Rev.Thomas Walker HorsfieldFSA (christened 2 December 1792,Sheffield - 26 August 1837,Chowbent,Lancashire), was an EnglishNonconformist minister, topographer, and historian best known for his worksThe History and Antiquities of Lewes (1824-26) andThe History, Antiquities and Topography of the County of Sussex (1835).
He was the eldest of six children of James Horsfield and Ann Hewett who were married 29 July 1790 inSt Peter's Cathedral,Sheffield,Yorkshire.[1]
Horsfield was minister at the Westgate Chapel inLewes, later changed fromPresbyterian toUnitarian. He found time from his ministerial duties to take on pupils.[2]
In 1835, Horsfield was appointed to succeed Benjamin Rigby Davis as Presbyterian minister at theChowbent Chapel,Atherton,Lancashire.
He died there on 26 August 1837, leaving a widow and eight children.[2]
HisHistory of Sussex in two volumes became a standard reference work for later Sussex historians.
Horsfield compiled forJohn BaxterThe History and Antiquities of Lewes and its vicinity (with an appendix, anEssay on the Natural History of the District byGideon Mantell), 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 containsEast Sussex, Horsfield was assisted byWilliam Durrant Cooper; the second volume, onWest Sussex, is mainly an abridgment of the histories ofJames Dallaway and Edmund Cartwright (1773–1833).[2]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Goodwin, Gordon (1891). "Horsfield, Thomas Walker". InLee, Sidney (ed.).Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 27. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
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