James Field Stanfield
James Field Stanfield | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1749 |
| Died | 10 May 1824 (aged 74–75) |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Occupation |
|
| Spouse(s) | Mary Hoad (d.1801) |
| Children | Clarkson Frederick Stanfield |
| Relatives | George Clarkson Stanfield Francis Stanfield (grandsons) |
James Field Stanfield (1749 – 10 May 1824)[1] was an Irish actor, abolitionist and author. He was the father of the English painter Clarkson Stanfield.
Life[]
Stanfield was educated in France for the Roman Catholic priesthood. He did not take orders, but went to sea in a vessel engaged in the Atlantic slave trade. After a bad time at sea and a short period on shore in Africa, he returned to England, one out of three survivors of the voyage.[2]
Joining a theatrical company, Stanfield appeared in 1786 at York, where he also tried his hand at writing a comic opera. Joining the abolitionists, he found friends including Thomas Clarkson. For several years he held a principal situation in the Scarborough Theatre, and he afterwards had the direction of a small company whose circuit (about 1812) was in the north of Yorkshire and some of the adjoining counties.[2]
He died in London, aged 74.[2]
Works[]
In 1788 Stanfield published an account of his experience of the slave trade in Observations on a Guinea Voyage in a series of letters addressed to the Rev. Thomas Clarkson, and in the following year a poem, The Guinea Voyage (London). In 1807 both works were published at Edinburgh in one volume. In 1813 he published an Essay on the Study and Composition of Biography (Sunderland), insisting on the need of "moral illustration".[2]
Family[]
Stanfield was twice married, and was a father by his first wife, Mary Hoad (died 1801) of Cheltenham, of the English painter Clarkson Frederick Stanfield.
Notes[]
- ^ England, Select Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991
- ^ a b c d Lee, Sidney, ed. (1898). . Dictionary of National Biography. 53. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
External links[]
- Works by James Field Stanfield at Project Gutenberg
- Works by James Field Stanfield at Faded Page (Canada)
Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1898). "Stanfield, James Field". Dictionary of National Biography. 53. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- 1749 births
- 1824 deaths
- 18th-century Irish male actors
- 19th-century Irish male actors
- Irish abolitionists
- Irish poets
- Irish male stage actors
- Irish emigrants to Great Britain