Frederick Wilton Litchfield Stockdale, 1786-1858

Frederick Wilton Litchfield Stockdale (1786-1858), antiquary, author, was the son of Robert Stockdale, and was baptised at St Anne's church, Soho, on 5 May 1786. He worked as an assistant to the military secretary of the East India Company. In 1806 he married Harriet Budd at St Michael Bassishaw, London. In 1810 he published Etchings from original drawings of antiquities in the county of Kent, and another south east title in 1817 A concise historical and topographical sketch of Hastings, Winchelsea and Rye . In 1821 his son Frederick was baptised at Lanivet in Cornwall, and his west country associations begin. In 1824 he published Excursions in the county of Cornwall, which was followed in 1834 by The Cornish Tourist . At this time he was living at Manor Place, Walworth, Surrey. In 1840 he began writing to eminent west country individuals seeking information towards a history of Devon, which was brought to a usable state in manuscript but never published.