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Herbert Allen Giles was born in 1845. he studied at Charterhouse before becoming a British diplomat to China, serving from 1867-1892. He modified a Mandarin Chinese romanisation system established by Thomas Wade, resulting in the widely known Wade–Giles Chinese romanisation system. On returning to England he was appointed the second professor of Chinese language at the University of Cambridge, succeeding Thomas Wade in 1897. He translated many Chinese works. Giles retired in 1932, and subsequently died in 1935.

Henry Thomas Colebrooke FRS FRSE (1765-1837) was a Sanskrit scholar and orientalist. He was born in London, the third son of Sir George Colebrooke, 2nd Baronet, Chairman of the East India Company, and Mary Gaynor of Antigua. He was educated at home and at fifteen was adept in classics and mathematics.

In 1782 Colebrooke was appointed to a writership in India. He held administrative, legal and academic posts whilst in India during which time he learnt Sanskrit which he used to translate "Digest of Hindu Laws", unfinished by Sir William Jones.

Colebrooke returned to England in 1814 where he played an active role in promoting knowledge. He was co-founder of the Royal Astronomical Society. He was present at the inaugural dinner and meeting on January 12, 1820. More significantly for the Royal Asiatic Society, he instigated its foundation, with the initial planning meetings taking place at his home. He presided as Director of the Society until his death in 1837.

Sir Henry Miers Elliot was a civil servant and historian who worked with the East India Company in India for 26 years. He is most well known for a compilation of his papers, 'The History of India, as Told by its own Historians', which was compiled and published posthumously in eight volumes by John Dowson, between 1867 and 1877.

After being appointed to the position of Assistant to the Magistrate and Collector of Bareilly in May 1828, Elliot advanced to a number of administrative positions within the East India Company, moving largely around Northern and Central India. His papers, which were written and collected during his time spent in India, comprise largely of research towards his various job postings.

Henry Guppy CBE was Librarian of the John Rylands Library in Manchester from 1899 until his death in 1948. He was created Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1937. He was active in the Library Association of Great Britain and among his notable achievements are contributions to the reconstruction of the university library of Louvain between the World Wars and the founding of the Bulletin of the John Rylands Library in 1903. During much of his tenure in Manchester he resided at Buxton, where he died. He was survived by his wife Matilda, with whom he had two daughters, Lilian and Alberta.

Henry Faulds was a Scottish doctor, missionary and scientist who is noted for the development of fingerprinting. He was a missionary in Japan developing a hospital and a teaching facility for Japanese medical students.