Stockdale

PERCIVAL STOCKDALE (1736 - 1811)

Born in Branxton, Northumberland, Stockdale attended school in Alnwick and Berwick. Prompted initially by his father, and the consciousness of having been born near to Flodden, Stockdale never doubted that he had poetic genius, but this view was not shared by the public.

After a somewhat hectic undergraduate existence at St Andrews, Stockdale served in Admiral Byng's expedition to Minorca in 1756. On his way back to his mother at Berwick, he stayed in Durham and was there influenced by the celebrated Dr Thomas Sharp to enter the church. He was ordained in 1759 and became curate at Berwick in 1762. In 1767, he went to France to study for two years and returned to London, where he mixed with the literary figures of the day, including Dr Johnson and David Garrick. Boswell remarks that Johnson, after one of his pamphlets had been coolly received, 'was soothed in the highest strain of panegyrick, in a poem called 'The Remonstrance' by the Rev. Mr Stockdale, to whom he was, upon many occasions, a kind protector.'

Eventually Stockdale received the living of Lesbury and Longhoughton in Northumberland in 1784. Severe alarms followed the reappearance of his estranged wife, and Stockdale was soon on the move again, becoming chaplain to the British Consul to the Emperor of Fez and Morocco in 1787. He did not return to England until 1790, or to Lesbury parsonage until 1799.

Stockdale published a five-act tragedy Ximenes (1788) and much varied material followed, including Thirteen sermons to Seamen; Poetical Thoughts and Views on the Banks of the Wear, an amusing correspondence with the Bishop of Durham, Shute Barrington; and 'A Remonstrance against Inhumanity to Animals'. His poem 'The Invincible Island' was inspired by threats of a French invasion, and the irrepressible Stockdale headed for the capital again. 'I set off in the mail-coach from Durham for London on 9 December 1797 at midnight and in a severe storm.' For several days sales were promising, but 'the demand for the poem relaxed gradually!' Stockdale compared himself to the great Swedish king, Charles XII, conceding that there might be some points to the monarch's advantage - but some to his own.

Stockdale's poems were published in 1808, and his interesting, though conceited Memoirs in 1809. In the latter he was still expressing his confidence in literary immortality. He died at Lesbury and was buried at Cornhill on Tweed.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
PERCIVAL STOCKDALE (1736 - 1811) Born in Branxton, Northumberland, Stockdale attended school in Alnwick and Berwick. Prompted initially by his father, and the consciousness of having been born near to Flodden, Stockdale never doubted that he had poetic genius, but this view was not shared by the public. After a somewhat hectic undergraduate existence at St Andrews, Stockdale served in Admiral Byng's expedition to Minorca in 1756. On his way back to his mother at Berwick, he stayed in Durham and was there influenced by the celebrated Dr Thomas Sharp to enter the church. He was ordained in 1759 and became curate at Berwick in 1762. In 1767, he went to France to study for two years and returned to London, where he mixed with the literary figures of the day, including Dr Johnson and David Garrick. Boswell remarks that Johnson, after one of his pamphlets had been coolly received, 'was soothed in the highest strain of panegyrick, in a poem called 'The Remonstrance' by the Rev. Mr Stockdale, to whom he was, upon many occasions, a kind protector.' Eventually Stockdale received the living of Lesbury and Longhoughton in Northumberland in 1784. Severe alarms followed the reappearance of his estranged wife, and Stockdale was soon on the move again, becoming chaplain to the British Consul to the Emperor of Fez and Morocco in 1787. He did not return to England until 1790, or to Lesbury parsonage until 1799. Stockdale published a five-act tragedy Ximenes (1788) and much varied material followed, including Thirteen sermons to Seamen; Poetical Thoughts and Views on the Banks of the Wear, an amusing correspondence with the Bishop of Durham, Shute Barrington; and 'A Remonstrance against Inhumanity to Animals'. His poem 'The Invincible Island' was inspired by threats of a French invasion, and the irrepressible Stockdale headed for the capital again. 'I set off in the mail-coach from Durham for London on 9 December 1797 at midnight and in a severe storm.' For several days sales were promising, but 'the demand for the poem relaxed gradually!' Stockdale compared himself to the great Swedish king, Charles XII, conceding that there might be some points to the monarch's advantage - but some to his own. Stockdale's poems were published in 1808, and his interesting, though conceited Memoirs in 1809. In the latter he was still expressing his confidence in literary immortality. He died at Lesbury and was buried at Cornhill on Tweed.
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