G.G. Stokes and His Precursors on Water Wave Theory † †The initial impetus for this work was an invitation from Professor Alastair Wood to lecture at the G.G. Stokes Summer School, held at Stokes birthplace in Skreen, Co. Sligo, in August 2000. I am most grateful to him for this invitation. Further work was carried out during a visit to the Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Kyoto University. I am grateful to the Director and staff of the Institute for their kind hospitality; and especially to Professors H. Okamoto and M. Funakoshi for their invitation to lecture on this theme at a RIMS symposium. The resources of St Andrews University Library are also acknowledged with thanks