berkshire as well as other property. He was also the first chairman of the Kennet and Avon Canal Company; the Dundas Aqueduct was named after him. Edgeworth Maria Black Bourton, Oxfordshire, England Engleworthstown, Longford, Ireland literary educator British author and educator. Best known for Castle Rackrent (1800); also wrote children's novels and educational treatises. Elizabeth Elford Adams Plympton, Devon, England Elizabeth Elford Adams Elford Adams Elizabeth Plympton Erle, Plymouth, Devon Second daughter of Sir William Elford by his first wife, Mary Davies Elford. On 23 July 1821 Elizabeth married George Pownoll Adams (1779-1856) of Totnes, Devon, who later became General Sir George Pownoll Adams, KCH. They had four sons, all of whom were born at Ashprington, Devon, likely at Bowden House, the estate of George's older brother William Dacres Adams. They later resided at Wiveliscombe, Somerset and at East Budleigh, Devon, with their children and with Elizabeth's elder sister Grace. Elizabeth is mentioned in her husband's April 1856 will and presumably died after 1856; she has not been located in the 1861 census. Source: ODNB and Ancestry.com Grace Chard Elford Grace Chard Elford Miss Elford Plympton, Devon, England St. Thomas, Devon, England Elder daughter of Sir William Elford and Mary Davies Elford; she was baptised at Plympton, Devon on November 11, 1781. Her middle name, "Chard," is derived from her maternal lineage; Grace's maternal grandmother was born Mary Chard. Grace Elford remained unmarried and later came to reside with her sister Elizabeth Elford Adams and her family, according to census records. She died on February 22, 1857 at St. Thomas, Devon. Jonathan Elford Elford Jonathan Mr. Elford Member of Parliament for Westbury Plympton Erle, Plymouth, Devon, England Upland, Tamerton Foliott, Plymouth, Devon, England politician military The only son of Sir William Elford and his first wife Mary Davies Elford. He joined Oriel College, Oxford on June 3, 1795 and later moved to Tamerton Folliot, Devon on an estate he called Upland. He served as a Captain in the South Devonshire militia from 1803 with his father, who was also an officer. On May 10, 1810, he married Charlotte Wynne . He also became a freeman for Plymouth in 1810. Throughout his adulthood, his father tried unsuccessfully to secure him a position within the government. He served briefly as Member of Parliament for Westbury from March 10 to November 29, 1820, a seat he secured under the patronage of Sir Manasseh Masseh Lopes. At this time, Westbury was a controversial "rotten borough" whose interest Lopes had purchased from Lord Abingdon, and Jonathan Elford secured the position likely in the place of Lopes who was serving a prison sentence for electoral corruption. When the sentence was lifted, Elford resigned his seat in November 1820 so Lopes could return. His death at the age of 46 left Sir William without an heir and his debts contributed to his father's financial collapse in 1825. Charlotte Wynne Elford Charlotte Wynne Elford Mrs. Elford Daughter of John Wynne of Abercynlleth, Denbigh. Married Jonathan Elford on May 10, 1810. Birth and death dates unknown; needs further research. Elizabeth Hall Walrond Elford Hall Walrond Elford Elizabeth Mrs. Elford Manadon, Devon, England Totnes, Devon, England Elizabeth was the second wife of Sir William Elford; they married after the death of Mary Davies Elford, on July 5, 1821. She was the daughter and co-heiress of Humphrey Hall of Mandon, Devon, England and his wife, the Hon. Jane St. John, daughter of John St. John, 11th Baron St. John of Bletsoe. She married Maine Swete Waldron, an officer in the Coldstream Guards, in 1803 and they had two children, only one of whom lived to adulthood. Her first husband died around 1817 and she married Sir William Elford four years later. She died at Totnes, Devon in late 1839 and her will was probated on 10 December 1839. Some secondary sources erroneously give the spelling of her first married name as "Waldron;" however, she is not to be confused with the American Elizabeth Waldron (1780 to 21 July 1853).‏ Her birthdate is not given in any standard nineteenth century reference sources, but is likely to be before 1780. Elford Davies Mary Mrs. Elford The first wife of Sir William Elford; they married on January 20, 1776 in Plympton. Together they had one son, Jonathan, and two daughters, Grace Chard and Elizabeth. She was the daughter of the Rev. John Davies and Mary Chard of Plympton. Birth and death dates unverified by primary source records, and her son Jonathan's will gives her name as "Jane Mary;" additional research needed. Sir William Elford Elford William Sir baronet Recorder for Plymouth Recorder for Totnes Member of Parliament for Plymouth Member of Parliament for Rye Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) Fellow of the Linnaean Society (FLS) Kingsbridge, Devon, England Totnes, Devon, England legal banker politician military government naturalist painter

William Elford was born in Kingsbridge, Devon in August 1749 to the Rev. Lancelot Elford and Grace Alexander Wills, and was baptised in Kingsbridge on October 31, 1749. He married Mary Davies of Plympton on January 20, 1776 and they had one son, Jonathan, and two daughters, Grace Chard and Elizabeth. After the death of his first wife, he married Elizabeth Hall Walrond, widow of Lieutenant-Colonel Maine Swete Walrond of the Coldstream Guards. Elizabeth Hall was the daughter and co-heir of Humphry Hall of Manadon, Devon, and had two children by her previous marriage, although only her son lived to adulthood. Sir William's only son Jonathan died in 1823, leaving him without an heir.

Elford worked as a banker at Plymouth Bank (Elford, Tingcombe and Purchase) in Plymouth, Devon, from its founding in 1782. He was elected a member of Parliament for Plymouth as a supporter of the government and Tory William Pitt and served from 1796 to 1806. After his election defeat in Plymouth in 1806, he was elected member of Parliament for Rye and served from July 1807 until his resignation in July 1808. For his service in Parliament as a supporter of Pitt, he was made a baronet in 1800; after his son Jonathan came of age, he tried to secure a stable government post for him but never succeeded. Mayor of Plymouth in 1796 and Recorder for Plymouth from 1797 to 1833, he was also Recorder for Totnes from 1832 to 1834. Sir William served as an officer in the South Devon militia from 1788, eventually attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel; the unit saw active service in Ireland during the Peninsular Wars. Sir William was a talented amateur painter in oils and watercolors who exhibited at the Royal Society from 1774 to 1837; he exhibited still lifes and portraits but preferred landscapes. He was elected to the Royal Society Academy in 1790. He was also a talented amateur naturalist and was elected to the Royal Linnaean Society in 1790; late in life, he published his findings on an alternative to yeast.

According to L'Estrange, Sir William was first a friend of Mitford's father, and Mitford met him for the first time in the spring of 1810 when he was a widower nearing the age of sixty-four. They carried on a lively correspondence until his death in 1837.

Elizabeth I Elizabeth Tudor Queen Elizabeth I Queen of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc. Palace of Placentia, Greenwich, England Richmond Palace, Surrey, England The last of the Tudor monarchs, and defender of her father's institution of a Protestant Church of England, Elizabeth I was Queen of England, France, and Ireland from 1588 until her death in 1603. Robert Elliston Elliston Robert William London, England theater actor theater manager English actor and theater manager. Managed Drury Lane and and other theaters. Mentioned in the writings of Leigh Hunt, Byron, and Macready. John Emery Emery John Sunderland, Durham, England Hyde Street, Bloomsbury, London, England musician theater actor English actor and musician. Performed Covent Garden Theater. Euripides Salamís Macedonia playwright theater literary Ancient world playwright, considered together with Aeschylus and Sophocles as establishing the classical foundation of Western tragedy. Author of Ion (between 414 and 412 BC), on which Thomas Noon Talfourd later based his own play of the same title, as well as Orestes (408 B.C.), and Cyclops (date unknown), the only known complete example of a burlesque satyr play, translated into a satiric poem in 1819 by Percy Shelley . Thomas Fairfax, Lord Fairfax Thomas Fairfax 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron Lord General of the New Model Army Member of Parliament for West Riding Member of Parliament for Yorkshire Denton Hall, Yorkshire, England Nunappleton, Yorkshire, England politician military army officer general Lord General of the New Model Army. He later served as Member of Parliament for West Riding and Yorkshire . John Fawcett Fawcett John Mr. Mr. Fawcett literary theater actor playwright English actor and dramatist. Mitford likely refers to the younger Fawcett, a contemporary of John Emery (John Fawcett the elder, 1740-1817, was also an actor). Appeared in Colman's The Heir at Law. Wrote pantomime version of Obi, or Three-Fingered Jack (1800) Source: DNB. Henry Bradshaw Fearon Henry Bradshaw Fearon England literary medical traveller English surgeon who wrote Sketches of America. A Narrative of a Journey of Five Thousand Miles through the Eastern and Western States of America. The dedication to the volume is dated from "Plaistow, Essex." Ferdinand I King of the Two Sicilies Ferdinand IV King of Naples King of Sicily Naples, Naples Naples, Two Sicilies monarch Deposed by Napoleon in 1805, and earlier by the short-lived (6-months) Parthenopean Republic uprising in 1799, Ferdinand IV became Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies after the restoration of monarchies following Napoleon's defeat. Ferdinand VII of Spain King of Spain King of Spain Madrid, Spain Madrid, Spain monarch Ferdinand VII was King of Spain in 1808, when he was overthrown by Napoleon , and again from 1813 until his death in 1833, when he rejected constitutional government and reigned as an absolutist monarch. Opponents of his reign called him el Rey Felón or the Felon King. Susan Ferrier Susan Edmonstone Ferrier Edinburgh, Scotland 38 Albany Street, Edinburgh, Scotland literary novelist Scottish novelist. Mitford admired her novel Marriage. Henry Fielding Fielding Henry Scriblerus Secundus Sharpham, Somerset, England Lisbon, Portugal literary theater novelist playwright Satirical novelist and playwright, Fielding was a member of the Scriblerus Club and author of Tom Jones and the popularly adapted low tragedy Tom Thumb. Fielding published his plays under the pseudonym Scriblerus Secundus. Giovanni Luigi Fieschi Giovanni Luigi Fieschi Fiesco Count of Lavagna Giovanni Luigi Fieschi (or Fiesco), count of Lavagna was a nobleman of Genoa and leader of the failed Fieschi conspiracy of 1547. Subject of a play by Schiller, Die Verschwörung des Fiesco zu Genua (Fiesco) (1782) . Subject of a play by Mitford, written and submitted to Macready for consideration, but never performed or printed. John Fisher John Fisher Bishop of Exeter Bishop of Salisbury clergy philanthropist Bishop of Exeter and then Bishop of Salisbury from 1807-1825. Art collector and patron of John Constable. Mr. Fitzharris Fitzharris Mr. An Irish actor who began his career in Reading before going to London. He played the title role in Othello in both Reading and London, and appeared the following season (1826) as the Sentinel in Pizarro at Covent Garden. Reviews of his London performances in the New Monthly Magazine and The Literary Gazette and Journal of Belles Lettres from 1825 and 1826 were very unfavorable, indicating that his voice and presence were not sufficiently robust to sustain major roles in London. Mitford saw him perform in Othello at Reading. She was impressed with his talents and he later created the role of Celso in Charles the First. In an 1867 letter to L'Estrange (reprinted in The Literary Life of the Rev. William Harness), Harness mentions Fitzharris as a failed protege of Mitford's (279). John Fletcher Fletcher John Rye, Sussex, England London, England literary theater playwright Playwright following Shakespeare, contemporary of Ben Jonson in the early seventeenth century, and collaborator with Francis Beaumont. Some plays once attributed to Beaumont and Fletcher as a duo were now known to have been written by only one of them and/or with other collaborators. Flush The Mitfordsappear to owned a series of spaniels, all named Flush. Maria Foote Stanhope Foote Maria Plymouth, England Whitehall, London, England theater actor Well known English theater actor. She was the daughter of Samuel Foote. She played Alfonso, the King of Sicily in Julian. She performed at Drury Lane from 1814 to 1825 and then began to perform at Covent Garden in 1826. Samuel Foote Foote Samuel St Mary's, Truro, Cornwall, England Dover, Kent, England literary theater playwright actor theater manager English author, actor, and Haymarket Theater manager. Comic actor and satirical pamphleteer and playwright, called The English Aristophanes. He wrote The Author (1757, Drury Lane) and The Devil on Two Sticks (Haymarket, 1768), which made comic capital of a 1766 injury in which he lost part of his leg. Captain John Forbes Captain Forbes John theater theater manager military naval officer legal British theater proprietor and Royal Navy officer, and a former Grand Jury acquaintance of Mitford's father. Source: Letter from William Coles to Needham, 10 November 1957 , Needham Papers, . Co-proprietor of Covent Garden with Henry Harris, Charles Kemble, and John Willett, as son-in-law and heir of George White. He held a 1/16 share by 1820. He was involved in the debates over the rights conferred on Drury Lane and Covent Garden Theaters as Theaters Royal during the 1820s and 30s. He was also involved in the debates over prices of theater tickets, earning him the satirical nickname Sixpenny Forbes. John Ford Ford John Islington Church, Devon, Devonshire, England literary playwright theater poet English playwright and poet, wrote 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (printed 1633) Jacopo Foscari Foscari Jacopo Crete Historical personage on whom Mitford based the character of Francesco Foscari in her play, Foscari. Byron followed the historical names for father (Francesco) and son (Jacopo) in his play, The Two Foscari. Mitford's declared historical source is A View of Society and Manners in Italy by Dr. John Moore. Charles James Fox Charles James Fox The Honourable Member of Parliament Leader of the House of Commons Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Westminster, London, England Chiswick, London, England politician Whig politician and leader of the House of Commons. Fox was an outspoken opponent of King George III and William Pitt the Younger, supporter of the American and French Revolutions as well as the abolitionist cause. His politics became widely known as "Foxite radicalism" and synonymous with populist causes. The young Mary Russell Mitford was an avowed Fox admirer, as were many Whig families in the decades following his death in 1806. Henry Richard Vassall Fox, 3rd Baron of Holland Henry Richard Vassall Fox 3rd Baron Holland, of Holland 3rd Baron Holland, of Foxley, PC Right Honourable Lord Holland, PC 9 Conduit Street, Westminster, London, England Chiswick, London, England Grandson of Henry Fox, first Baron Holland, and nephew of Charles James Fox. He served in several Whig administrations between 1806 and his death in 1840. Mitford may have known him through her father's political connections. Mrs. Frankland Frankland A friend of Mrs. Mitford. Forename unknown. More research needed. Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin Boston, Massachusetts Bay, British America Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA literary printer editor journalist memoirist naturalist inventor diplomat politician postmaster Polymath, naturalist and inventor. Newspaper editor, printer and postmaster in Philadelphia. Author of Poor Richard's Almanack. Later served as Ambassador to France and spent many years in Europe. He is one of the framers and signers of the Declaration of Independence; he was also a signer of the Treaty of Alliance with France, the Treaty of Paris, and the United States Constitution. He also served as the first United States Postmaster General and as President (similar to Governor) of Pennsylvania. In letters of 1819, Mitford names Franklin as one of only two Americans she admires; the other was George Washington, a view she shared with many of her contemporaries of moderate political views. Eleanor Porden Franklin Porden Franklin Eleanor Anne London, England London, England literary poet Poet. Author of The Veils; or the Triumph of Constancy (1815). Author of Coeur de Lion; or the Third Crusade. A Poem in 16 books. (historical epic, 1822). Daughter of the Hanoverian court architect William Porden. Married Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin in 1823. Died 22 Feb. 1825 of consumption, complicated by childbirth. Sir John Franklin Sir John Franklin Royal Navy Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society Rear-Admiral Lieutenant-Governor of Van Dieman's Land, now Tasmania Spilsbury, Lincolnshire, England At sea aboard HMS Terror, near King William Island, Canada military naval officer traveller explorer government Royal navy officer and explorer. Served in French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Eleanor Porden Franklin was his first wife. Officer in the Royal Navy from 1800 to 1847, attaining rank of Rear-Admiral. Later Lieutenant-Governor of Van Dieman's Land, now Tasmania. Explorer of the Canadian Artic, died at sea aboard the HMS Terror, near King William Island, Canada, while attempting to chart the Northwest Passage. John Hookham Frere Frere John Hookham Whistlecraft London, England Pietà Valletta, Malta diplomat literary editor poet translator John Hookham Frere, diplomat and author, was a founder of the Quarterly Review and is known for his humorous poetry and translations of Aristophanes and the poet Theognis. He wrote under the name Whistlecraft. Source: ODNB. Jean Froissart Jean Froissart canon of Chimay, France Valenciennes, County of Hainaut, Holy Roman Empire Chimay, County of Hainaut, Holy Roman Empire literary historian clergy Medieval poet and historian. Henry Fuseli Henry Fuseli Johann Heinrich Füssli Zürich, Switzerland Putney Hill, London, England artist painter literary Swiss painter and author who later emigrated to England. Served as Professor of Painting and Keeper at the Royal Academy. Sophia Rawlins Fuseli Fuseli Rawlins Sophia Spouse and former model of Henry Fuseli; they married in 1788. David Garrick Garrick David Angel Inn, Hereford, Herefordshire, England Adelphi Buildings, London, England theater actor theater manager literary playwright English actor and theatrical manager, considered the greatest actor of his era, and advocate of a more naturalistic style of acting. Prominent in Whig circles of the late eighteenth century. Frequently painted by Joshua Reynolds. Mary Robinson was one of his last acting mentees before his retirement from the stage. His greatest contributions as a playwright are his adaptations of Shakespeare for the eighteenth-century stage. He was the first actor to be buried in Westminster Abbey. Gaston II and IX Gaston of Foix-Béarn Count of Foix Viscount of Béarn, Marsan, Gabardan, Nébouzan and Lautrec Gaston III and X Gaston Fébus Gaston Phoebus Count of Foix Viscount of Béarn Son of Gaston II, nicknamed Gaston Fébus or Phoebus, he wrote a famous Book of the Hunt, or Livre de chasse . The medieval chronicler Froissart visited Gaston III's court in 1388. George Spencer-Churchill, Duke of Marlborough George Spencer-Churchill 6th Duke of Marlborough Marquess of Blandford Member of Parliament Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire philanthropist politician Bill Hill, Wokingham, Berkshire, England Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England Tory Member of Parliament and celebrated collector of books, art, and antiquities. Born at Bill Hill, an estate in Wokingham, Berkshire rented by his father. He owned and extensively renovated the house and grounds of the Whiteknights estate from 1798 to 1819, when bankuptcy forced the auctioning of the estate and all its contents. The auction created much excitement amongst book collectors, since his library contained works of early works printed in English by Caxton, Pynson, and deWorde; the catalogs of the auction remain an important record of book history and collecting. In 1819, he had commissioned Thomas and Barbara Hofland to produce the lavish publication A Descriptive Account of the Mansion and Gardens of White-Knights: A Seat of His Grace the Duke of Marlborough. By Mrs. Hofland. Illustrated with twenty-three engravings, from pictures taken on the spot by T.C. Hofland. They were never paid for their work because of the bankruptcy. Mitford discusses the Duke's penuriousness and his treatment of the Hoflands in her letters of 1819. George III George William Frederick King of Great Britain and King of Ireland King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Norfolk House, St. James's Square, London, England Windsor Castle, Windsor, England The king who lost the American colonies, and suffered porphyria and mental illness in the 1810s, when his son, the future King George IV reigned in his stead as the Prince Regent. King George III's role changed after the Act of Union between England and Ireland in 1801. George IV King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland George Augustus Frederick Prince Regent St James's Palace, London, England Windsor Castle, London, England monarch philanthropist King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and King of Hanover. House of Hanover. Reigned as Prince Regent during the long final illness of his father from 1811 to 1820. Formerly Prince of Wales and a supporter of the Foxite Whigs. He commissioned the Royal Pavilion in Brighton and supervised the large-scale remodeling of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. George Possibly a servant in the Mitford household. More research needed. Edward Gibbon Gibbon Edward Member of Parliament Putney, Surrey, England Fletching, Sussex, England literary historian politician

Best known for writing The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire which was originally published in three volumes (1776, 1781, and 1788).

William Gifford Gifford William literary editor politics Tory editor of the Anti-Jacobin in the late 1790s as well as the Quarterly Review from 1809 to 1824. Author of satirical poems The Baviad and the Maeviad. William Godwin William Godwin Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England London, England literary philosopher journalist novelist Political philosopher and novelist, married to Mary Wollstonecraft and biographer of her after her death in childbirth to their daughter Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (who would later elope with Percy Bysshe Shelley and author Frankenstein). William Godwin's 32-volume diary is digitally archived here: . See also the Shelley-Godwin Archive. Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith Ireland London, England literary poet novelist theater playwright Poet, novelist, and playwright. Friend of Samuel Johnson. His works were admired and reprinted after his death, and he was the subject of several biographies in the nineteenth century. Joseph Goodchild Goodchild Joseph farmer Farmer of Hill House farm, which is mentioned in Our Village. Goodchild is noted by Needham on a list of local tradespeople derived from the Post Office Directory of Berkshire, 1847 edition. Goodchild does not appear in the 1854 edition. Source: NeedhamPapers, Reading Central Library . Maria Dundas Graham, Lady Callcott Maria, Lady Callcott Callcott Graham Dundas Maria Cockermouth, Cumberland, England Kensington Gravel Pits, London, England

Mitford writes of this adventurous woman as Mrs. Graham and references her travel publications, Journal of a Residence in India of 1812 and her journal, Three months passed in the mountains east of Rome : during the year 1819 . She was known for her multiple publications on her travels in India, Chile, and Brazil, and as Maria Graham, she published the first English biography of the artist Nicholas Poussin: Memoirs of the Life of Nicholas Poussin (1820).. A polymathic enthusiast, she traveled widely in her life, and met her first husband, Lieutenant Thomas Graham, on board the HMS Cornelia bound to Bombay on a trip with her father and siblings in 1809.

During an extended trip to South America, Thomas Graham died on a voyage from Brazil to Valparaíso, Chile on 9 April 1822 , after which Maria resided in Chile and Brazil, where she served as governess to the Brazilian emperor's daughter, Donna Maria. Her description of an earthquake in Quintero, Brazil influenced Charles Lyell's explanations in Principles of Geology (1830) of land mass formation by what we would now call tectonic activity. After her return to England in 1826, she met and married the landscape artist Augustus Wall Callcott (1779-1844), who was knighted in 1837, making her Lady Callcott for the last years of her life. Source: ODNB.

Thomas Gray Thomas Gray Cornhill, London, England Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England literary poet educator Poet and classicist. Author of "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" and "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College," he was later known as part of the so-called Graveyard School of late-eighteenth-century poets, much admired and imitated into the nineteenth century. Friend of Horace Walpole. Fellow of Peterhouse and Pemrbroke, College, Cambridge University; later appointed Regius Chair of Modern History at Cambridge. Richard Griffin, Baron Braybrooke Richard Griffin Richard Aldworth-Neville Richard Aldworth Griffin-Neville 2nd Baron Braybrooke Lord Braybrooke politician literary Until 1797, known as Richard Aldworth-Neville or Richard Aldworth Griffin-Neville. As 2nd Baron Braybrooke, he came into possession of the estates Billingbear Park in Berkshire and Audley End in Essex. Thomas Grey, Lord Grey of Groby Grey Thomas Lord Grey of Groby Earl of Stamford 1623 1657 military politician regicide Parliamentary Commander-in-Chief in the English Midlands and Leicester during the first English Civil War. In 1648, he was a commissioner of the court that tried Charles I and was one of the signers of the King's the death warrant. He assisted in "Pride's Purge" of Parliament. John Gutch John Gutch Wells, Somerset, England Oxford, Oxfordshire, England clergy literary antiquarian Clergy and antiquarian. Author of Collectanea Curiosa, or Miscellaneous Tracts: Relating to the History and Antiquities of England and Ireland, the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and a Variety of Other Subjects.