[1] Stagg was born at Burgh-by-Sands, near Carlisle, where his father, a tailor, possessed a small property.
His parents decided to educate him for the church, but while he was still young an accident deprived him of his sight and put an end to his studies.
For some time he made a livelihood by keeping a library in Wigton and playing his fiddle.
After leaving Wigton for Carlisle, he moved to Manchester, where he remained more or less till his death.
In Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk, and the Cumberland gentry, as well as among members of both English universities, he had found patrons.