Frances Johnson, known as Begum Johnson, was, according to her memorial, "The oldest British resident in Bengal, universally beloved, respected and revered". She lived most of her remarkably long life in Calcutta, and was witness to an era which spanned the inception of British rule over Bengal in 1757 to its utter consolidation by the early 1800s.

Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, was a British Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827. He also held many other important cabinet offices such as Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary and Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. He was also a member of the House of Lords and served as leader.