The following are the main characters appearing in the Diary.
 | Provost (mayor) | Thomas Easton | Grain merchant, grocer | Refused to conduct traditional provost duties during the Common Riding |
 | Senior bailie (magistrate) | John Cairns | Mill owner (Ford Mills) | Issued fines/custodial sentences; golfer; curler |
| Junior bailie | Alexander Montgomery | Hairdresser | Accused of vote-rigging by the provost |
 | Chairman | Charles Paisley | Skinner | Also chairman, Langholm Liberal Club |
 | Member | John Milne Home | Duke of Buccleuch’s factor (land agent) | Also chairman, E&L Fisheries Association; chairman, Eskdale Infectious Diseases Hospital |
 | Clerk | James Morrison | Registrar, Inspector of the Poor | Also secretary of the Common Riding Committee |
Health
| Commandant, Red Cross Hospital | Lady Ewart | Wife of Sir Spencer Ewart, head of Scottish Command | ||
| Matron, Red Cross Hospital | Miss Byers | |||
 | Doctor | Robert Watt | Also author of an Eskdale guidebook and Parish Church centenary booklet | |
 | Doctor | Andrew Calwell | Replaced the esteemed Dr John Gill who died in 1914 | |
| Chairman, Thomas Hope Hospital trust | Rev David Maxwell | Burnfoot | ||
 | Matron, Thomas Hope Hospital | Miss Robertson | Matron 1902-1928 | |
| Matron, Eskdale Infectious Diseases Hospital | Jane Hogg | Permitted to hire a servant to enable more time to attend patients | ||
| Head of sphagnum moss volunteers | Maud Miesegaes | Preparation of wound dressings |
Education
 | President, Langholm School Board | Arthur Bell | Woollen mill owner (Buccleuch Mills) | President, Eskdale Unionist Society; cared for family members’ children after two suicides |
 | Rector | Robert Hamilton | Captain, golf club |
Associations
 | President, Old Town Bowling Club | Robert Ramage | Plumber | Caused controversy by proposing that the Common Riding should be cancelled |
| President, Golf Club | James Scott | Co-owner, Waverley Mills | ||
 | Captain, Cricket Club | Fred Graham | Woollen mill owner (Reid & Taylor) | |
 | Leader, Allison’s band | Joe Allison | Woollen pattern weaver | Gave public and private performances for various functions |
Business owners (not listed elsewhere on this page)
Shopkeepers
 | Stationer, printer | Walter Wilson | Newspaper publisher (E&L), shipping line agent | |
Military
 | Head of Scottish Command | Sir Spencer Ewart | Husband of Lady Frances Ewart, commandant of Langholm Red Cross Hospital | Craigcleugh house |
 | Major, 2nd/5th KOSB | Edward Bell | Woollen mill owner (Buccleuch Mills) with father Arthur Bell; town councillor | Two suicides in family (uncle, wife) |
 | Private, 1st/9th Royal Scots | Lawson Cairns | Son of James Cairns, mill owner (Ford Mill); nephew of provost John Cairns | Wrote a war diary in 1915 |
Church ministers
 | Church of Scotland Parish Church | James Buchanan | ||
| All Saints Episcopal Church | Alderson Seaton | |||
| North United Free Church | George Orr | Founder of … societies | ||
 | South United Free Church | James Macdonald | Married in 1914 | |
 | Chalmers United Free Church | David Inglis | Keen cricketer and golfer | |
| Evangelical Union Congregational Church | Robert Smith | Minister-elect; appointed 1916 |
| Cornet, 1914 | ||||
 | Fair crier, 1914 | Christopher (‘Kirst’) Elliot | Tweed manufacturer | Chief Templar, International Order of Good Templars, Langholm |
Duke of Buccleuch’s household
 | 7th Duke of Buccleuch | John Montagu Douglas Scott | Duke from 5th November 1914 | Elder brother was killed in 1886; wife Molly |
 | Younger brother of 7th Duke | Lord George Scott | First class cricketer | Commanded 2/1st Lothian and Borders Horse |
 | Younger brother of 7th Duke | Lord Francis Scott | First class cricketer; labrador breeder | Married in 1915 on crutches after war wound |
 | Younger sister of 7th Duke | Lady Alice | Later married Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (1935) | |
 | Eldest son of 7th Duke; Earl of Dalkeith | Walter Montagu Douglas Scott | Heir apparent to 7th Duke | Commanded 4th KOSB |
Other
- David Beattie, sculptor, writer