Percival Stockdale
Encyclopedia
Percival Stockdale was an English
poet
, writer
and reformer, active especially in opposing slavery
.
. He was an avid intellectual whose education led him to become well acquainted with Greek and Latin classics, nurturing his taste for poetry. After the death of his father financial distress led him to accept the offer of a lieutenancy in the royal Welsh fusiliers. He was forced to leave his position due to ill health in 1757. After his time as a lieutenant he became an ordained deacon in 1759. Starting as a deacon and later taking priest's orders put Stockdale in a good position to extensively explore the world of literature through reading and writing, bringing him into touch with leading intellectuals and poets as well. He was an avidly outspoken reformist. Over the course of his life he witnessed and participated in the great political struggle over slavery and slave trading. Stockdale's "Verses on the abolition of the slave trade" was written in 1804, three years before the bill abolishing the slave trade was finally passed. We find multiple other examples of Stockdale's avid thoughts of the politics of the late 18th century and early 19th century. Stockdale wrote a Letter to Granville Sharp, suggested by the present Insurrection of the Negros in the Island of St. Domingo in 1791. He also published Observations on the Writings and Conduct of our present Political and Religious Reformers in 1792. Stockdale's aggressive poetry, prose and letters, are distinctive examples of his anti-slavery mindset. He died in Lesbury
on September 14, 1811.
Stockdale famously eulogized Samuel Johnson
's cat Hodge
in his "An Elegy on the Death of Dr Johnson's Favourite Cat."
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and reformer, active especially in opposing slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
.
Biography
Stockdale was born in Branxton, NorthumberlandBranxton, 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...
. He was an avid intellectual whose education led him to become well acquainted with Greek and Latin classics, nurturing his taste for poetry. After the death of his father financial distress led him to accept the offer of a lieutenancy in the royal Welsh fusiliers. He was forced to leave his position due to ill health in 1757. After his time as a lieutenant he became an ordained deacon in 1759. Starting as a deacon and later taking priest's orders put Stockdale in a good position to extensively explore the world of literature through reading and writing, bringing him into touch with leading intellectuals and poets as well. He was an avidly outspoken reformist. Over the course of his life he witnessed and participated in the great political struggle over slavery and slave trading. Stockdale's "Verses on the abolition of the slave trade" was written in 1804, three years before the bill abolishing the slave trade was finally passed. We find multiple other examples of Stockdale's avid thoughts of the politics of the late 18th century and early 19th century. Stockdale wrote a Letter to Granville Sharp, suggested by the present Insurrection of the Negros in the Island of St. Domingo in 1791. He also published Observations on the Writings and Conduct of our present Political and Religious Reformers in 1792. Stockdale's aggressive poetry, prose and letters, are distinctive examples of his anti-slavery mindset. He died in Lesbury
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:...
on September 14, 1811.
Stockdale famously eulogized Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
's cat Hodge
Hodge (cat)
Hodge was one of Samuel Johnson's cats, immortalized in a characteristically whimsical passage in James Boswell's Life of Johnson.Although there is little known about Hodge, such as his life, his death, or any other information, what is known is Johnson's fondness for his cat, which separated...
in his "An Elegy on the Death of Dr Johnson's Favourite Cat."
External links
- Verses on the Abolition of the Slave Trade, annotated e-textE-textAn e-text is, generally, any text-based information that is available in a digitally encoded human-readable format and read by electronic means, but more specifically it refers to files in the ASCII character encoding.E-text has the broad meaning of something electronic that represents words, a...
- The memoirs of the life, and writings of Percival Stockdale, Volume 1 By Percival Stockdale
- The Poet - a Poem by Percival Stockdale
- Works of Percival Stockdale at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
- Biography of Stockdale in The Gentleman's Magazine, Volume 110, 1811