The person who responded to the advertisement was Thomas De Quincey, a struggling writer who was briefly editor of The Westmorland Gazette. He rented the house for his growing family from 1820 until 1825. It has been claimed that it was at Fox Ghyll that he wrote “Confessions of an English Opium-Eater” which appeared anonymously in 1821.David Ramshaw, 2018 “The Little Book of Cumbria”, Online reference However, it is generally agreed that he finished this autobiographical work during a stay in Tavistock Street in London.
