- Jan 1 Robert Lawson, New Zealand architect (d. 1902)
- Jan 2 Frederick A. Johnson, American politician (d. 1893)
- Jan 7 Henry Enfield Roscoe, English Chemist (vanadium and photochemistry), born in London, England
- Jan 23 John Randolph Chambliss Jr, American Brigadier-General (Confederate Army), born in Greensville County, Virginia (d. 1864)
- Jan 28 Charles George Gordon, general (China, Khartoum), born in London, England