William Godwin's Diary

Stone, John

  • Name: Stone, John
  • Gender: Male
  • Birth Date:
  • Death Date:

John and William Stone were two brothers who, in the late summer of 1814, looked as if they might prove the salvation for Godwin's business. After extensive negotiations in August/September it was agreed that they would buy out half the business for a sum of £3,000. They agreed contracts but complications developed and the Stone brothers withdrew. It seems likely that a third brother was also involved in some way, Thomas Stone, whom Godwin meets at the same time.

St Clair speculates that they were the radicals John Hurford Stone (lover of Helen Maria Williams) and his brother William who moved in Dissenting circles in the early 1790s. This however seems unlikely as John Hurford Stone was based in Paris thus had difficulty in getting into England during the war and he had also been declared bankrupt in 1813.

  • St Clair, pp. 369-70.

This table lists the people this person is most frequently noted with in the diary.

Name Number of Meetings
Stone, William 2
Shelley, Percy Bysshe 1