- Jan 7 John Catron, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1865)
- Jan 8 Nicholas Biddle, American financier, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1844)
- Jan 11 Joseph Jackson Lister, British optician who perfected the optical microscope by designing the achromatic objective lens, born in London, England
- Jan 12 Sir Robert Inglis, Bt, English politician (d. 1855)
- Jan 23 Auguste de Montferrand, French architect, born in Trocadéro, Paris (d. 1858)
- Jan 26 Benjamin Robert Haydon, Plymouth, painter (Waiting for The Times)