Background
Stone was born in Taunton, Somerset. After the death of his father, he went to live with his uncle, William Hurford, who was a coal merchant, in London.
Stone was born in Taunton, Somerset. After the death of his father, he went to live with his uncle, William Hurford, who was a coal merchant, in London.
Stone, while saddened by the September Massacres, believed they were necessary for the revolutionary to succeed and he and other expatriates celebrated French military victories. In addition to his factory, Stone established a printing house, Imprimerie Anglaise, which printed Joel Barlow"s epic, The Vision of Columbus. During the reign of terror, Stone paid 12,000 francs to help Stéphanie de Genlis"s husband escape from prison, but she later refused to pay this debt back.
They fled to Switzerland, where Helen Maria Williams was staying.
In June, he was allowed back into France to obtain a divorce. Their contents made a return to Britain impossible for Stone.
After the terror, Stone and Williams returned to Paris together. Stone"s printing business published works by Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and Constantin Volney, among other.
He was bankrupted in 1812 by the high cost of printing the 30-volume Voyage de Humboldt et de Bonpland.
Stone died in 1818 and was buried in Paris" Père Lachaise Cemetery.
Revolution Society]
Stone became friends with Joseph Priestley as a member of Richard Price"s church in Hackney. These associations also radicalized him. He was a member of the London Revolution Society and in February 1792 he offered to help Talleyrand secure British neutrality in the European wars involving France.