Rev. Thomas Walker Horsfield FSA

Society of Antiquaries of London

The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...

 (1792 Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

 - 1837 Chowbent, Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

), was an English Nonconformist minister, topographer, and historian best known for his works The History and Antiquities of Lewes (1824-26) and The History, Antiquities and Topography of the County of Sussex (1835).

Life

He was the eldest of six children of James Horsfield and Ann Hewett who were married on 29 July 1790 in St Peter's Cathedral

Sheffield Cathedral

Sheffield Cathedral is the cathedral church for the Church of England diocese of Sheffield, England. Originally a parish church, it was elevated to cathedral status when the diocese was created in 1914...

, Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

, Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

.

Horsfield was minister at the Westgate Chapel in Lewes

Lewes

Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

, later changed from Presbyterian to Unitarian

Unitarianism

Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....

. He found time from his ministerial duties to take on pupils.

In 1835 Horsfield was appointed to succeed Benjamin Rigby Davis as presbyterian minister at the Chowbent Chapel, Atherton

Atherton

Atherton may refer to:Places:* Atherton, California, a town in San Mateo County in the San Francisco Bay Area* Atherton, Greater Manchester, a town in North West England* Atherton, Ontario, a hamlet in Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada...

, Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

. There he died on 26 August 1837, leaving a widow and eight children.

Works

His History of Sussex in two volumes became a standard reference work for later Sussex historians.

Horsfield compiled for John Baxter

John Baxter (publisher)

John Baxter , was an English printer and publisher.Baxter was born at Rickhurst, Surrey, 20 October 1781. Early in life he settled in Lewes as a bookseller and printer. Among the earliest of Baxter's enterprises was the publication of a large quarto Bible, annotated by the Rev...

 The History and Antiquities of Lewes and its vicinity (with an appendix, an Essay on the Natural History of the District by Gideon Mantell

Gideon Mantell

Gideon Algernon Mantell MRCS FRS was an English obstetrician, geologist and palaeontologist...

), two vols. Lewes, 1824–7. This was followed by a more major undertaking, The History and Antiquities and Topography of the County of Sussex, two vols. Lewes, 1835. For the first volume, which contains East Sussex

East Sussex

East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...

, Horsfield was assisted by William Durrant Cooper

William Durrant Cooper

-Life:His father Thomas Cooper was a solicitor practising at Lewes; his mother was Lucy Elizabeth Durrant. He was born in Lewes on 10 January 1812, and was educated at the grammar school of Lewes. When 15 years old he became an articled clerk to his father. In Michaelmas term of 1832 he was...

; the second volume, on West Sussex

West Sussex

West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...

, is mainly an abridgment of the histories of James Dallaway

James Dallaway

-Life:He was the only son of James Dallaway, banker of Stroud, Gloucestershire, by Martha, younger daughter of Richard Hopton of Worcester, and was born at Bristol on 20 February 1763. He received his early education at the grammar school of Cirencester, and became a scholar of Trinity College,...

and Edmund Cartwright (1773–1833).