Background
Stephen was the fourth and youngest son of James Stephen, C.B., by his marriage with Ann, only child of Henry Stent, of Stoke Newington, a village then just north of London.
Stephen was the fourth and youngest son of James Stephen, C.B., by his marriage with Ann, only child of Henry Stent, of Stoke Newington, a village then just north of London.
Magdalene College.
He was the brother of the Right Honorary Sir James Stephen, for many years Under-Secretary of State in the Colonial Office, whose policy he for a long period initiated and controlled. Born in 1794 at Saint Kitts, George Stephen was originally intended for the medical profession.
But after spending three years in the study of anatomy, and going through a two-years" course at Magdalene College, Cambridge, which he left without graduating, after doing brilliant work, he entered the office of Messrs.
Kaye & Freshfield, solicitors to the Bank of England. Having served his articles, he commenced practice on his own account, and was engaged by the Government to obtain evidence against Queen Caroline, of whose guilt he was fully assured.
lieutenant was, however, in connection with the movement for the abolition of slavery in the British colonies that he mainly distinguished himself. In the legitimate development of that noble work, which ended in the suppression of slavery, as well as of the slave trade, throughout the British dominions.
Sir George Stephen bore a leading part, and it was his decision (extorted from him by the necessities of the case) in favour of admitting the principle of compensation that brought the agitation to a much earlier successful issue than could otherwise have been ensured.
Sir George (who was knighted in 1837, being the first so honoured after Queen Victoria"s accession) subsequently ceased to practise as a solicitor, with a view to being called to the Bar. Though this step was afterwards a matter of regret with him, he did fairly well at the Victorian Bar, principally in insolvency cases, and became a Queen's Counsel in 1871. In 1866 he acted as Commissioner of Insolvent Estates at Geelong.
He died in Caulfield, Victoria on 20 June 1879.
Sir James Stephen. George Stephen"s son was James Wilberforce Stephen, later Attorney-General of Victoria and Supreme Court judge. George Stephen was a man of very considerable abilities and force of character.
He was upright and outspoken. But a hot temper and an unfortunate talent for seeing the worst side of his profession and his fellow-creatures involved him in many disputes, and injured his career.