William Lowndes Stone was born at Brightwell Baldwin in Oxfordshire on 9th February 1750. His father had changed the family name to Lowndes Stone in 1744 by Act of Parliament to inherit the Estate of Brightwell Park which his wife had come into in Oxfordshire.
William’s grandfather William of Astwoodbury who occupied the mansion at Astwood was to leave this estate to William his father but as his father died first William inherited Astwoodbury in 1775.