English legal writer and serjeant-at-law
Henry John Stephen (1787–1864) was an English legal writer and serjeant-at-law.
Life.
Born on St Kitts in the West Indies on 18 January 1787, he was the second son of James Stephen (1758–1832); James Stephen (1789–1859) and George Stephen were his brothers. He was a student at St John's College, Cambridge, but did not graduate.
Stephen was called to the bar on 24 November 1815. Nervous and shy, though an accomplished lawyer, he was not successful as a barrister, but became known as a legal writer. He was promoted as a serjeant-at-law in 1828, and was a member of the common-law commission appointed that year.
In 1842 Stephen was on a commission on forgery of exchequer bills, and in the same year became commissioner of bankruptcy at Bristol, with Matthew Davenport Hill as his colleague. He lived at Cleevewood, near Bristol, till his retirement from this post in 1854, and afterwards lived at Clifton. In later years he was reclusive, involved in speculating on prophecy and musical theory.
Stephen died on 28 November 1864.
Works.
Stephen's works were:
Family.
Stephen in 1814 married his cousin, Mary Nuccoll Morrison. After his stepmother's death, from 1815 till 1832, he kept house for his father in Kensington Gore.
Stephen's wife and a daughter died before him; he left two children:
Notes.
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