Henry Sewell Stokes (1808-1895). Portrait by Edward Arthur Fellowes Prynne (1854–1921), owned by Truro City Council. Courtesy ArtUK.
Henry Sewell Stokes (16 June 1808 - 7 April 1895) was an English poet, sometimes called the "Poet laureate of Cornwall."
Life[]
Youth and education[]
Stokes was born at Gibraltar, the eldest son of Henry Stokes (died 1832), proctor and notary there, who married in 1807 at Gibraltar Anne Sewell (1787–1857).[1]
The son came to England in 1815, and was sent in 1817 to St. Saviour's grammar school, Southwark, and at a later date to the school of a young baptist minister called William Giles at Chatham, where Charles Dickens was his companion.[2]
In 1825 he returned to Gibraltar, studied mercantile law in his father's office, and acquired a knowledge of French, Spanish, and Italian.
He was then articled to Mr. Bridgman, a solicitor at Tavistock, and was admitted attorney and solicitor in January and February 1832. For a short time he was a student of the Middle Temple.[2]
Career[]
Stokes dwelt for some weeks at St. Austell in Cornwall, getting up evidence on mining customs in the duchy. In April 1832 he settled at Truro, where he practised as solicitor for many years, and played an active part as a liberal in local politics.[2]
He started in that town in July 1833 the Cornish Guardian and Western Chronicle newspaper (afterwards merged in the West Briton), and for 3 years was its editor, with Charles Buller and Sir William Molesworth as occasional leader writers. Stokes also wrote leaders for the Devon Independent, published at Devonport, but with a large circulation in Cornwall, and was an occasional contributor to the West Briton.[2]
He married at Tavistock, on 9 August 1834, Louisa Rachel, daughter of the Rev. William Evans of Parkwood in that town. They had a son, William Evans Stokes, and 3 daughters.[2]
From the number of his poems on the county, Stokes was sometimes called "the laureate for Cornwall." Tennyson spent a week with him at Truro in 1848.[2]
In 1856 Stokes was elected mayor of Truro, and in 1859 was appointed its town clerk. On the nomination of Lord Vivian, lord lieutenant of the county, he became in February 1865 clerk of the peace for Cornwall, and continued in that position until his death. The duties of this post forced him to move to Bodmin, where he spent the rest of his days.[2]
His wife died at Bodmin on 15 February 1890, aged 80. He died at Bodmin on 7 April 1895, and was buried in its cemetery on 13 April.[2]
Writing[]
His chief works, many of which attest his love of Cornwall, were:
‘The Lay of the Desert,’ 1830, designed and in part written on Dartmoor; the substance of it was revised and included in the sixth and seventh cantos of ‘Memories,’ 1872. ‘The Song of Albion: a Poem on the Reform Crisis,’ 1831. ‘Discourses on Opinion,’ 1831. ‘The Vale of Lanherne,’ 1836; new edit. with costly illustrations by Charles Haghe, from designs by James G. Philp, 1853. ‘Echoes of War,’ 1855. ‘Scattered Leaves,’ 1862. ‘Rhymes from Cornwall,’ 1871; reissued in 1884 as ‘Voyage of Arundel and other Rhymes from Cornwall.’ ‘Memories’ [anon.], 1872; new edit. [anon.] 1879. ‘Poems of later years,’ 1873; reissued in 1881 as ‘The Chantry Owl and other Verses.’ ‘Restormel: a Legend of Piers Gaveston,’ 1875; republished 1882. 11. ‘The Gate of Heaven: the Plaint of Morwenstow,’ 1876.[2]
Stokes published numerous flysheets and small poems. He contributed to the ‘Mining Almanac’ of Henry English (1849, pp. 105–116) an article on the court of the vice-warden of the stannaries, and read before the meeting of the British Archæological Association at Bodmin on 17 August 1876 a paper on books and manuscripts relating to the county, which was printed in its journal (xxxiii. 35–45).[2]
Recognition[]
An oil portrait which was presented to him, with a cheque for £500, at a public meeting held at Truro in December 1891, now hangs in the Truro council-chamber.[2]
Publication[]
- The Lay of the Desert: A poem, in two cantos. London: Hurst, Chance, 1830.
- The Song of Albion: A poem commemorative of the crisis; Lines on the fall of Warsaw; and other poems. London: J. Cochrane, 1831.
- The Vale of Lanherne, and other poems. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, & Green, 1836.
- Echoes of the War and other poems. London: Longman, Brown, & Green, 1855.
- Scattered Leaves. London: Longman, Green, Longman, & Roberts, 1862.
- Rhymes from Cornwall. London: J.C. Hotten, 1871
- also printed as The Voyage of Arundel, and other rhyme from Cornwall. London: Longmans Green, 1884.
- Poems of Later Years. London: Longmans Green, 1873
- revised & enlarged as *The Chantry Owl, and other verses. London: Longmans Green, 1881.
- Restormel: A legend of Piers Gaveston; The patriot priest; and other verses. London: Longmans, Green, 1875.
- The Gate of Heaven; The plaint of Morwenstow; and other verses. Bodmin, UK: Liddell & Son, 1876.
- A Lament from Cornwall: On the death of Princess Alice. Bodmin, UK: Liddell & Son, 1878.
- Lanhydrock: An elegy. London: Longmans Green, 1882.
- A Lay from Cornwall: For the jubilee of Queen Victoria. Bodmin, UK: Liddell & Son, 1887.
- Lines in Memory of T.S. Bolitho (as "H.S.S."). Bodmin, UK: privately published, 1887.
Non-fiction[]
- Three Discourses. London: Hurst, Chance, 1831.
- Memories: A life's epilogue. London: Longmans Green, 1872
- new edition, with "A Lament for Princess Alice." London: Longmans Green, 1879.
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[3]
See also[]
References[]
Courtney, William Prideaux (1898) "Stokes, Henry Sewell" in Lee, Sidney Dictionary of National Biography 54 London: Smith, Elder, pp. 399-400. Wikisource, Web, Dec. 6, 2016.
Notes[]
External links[]
- Poems
- About
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the Dictionary of National Biography (edited by Leslie Stephen & Sidney Lee). London: Smith, Elder, 1885-1900. Original article is at: Stokes, Henry Sewell
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