Thomas Walker Horsfield was born in Sheffield in 1792. He became minister of the Westgate Chapel at Lewes, more popularly known as the "Bull Meeting", from the fact that the old Presbyterian (afterwards Unitarian) chapel stood upon or near the site of an Inn called the Bull, which in times still further back had been the town house of the Goring family. In addition to his ministerial duties Thomas Horsfield took pupils, and was much respected for his social and intellectual qualities. From 1824 to 1826 he published "The History and Antiquities of Lewes" and then, in 1835, his most important work for which he is best remembered - The History, Antiquities and Topography of the County of Sussex. This work in two volumes covered every aspect of the history of Sussex - its families and its places - and became the standard reference book for all subsequent Sussex historians. Thomas Horsfield removed from Lewes some previously to his death, which occurred at Chowbent in Lancashire in 1837.