Coleção GB 0074 ACC/0283 - STEPHEN, Sir George (1794-1879)

0.01 linear metres

GB 0074 ACC/0283 1666 Collection 0.01 linear metres Stephen , Sir , George , 1794-1879 , Knight , lawyer and slavery reformer

Sir George Stephen, lawyer and slavery abolitionist, was born on 17 January 1794 on St Kitts, West Indies. His parents returned to England with him when he was an infant. He was educated at private schools at Clapham Common and Cheam. He was placed in the office of J. W. Freshfield, afterwards solicitor to the Bank of England. On 17 March 1821 he married Henrietta (1797-1869), the daughter of Revd William Ravenscroft; they had seven children.

During five years' articles, Stephen managed his firm's extensive bankruptcy business and, when he began practice on his own, the firm handed much of that business to him. During the parliamentary inquiry in 1820 into the conduct of Queen Caroline he was employed by the government to collect evidence against her on the continent.

In 1826, declining remuneration, Stephen was retained by the House of Commons to investigate allegations that slaves were being traded at Mauritius. That had been made unlawful in 1807, but slavery itself was still prevalent in some British colonies, notably in the West Indies. Stephen, following his father, had become prominent in the Anti-Slavery Society and was its honorary solicitor. Hitherto, the committee had worked towards abolition by direct persuasion of parliamentarians; in 1831 Stephen proposed appealing to the people. His proposal was rejected by the committee but taken up by James Cropper and others, who provided funds. A small working group, including Stephen, employed agents to arrange and address public meetings and to inspire press publicity, the formation of local societies, and the promotion of petitions. The ensuing agitation persuaded the government: the act to abolish slavery in British colonies was passed in 1833. Stephen was knighted in 1838 for his services.

Stephen was solicitor in a scheme for the relief of paupers in contempt of court, without remuneration, and also acted for a society for the purchase of reversions; however, he quarrelled with the directors and was dismissed, losing a considerable sum. Disliking aspects of his profession, resenting its inferior social status, and struggling somewhat in his practice, he decided in 1847 to abandon it. He was called to the bar at Gray's Inn on 6 June 1849 and settled at Liverpool, where he acquired a fair practice in bankruptcy cases.

But Stephen's work fell away on a change in the system, and in 1855 he emigrated to Melbourne, Victoria, where he joined his two younger sons. He was admitted to practise as a barrister there on the same day (9 August 1855) as was his eldest son, James Wilberforce (1822-1881), who emigrated with him and afterwards became a judge of the supreme court of Victoria. Stephen died on 20 June 1879 and was buried in St Kilda cemetery, Melbourne, on 23 June.

Source: Leslie Stephen, 'Stephen, Sir George (1794-1879)', rev. Peter Balmford, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26371, accessed 6 July 2009].

Received in 1948 (Acc/0283).

Legal papers from the office of Sir George Stephen, barrister and solicitor, 1807-1841, including writs issued to Sheriffs of London to take up various persons to answer charges in the Court of King's Bench and Court of Exchequer, 1807, 1822, 1826, 1827, 1832 and 1838; memorial of assignment of lease of land in Saint George Hanover Square, 1815; petition for commission in bankruptcy, by Robert Lang of Wilson Street, Finsbury, merchant, against William Abbott, merchant, dealer and chapman, partner with Richard Arthur Maitland of Madras, East Indies, in firm of Abbott and Maitland, 1820; subpoenas for various persons to appear at Gaol Delivery Sessions for City of London to testify against William White and others for felony, 1821; subpoena for George Holt to appear at Middlesex Sessions of the Peace to testify touching bill of indictment against Thomas Odderley Phipps for libel, 1821; correspondence, 1834-1835, and form of proposal for sale of reversionary interest in personal property of Henry Laing of Camberwell, 1841.

17 documents arranged chronologically

Available for general access.

Copyright rests with the City of London.

English

Fit

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

Correspondence by Sir George Stephen can be found at University College London (UCL) Special Collections and the Bodleian Library, Oxford University.

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

July to October 2009 Court of Exchequer Property Stephen , Sir , George , 1794-1879 , Knight , lawyer and slavery reformer Court of Kings Bench Barristers Information sources Documents Quarter Sessions records Writs Legal profession Lawyers Finance Financial administration Bankruptcy Gaol delivery Legal procedure Administration of justice Courts Court of the Exchequer Law Legal documents People People by occupation Personnel Legal profession personnel Solicitors Court of King's Bench x Court of Queen's Bench London England UK Western Europe Europe

Received in 1948 (Acc/0283).

Legal papers from the office of Sir George Stephen, barrister and solicitor, 1807-1841, including writs issued to Sheriffs of London to take up various persons to answer charges in the Court of King's Bench and Court of Exchequer, 1807, 1822, 1826, 1827, 1832 and 1838; memorial of assignment of lease of land in Saint George Hanover Square, 1815; petition for commission in bankruptcy, by Robert Lang of Wilson Street, Finsbury, merchant, against William Abbott, merchant, dealer and chapman, partner with Richard Arthur Maitland of Madras, East Indies, in firm of Abbott and Maitland, 1820; subpoenas for various persons to appear at Gaol Delivery Sessions for City of London to testify against William White and others for felony, 1821; subpoena for George Holt to appear at Middlesex Sessions of the Peace to testify touching bill of indictment against Thomas Odderley Phipps for libel, 1821; correspondence, 1834-1835, and form of proposal for sale of reversionary interest in personal property of Henry Laing of Camberwell, 1841.

17 documents arranged chronologically

Available for general access.

Copyright rests with the City of London.

• inglês

• latim

English

Correspondence by Sir George Stephen can be found at University College London (UCL) Special Collections and the Bodleian Library, Oxford University.

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

• inglês