People whose lives are in the online Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Where an appointment is given, it is that held at the time English wrote. The letter number given indicates the first or the most significant mention.
Althorp, Lord, later 3rd Earl Spencer, (1782-1845): politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer to 1834 (letter 17)
Arthur, Major-General Sir George (1784-1854): Governor-General of Upper Canada (letter 105)
Bentinck, Lieutenant-Colonel, later General Sir, Henry John William, Coldstream Guards (1796-1878) (letter 111)
Carmichael-Smyth, Major-General Sir James Bt (1779-1838): Governor of British Guiana (letter 15)
Chapman, Major-General, later Lieutenant-General Sir Stephen Remnant RE (1776-1851): Governor of Bermuda (letter 104)
Cockburn, Vice-Admiral Sir George (1772-1853): commander-in-chief, North America and West Indies (letter 24)
Colby, Colonel, later Major-General Thomas Frederick RE (1784-1852): Superintendent of the Ordnance Survey (letter 42)
Colebrooke, Sir William Macbean George (1787-1870): Governor of Dominica (letter 97)
Coleridge, Henry Nelson (1798-1843): barrister and writer (letter 10)
Coleridge, Right Reverend William Hart (1789-1849): Bishop of Barbados and the Leeward Islands (letter 83)
Collier, Admiral Sir Francis Augustus (1783-1849) (letter 25)
Colton, Revd Charles Caleb (1777-1832): cleric and author (letter 63)
Cust, Lieutenant-Colonel, later General Sir Edward (1794-1878): planter, soldier, politician (letter 118)
D’Urban, Major-General Sir Benjamin (1777-1849): former Governor of British Guiana (letter 43)
Durham, John George Lambton, 1st Earl of (1792-1840): Governor-in-Chief of Canada (letter 112)
Ellicombe, Lieutenant-Colonel, later Major-General Charles Grene RE (1783-1871): Assistant Adjutant General of the Royal Engineers (letter 17)
Elphinstone, Colonel, later Major-General Sir Howard Bt RE (1773-1846) (letter 17)
English, Sir John Hawker MD LRCP (1786-1840): military surgeon, Frederick English’s elder brother (letter 10)
Gordon, Lieutenant-General Sir Willoughby Bt (1772-1851): Quarter Master General at the Horse Guards (letter 22)
Grey, Earl (Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey 1764-1845): Prime Minister 1830-34 (letter 17)
Hall, Captain Basil RN (1788-1844): writer (letter 102)
Halliday, Sir Andrew (1782-1839): Inspector of Hospitals in the West Indies (letter 46)
Hawker, Admiral Edward (1782-1860): naval officer (letter 120)
Head, Sir Francis Bond (1793-1875): Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada (letter 124)
Hill, Sir Dudley St Leger CB (1790-1851): Lieutenant-Governor of St Lucia (letter 10)
Hill, Rowland 1st Viscount (1772-1842): Commander in Chief of the Army (letter 45)
Hook, Theodore Edward (1788-1841), writer, author of Jack Brag (letter 92)
Huskisson, William (1770-1830): late politician (letter 25)
Jones, Lieutenant-Colonel (later Lieutenant-General) Sir Harry David RE (1791-1866): supervised the building of a new ambassadorial residence in Constantinople (letter 17)
Jones, Colonel (later Major-General) Sir John Thomas, Bt RE (1783-1843): military engineer (letter 42)
Kempt, Lieutenant-General (later General) Sir James (1763/4-1854): Master General of the Ordnance to 1834 (letter 18)
Knighton, Sir William (1776-1836): former private secretary to George IV (letter 107)
Larcom, Lieutenant Thomas Aiskew RE (1801-79): in charge of the Ordnance Survey in Ireland (letter 50)
Lyon, Lieutenant-General Sir James Frederick (1775-1842): Governor of Barbados (letter 7)
Martin, Sir Thomas Byam (1773-1854): naval officer and administrator (letter 85)
Morton, Thomas (1764-1838): author of A Cure for the Heartache (letter 81)
Mudge, Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Zachariah RE (1790-1854): served with the Ordnance Survey (letter 118)
Mulcaster, Major-General, later Lieutenant-General, Sir Frederick William RE (1772-1846): Inspector-General of Fortifications (letter 101)
Murray, Lieutenant-General Sir George (1772-1846): Master General of the Ordnance 1834-5 (letter 35)
O’Bryen, Edward (?1753-1808): naval officer, late husband of English’s aunt (letter 5)
O’Bryen, Lord James (1769-1855): naval officer, lord of the bedchamber to William IV (letter 10), ‘Mary’s great friend’ (letter 80)
Oldfield, Lieutenant-Colonel (later General) John RE (1789-1863): English’s contemporary at Woolwich Academy (letter 43)
Parry, Archdeacon, later Bishop, Thomas (1795-1870): abolitionist, Archdeacon of Antigua (letter 113)
Pasley, Colonel, later General Sir Charles William RE (1780-1861): lecturer at Woolwich Academy (letter 74)
Peel, Sir Robert (1788-1850): politician, Prime Minister 1834-5 (letter 34)
Pell, Commander (later Admiral Sir) Watkin Owen RN (1788-1869): naval officer (letter 7)
Pilkington, Major-General Robert (1765-1834): late Colonel Commandant of the RE (letter 17)
Reid, Lieutenant-Colonel, (later Sir) William RE (1791-1858): English relieved him in the West Indies in 1834 (letter 45)
Russell, Lord John (1792-1878): Whig politician, Home Secretary from 1835 (letter 99)
Schomberg, Sir Charles Marsh (1779-1835): Governor of Dominica (letter 24)
Schomburgk, Sir Robert Hermann (1804-65): explorer and writer (letter 51)
Smith, Lieutenant-Colonel (later Lieutenant-General) Sir Charles Felix RE (1786-1858): Commanding Royal Engineer and English’s superior officer in the West Indies until 1837 (letter 8)
Smith, Major-General Sir Lionel, Bt (1778-1842): Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Windward and Leeward Islands until 1836 (letter 5)
Somerset, Lord FitzRoy, later Field Marshal Baron Raglan (1788-1855): soldier (letter 51)
Stanley, Lord, later 14th Earl of Derby (1799-1869): politician (letter 34)
Stedman, John Gabriel (1744-97): author (letter 63)
Stewart, John MP (1789-1860): plantation owner and politician (letter 55)
Taylor, Sir Herbert (1775-1839): former private secretary to William IV (letter 101)
Tyler, Captain (later Vice-Admiral) Sir George RN (1792-1862): Lieutenant Governor of St Vincent (letter 97)
Victoria, Princess, from June 1837 Queen (1819-1901): (letter 83)
Vivian, Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Hussey, later 1st Baron Vivian, RE (1775-1842): Master General of the Ordnance from May 1835 (letter 38)
Wellington, Duke of (1769-1852): military commander, was Prime Minister briefly in 1834 (letter 78)
Whittingham, Lieutenant-General Sir Samuel Ford (1772-1841): army commander in the Windward and Leeward Islands from 1836 (letter 60)
William IV, King (1765-1837, reigned 1830-37): (letter 80)
Willis, John Walpole (1793-1877): Lawyer in British Guiana (letter 48)
Young, Sir Aretas William (1778-1835): Governor of Prince Edward Island (letter 25)