Percival Stockdale (1736–1811) was an English poet, writer and reformer, active especially in opposing

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

Biography

Born 26 October 1736 (O. S.) at

Branxton, Northumberland Branxton is a village and civil parish in northern Northumberland, England. It lies about from the England-Scotland border and about from the Scottish border town of Coldstream, just off the A697 Newcastle-Edinburgh road. At the 2011 Census, ...

, he was the only child of Thomas Stockdale, vicar of the parish and perpetual curate of Cornhill-on-Tweed, and his wife, Dorothy Collingwood of Murton, Northumberland. After spending six years at Alnwick grammar school, he went in 1751 to the grammar school at Berwick-upon-Tweed. He became acquainted with the Greek and Latin classics, and acquired a taste for poetry. In 1754 Stockdale entered the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

, with a bursary for the united colleges of St. Leonard and St. Salvador. The death of his father in 1755 left the family with money troubles, and he accepted the offer of a lieutenancy in the

Royal Welsh Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers ( cy, Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales' Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designate ...

. He joined Admiral John Byng 's fleet, which anchored in the

Bay of Gibraltar The Bay of Gibraltar ( es, Bahía de Algeciras), is a bay at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. It is around long by wide, covering an area of some , with a depth of up to in the centre of the bay. It opens to the south into the Strait ...

in May 1756. Stockdale, with part of his regiment, was on board HMS ''Revenge'', in the expedition sent, under the command of Byng and

Temple West Vice-Admiral Temple West (1713 – 9 August 1757) was a British naval officer, best known for his role as second-in-command to Admiral John Byng during the Battle of Minorca in 1756. Early career and family West was a younger son of Rev. Dr. ...

, to the relief of the besieged garrison of St. Philip on

Menorca Menorca or Minorca (from la, Insula Minor, , smaller island, later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca. Its capit ...

. He returned to England in October 1756, and in November 1757 he left the army with the pretext of poor health. Introduced to Thomas Sharp (1693–1758),

archdeacon of Northumberland The Archdeacon of Northumberland is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Newcastle. As such she or he is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within the geographical area of the archdeaconry. History The firs ...

, Stockdale was persuaded to take holy orders. At Michaelmas 1759 he was ordained deacon by Richard Trevor,

bishop of Durham The Bishop of Durham is the Church of England, Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler (bishop), Pau ...

. Immediately afterwards he went to London as Sharp's substitute in the curacy and lectureship of Duke's Place, near

Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. It gives its name to Aldgate High Street, the first stretch of the A11 road, which included the site of the former gate. The area of Aldgate, the most common use of ...

. He mixed with London literati, meeting

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of S ...

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford D ...

, Sir William Browne,

Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, who is best known for his novel ''The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766), his pastoral poem ''The Deserted Village'' (1770), and his pl ...

, John Hawkesworth, and Lord Lyttelton. In 1767, having no church employment, he visited Italy, and resided for two years at Villafranca, where he read and wrote. He returned to London in 1769. Stockdale succeeded William Guthrie in editing '' The Critical Review'', and edited the '' Universal Magazine'' in 1771.

Lord Sandwich Earl of Sandwich is a noble title in the Peerage of England, held since its creation by the House of Montagu. It is nominally associated with Sandwich, Kent. It was created in 1660 for the prominent naval commander Admiral Sir Edward Montagu. ...

First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...

, appointed him chaplain of HMS ''Resolution'', a guardship lying at Spithead; he was attached to the vessel for three years. In 1779 he contributed to the ''

Public Advertiser The ''Public Advertiser'' was a London newspaper in the 18th century. The ''Public Advertiser'' was originally known as the ''London Daily Post and General Advertiser'', then simply the ''General Advertiser'' consisting more or less exclusively o ...

'' political letters under the signature of "Agricola". According to his own account, he missed out on the work that became Samuel Johnson's ''

Lives of the Poets ''Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets'' (1779–81), alternatively known by the shorter title ''Lives of the Poets'', is a work by Samuel Johnson comprising short biographies and critical appraisals of 52 poets, most of whom lived during th ...

'' (1779–81). After a brief time as tutor to the eldest son of Lord Craven, Stockdale was presented in 1780 by Sir Adam Gordon to the rectory of

Hinxworth Hinxworth is a village and civil parish in North Hertfordshire, England. It sits just off the Great North Road between Baldock and Biggleswade. It has a village hall, a park, a pub, a small church, a bus stop and a post box. The population at ...

, Hertfordshire; while there he took priest's orders. In 1783 Lord-chancellor Thurlow presented him to the vicarage of

Lesbury Lesbury is a small rural village in Northumberland in the north of England. It is built on the main coastal road southeast of Alnwick, on the north bank of the River Aln. Alnmouth railway station is about half a mile away. History The villag ...

, Northumberland, and to this the Duke of Northumberland added the vicarage of

Long Houghton Longhoughton is a small rural village in Northumberland, England. It lies near the coast, about northeast of Alnwick, in the similarly named parish of Longhoughton. The village lies under the spectacular whinstone outcrop, Ratcheugh Crag, ne ...

, in the same county. On 28 October 1784 Archbishop John Moore conferred on him the

Lambeth degree A Lambeth degree is an academic degree conferred by the Archbishop of Canterbury under the authority of the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 (25 Hen VIII c 21) (Eng) as successor of the papal legate in England. The degrees conferred most common ...

of M.A. After paying a visit to

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the capi ...

for the sake of his health, Stockdale returned to Lesbury in 1790. His reaction to the

Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution (french: révolution haïtienne ; ht, revolisyon ayisyen) was a successful insurrection by self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolt began on 2 ...

of 1792 put him among the radical

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

s. With William Roscoe, he defended the violence with which slaves liberated themselves. Stockdale died at Lesbury on 14 September 1811, and was buried at Cornhill-on-Tweed.

Works

Stockdale's major work was ''The Poet'' (1773), a poem. He wrote also: *''A Poetical Address to the Supreme Being (Berwick

764 __NOTOC__ Year 764 ( DCCLXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 764 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era b ...

, *''The Constituents: a poem'', London, 1765 * A translation of Torquato Tasso's '' Amyntas'', 1770 *''Life'' of Edmund Waller, prefixed to the poet's ''Works'', 1772 *''Antiquities of Greece'', translation from the Latin of

Lambert Bos Lambert Bos (23 October 1670 – 6 January 1717) (or Lambertus Bos or Lammert Bos) was a Dutch scholar, critic and forerunner of Tiberius Hemsterhuis. Lambert Bos was born at Workum in Friesland, where his father, Jakob Bos, was headmaster of the ...

, 1772 *''Three Discourses: two against Luxury and Dissipation, one on Universal Benevolence'', 1773 *''Institutions, Manners, and Customs of the Ancient Nations'', translation of François Sabbathier, ''Les Mœurs, coutumes et usages des anciens peuples'' (3 vols. 1770–1) *''Six Discourses, to which is prefixed an introduction containing a view of the genuine Ancient Philosophy'', London, 1777 *''An Enquiry into the Nature and Genuine Laws of Poetry; including a particular defence of the Writings and Genius of Mr. Pope'', 1778, against ''An Essay on the Writings and Genius of Pope'' (1756, 1782) by

Joseph Warton Joseph Warton (April 1722 – 23 February 1800) was an English academic and literary critic. He was born in Dunsfold, Surrey, England, but his family soon moved to Hampshire, where his father, the Reverend Thomas Warton, became vicar of Bas ...

. *''Miscellanies in Prose and Verse'', 1778 *''Letters from Lord Rivers to Sir C. Cardigan'', 1778, translation from

Marie Jeanne Riccoboni Marie-Jeanne Riccoboni (25 October 1713 in Paris - 7 December 1792 in Paris), whose maiden name was Laboras de Mézières, was a French actress and novelist. Early years She was born in Paris in 1713. Career In 1735, she married Antoine Fra ...

*''An Examination of the Important Question whether Education at a Great School or by Private Tuition is preferable'', London, 1782. The second part is an answer to ''Liberal Education, or a Practical Treatise on the Methods of acquiring Useful and Polite Learning'' (1781) by

Vicesimus Knox Vicesimus Knox (1752–1821) was an English essayist, headmaster and Anglican priest. Life Knox was born 8 December 1752, at Newington Green, Middlesex, the son of Vicesimus Knox (1729–1780), a cleric and schoolmaster, and his wife Ann Wall, da ...

. *''Essay on Misanthropy'', 1783 *''Sermons on Important and Interesting Subjects'', 1784 *''Ximenes'', verse tragedy in five acts, not acted, 1788 *''Thirteen Sermons to Seamen, preached on board H.M.S. Leander in the Bay of Gibraltar'', 1791 *''Letter to Granville Sharp, suggested by the present Insurrection of the Negroes in the Island of St. Domingo'', 1791. A defence of the St. Domingue Slave Revolt. *''Observations on the Writings and Conduct of our present Political and Religious Reformers'', 1792 *''Poetical Thoughts and Views on the Banks of the Wear'', 1792 *''Letter to Mr. Bryant, occasioned by his late Remarks on Mr. Pope's Universal Prayer'', 1793 *Edition of James Thomson's ''Seasons'', with biography, 1793 *''Letter to a Gentleman of the Philanthropic Society on the Liberty of the Press'', 1794 *''The Invincible Island: a poem, with introductory Observations on the present War'', 1797 *''Letters between the Honourable and Right Reverend Shute, by Divine Providence, Lord Bishop of Durham ... and Percival Stockdale'', 1798 *''A Discourse on the Duties and Advantages of Old Age'', Alnwick, 1801 *''A Remonstrance against Inhumanity to Animals, and particularly against the Savage Practice of Bull-Baiting'', Alnwick, 1802 *''Verses on the abolition of the slave trade'', 1804 *''Lectures on the truly eminent English Poets'', 1807 *''Poems'', a selection, 1808 *''Memoirs of his Life and Writings, containing many interesting Anecdotes of the Illustrious Men with whom he was connected'', 2 vols. 1809. *''A letter from Percival Stockdale to Granville Sharp, Esq., suggested to the authour by the present insurrection of the Negroes in the island of St. Domingo. '', 1811 Stockdale famously eulogized

's cat Hodge in his ''An Elegy on a Friend's Favourite Cat''. The poem appeared in the ''Universal Magazine'' for May 1771.

References

*Howard D. Weinbrot, ''Samuel Johnson, Percival Stockdale, and Brick-Bats from Grubstreet: Some Later Response to the "Lives of the Poets"'', Huntington Library Quarterly Vol. 56, No. 2 (Spring, 1993), pp. 105–134. Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press. DOI: 10.2307/3817589 Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3817589

Notes

External links

*
Verses on the Abolition of the Slave Trade
', annotated

e-text e-text (from "'' electronic text''"; sometimes written as etext) is a general term for any document that is read in digital form, and especially a document that is mainly text. For example, a computer-based book of art with minimal text, or a se ...

The memoirs of the life, and writings of Percival Stockdale, Volume 1
By Percival Stockdale
The memoirs of the life, and writings of Percival Stockdale, Volume 2
by Percival Stockdale
The Poet – a Poem by Percival StockdaleWorks of Percival Stockdale
at the Internet Archive
Biography of Stockdale
in The Gentleman's Magazine, Volume 110, 1811 ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Stockdale, Percival English abolitionists 18th-century English poets 1736 births 1811 deaths English male poets 18th-century English male writers