Thomas Wentworth Beaumont (1792-1848) Esq. MP for South Northumberland [i] - owner of the T.W.Beaumont Lead Company [ii]

References:
[i] Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
[ii]http://www.cumbrianrailways.org.uk/Newcastle.php

Elizabeth I, (1533-1603), queen of England 1558–1603 during a period, often called the Elizabethan Age [i]. The period of her reign was often invoked in popular songs and literature as a golden age when everyone was treated fairly and the poor were cared for.

Reference:
[i] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elizabeth-I accessed 13May20

John Blackmore of Ryton - Railway engineer

William Cowper (1731 - 1800) English poet and hymn writer. One of the most popular poets of his time, 

Oliver Cromwell (1599 - 1658) English general and statesman who led the Parliament of England's armies against King Charles I during the English Civil War and ruled the British Isles as Lord Protector from 1653 until his death in 1658. 

Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1612 -1671), also known as Sir Thomas Fairfax - English nobleman, peer, politician, general, and Parliamentary commander-in-chief during the English Civil War.

Reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Fairfax (accessed 28Oct2020)

King George II reigned 1727-1760

George Stephenson (1781-1848) Colliery and railway engineer. Made important contributions to the development of locomotives and tracks. His most famous locomotive was 'The Rocket' built for the Manchester and Liverpool Railway opened in 1830.

Reference:
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (accessed 14Sep20)

Charles Green (1785-1870) a celebrated balloonist. 

Portrait of Charles Green by Hilaire Ledru, 1835 

George Hudson, railway promoter and fraudster, 1800 –1871. whose success in financing railway companies led to him being known as the Railway King - a title conferred on him by Sydney Smith in 1844. Hudson made a great fortune by means of corrupt dealing in railway shares but lost it in the crash of 1847. Hudson was the son of a farmer and so considered to be the social inferior of the upper classes, many of whom took great pleasure in his downfall

Reference: Williams, F. S., Our Iron Roads: Their History, Construction and Administration, Third Edition (London, Bemrose & Sons, 1883) p51

Irish champion boxer born 1798. He was only 26 years old, when he retired from the ring and became a publican in Liverpool. He was renowned for his generosity and his tavern was a popular stopping off point for Irish farm labourers passing through Liverpool. He put up as many of them as he could and he fed them and plied them with beer and poitin. Jack had only one rule where his Irish guests where concerned. In the interests of safety and a good night's sleep for all his guests, he insisted they hand in their sickles and shillelaghs before retiring.

https://www.herald.ie/entertainment/a-taste-for-milling-on-the-royal-canal-27910036.html accessed 22May20]

John George "Jack" Phillips (1887-1912) the senior wireless operator aboard the Titanic during its ill-fated maiden voyage in April 1912.

Reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Phillips_(wireless_officer) (accessed 17Mar21)

A famous wherry man mentioned in several songs of the time. (The spelling of his name varies).

Jenny Lind. Johanna Maria Lind, opera singer, 1820–1887. Popularly known as 'the Swedish Nightingale'.

Kelly, Thomas (1772-1855), Lord Mayor of London, 1836

Reference:
National Archives https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F60648 (accessed 04Feb21)

Dionysius Lardner (1793-1859) writer on science and public lecturer

Reference:
Hays, J.N. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (accessed 16May21)

[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]

Thomas Johnstone Lipton (1850-1931) Owner of a chain of grocery shops.

 Perhaps Joseph Locke (1805-1860), Railway Engineer one of George Stephenson's assistants in the construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway

Brougham, Henry Peter, first Baron Brougham and Vaux (1778–1868).