Henry John Stephen

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.