John Macky (d. 1726) was a writer and spy.
Reference:
J. D. Alsop, ‘Macky, John (d. 1726)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/17632, accessed 17 June 2015].
.
Thomas Green was the Bishop of Ely and was elected vice-chancellor of Cambridge University in 1699.
Reference:
Rebecca Louise Warner, Green, Thomas (bap. 1658, d. 1738), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2013 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/11401, accessed 14 Aug 2013].
Wotton was a child prodigy, having received his BA from Oxford at the age of nine. He mastered several languages and fields of inquiry and became a member of the Royal Society in 1687 as well as being ordained in 1689. He published many works on history, theology, culture, and politics and contributed to the Philosophical Transactions
Reference:
David Stoker, Wotton, William (16661727), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2007 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30005, accessed 14 June 2011].
*Note that Ray has incorrectly marked the date on this letter; by March 29, 1705, Ray had been dead for some time. The letter is actually from 1704. Ray was a theologian and naturalist who collected and catalogued his botanical findings in the much lauded Historia plantarum (1686, 1688) (Scott Mandelbrote, Ray , John (16271705), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2005 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23203, accessed 18 June 2013]).
Leg ulcers, which Sir Thomas Millington has diagnosed as incurable via outward applications; only internal medicine will suffice. His legs and feet are also swelling and pitting.
Millington gave Ray the recipe for a diet drink: watercress, brooklime, dock-roots, a few alder leaves, all boiled in wort instead of hops, all worked up in a vessel.
Ray tried the drink once, and 'received some benefit', but did not keep up with the treatment as winter was coming and it did not work as suddenly as he expected.
William Oliver was a physician and qualified as a licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians in 1692. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1704 and worked at the Royal Hospital at Greenwich from 1709 to 1714. Some of his work was published in the Philosophical Transactions.
Reference:
W. P. Courtney, ‘Oliver, William (bap. 1658, d. 1716)’, rev. S. Glaser, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, (Oxford University Press, 2004 http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/20735 [accessed 17 July 2013]).
John Somers was a lawyer and politician was an important figure involved in the union of England and Scotland as well as the Hanoverian succession.
Reference:
Stuart Handley, “Somers, John, Baron Somers (1651-1716)”, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26002, accessed 2 June 2011].
Peter Le Neve (1661 – 1729) was a herald and an antiquary, serving as Norroy King of Arms at the College of Arms from 1704 until his death in 1729
Reference
Thomas Woodcock, ‘Le Neve, Peter,’ http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/16440 accessed 12th March 2017
Thoresby follows up his account of the earthquake with another, this time from a clergyman near Lincoln, who wrote: ‘December 20, 5:00am; noise like 3 coaches driving furiously; great damage was done to the composure of a nearby gentlewoman’. Thoresby describes a curiosity he found: a small egg within a regular egg, about 2.5 inches in circumference. Thoresby was an antiquary and topographer. He expanded his fathers Musaeum Thoresbyanum impressively, and his collection brought him into discussion with many important political and scholarly figures (P. E. Kell, Thoresby, Ralph (16581725), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2006 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/27334, accessed 27 June 2013]).
John Maubray was man-midwife and lecturer on midwifery. With the help of Hans Sloane he was able to practice without a licence from the Royal College of Physicians. Maubray published instructional works on midwifery and is considered a pioneer in the field, even though he may not have helped deliver many children himself.
Reference:
Philip Rhodes, ‘Maubray, John (d. 1732)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, (Oxford University Press, 2004 http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/58697 [accessed 7 Aug 2013])
Adam Buddle was a botanist who collected information on the flora of England throughout his life, bequeathing them to Sloane upon his death in 1715.
Reference:
James Britten, ‘Buddle, Adam (bap. 1662, d. 1715)’, rev. Janet Browne, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, (Oxford University Press, 2004 http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/3883 [accessed 19 June 2013]).