Matthew Henry Stephen (1828 - 1920)

Born 5 Dec 1828 in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Ancestors

Husband of Caroline Sibella (Shadforth) Stephen — married 30 Sep 1854 in St. Lawrence, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Husband of Florence Sophy (Huthwaite) Stephen — married 30 Dec 1900 in Woollahra, New South Wales, Australia

Died 1 Apr 1920 at age 91 in Bellevue Hill, New South Wales, Australia

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Biography

Matthew Stephen is Notable.

Matthew Stephen was born in Van Diemen's Land (1826-1856)

Sir Matthew Henry Stephen (1828-1920), barrister and judge, was born on 5 December 1828 at Hobart Town, third son of Sir Alfred Stephen and his first wife Virginia, née Consett. In May 1839 he reached Sydney in the Medway with the rest of his family. Stephen was educated at W. T. Cape's Sydney College, where he was head boy for two years. At 17 he was associate to Sir James Dowling and later to his own father. On 20 December 1850 he was admitted to the colonial Bar and spent 1852 in England studying under an equity draftsman and a special pleader; he returned to Sydney on 1 January 1853 in the Waterloo.

On 30 September 1854 at Christ Church St Laurence Stephen married his cousin Caroline Sibella (1833-1897), daughter of H. T. Shadforth, usher of the Black Rod, and granddaughter of Thomas Shadforth. He soon acquired a good general practice and the Sydney Morning Herald, 21 May 1887, reported that he had excelled in the case of Hassall v. Rodd 'in which he was opposed by three Attorneys-General (past and present)'. In 1860 Judge Dickinson wrote to his father, 'your son … does his work remarkably well. I look on him as certain for the Bench'. In the early 1860s Stephen twice refused the solicitor-generalship and again when offered the position by Edward Butler. On 16 December 1869 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly for Mudgee. A member of the Elections and Qualifications Committee, he was once described by Butler as a 'political baby', but he was intelligent and quickwitted in debate. He supported the 1866 Public Schools Act, immigration, legal reforms and a reduced price for land, but would not promise to urge the extension of the railway to Mudgee, for 'what was the use of running trains to carry bandicoots and kangaroos?'

Stephen acted as leading counsel for the Crown on many occasions and held a general retainer. He was a surrogate of the Vice-Admiralty Court and in the 1870s was an examiner of the University of Sydney. On 2 April 1879 he was appointed a Q.C. and in July refused appointment as a Supreme Court judge; he told Sir Henry Parkes that compared to the income of a barrister in full practice, a judge's salary was inadequate for 'men whose anxieties duties and responsibilities are so arduous and unceasing'. However, from 1876 he had often acted as judge on circuit. As leading counsel he won a farthing damages, with costs, for John Davies in Davies v. Harris in 1883 and the Apollo Candle Co.'s case against the government over customs duties. In 1886 he chaired the meeting of the Bar which unanimously resolved to ask (Sir) Julian Salomons to withdraw his resignation as chief justice. On 23 May 1887 he was sworn in as a puisne judge of the Supreme Court. On the Bench Stephen was noted for the conscientious discharge of his duties, for 'the fearlessness with which he expressed himself on matters which he conceived to be for the public welfare', and for advocating many legal reforms. He repeatedly denounced 'hard-swearing' and perjury. His notebooks filled 125 volumes. From 16 June 1902 to 4 February 1904 he was acting chief justice during the absence of Sir Frederick Darley. He resigned from the Bench in 1904; knighted that year, he was known as Sir Henry Stephen.

A staunch Anglican, Stephen gave much time to charitable work. Over the years he served on the committees of the Benevolent Society of New South Wales, the Church Society, the Home Visiting and Relief Society, the Sydney Female Refuge Society, the Sydney City Mission and the National Shipwreck Relief Society of New South Wales. A director of the Sydney Infirmary and Dispensary in 1857-75 and 1908-10 he was honorary secretary in 1859-66 and 1868-73. In the 1880s he was chairman of the trustees of Sydney Grammar School and president of the Young Men's Christian Association. His wife was a committee member of the Hospital for Sick Children, Glebe. Stephen was a member of the Sydney Diocesan synods and was chancellor of the diocese of Sydney in 1886-87. A patron of cricket, he was senior vice-president of the New South Wales Cricket Association. From 1895 he was a fellow of the Royal Colonial Institute.

Though he practised all his life in Common Law', Stephen 'had missed a good deal about the ways of ordinary men'. Sitting on a horse-stealing case at Maitland, he asked the crown prosecutor to speed up proceedings by calling 'Mr. Brumby'; the incident was immortalized by A. B. Paterson in the ballad 'Brumby's Run': 'who is Brumby, and where is his Run?' From 1863 he lived for many years at Glen Ayr, Glenmore Road, Paddington, and had a house, Summerleas, at Sutton Forest. Later he moved to Honiton, Victoria Road, Bellevue Hill, where he died of nephritis on 1 April 1920; he was buried in the South Head cemetery. He was survived by his second wife Florence Sophie, née Huthwaite, a distant cousin whom he had married on 20 December 1900, and by Caroline, his only daughter by his first wife; three sons had died in infancy. He left the bulk of his estate, valued for probate at almost £28,000, to his wife, his daughter already being well provided for.

Sir Alfred’s third son, (Sir) Henry, was an associate to Sir James Dowling as well as to his father, and was admitted to the bar in 1850. He had a general practice, and in 1879 was appointed QC. Having several times refused the position of solicitor-general, in 1879 he also refused that of Supreme Court judge, on the grounds that the salary would be insufficient, being much less than he could make as a barrister. Some years later, however, in 1887, he accepted the job, becoming a puisne judge of the New South Wales Supreme Court.[22] Later, he was acting chief justice (1902-04). In 1914 he recalled that he first went on circuit ‘in the bushranging days.’ ‘I remember procuring a revolver,’ he said, ‘though I had a feeling I would be shaking too much to do any good with it if the ruffians bailed me up ^[1]

SIR HENRY STEPHEN.
DEATH ANNOUNCED YESTERDAY.

The death occurred at his residence, Honiton, Victoria-road, Bellevue Hill, yesterday afternoon of Sir Matthew Henry Stephen. He was in his 92nd year. The deceased was in his usual health up to about a month ago, when he became ill.
He was the eldest of three sons of the late Sir Alfred Stephen, at one time Chief Justice of the State, and grandson of Mr. Justice John Stephen, who also in his day presided over the judicial bench of New South Wales. He himself acted as Chief Justice in this State from June 16, 1902, until February 25, 1904, when he relinquished his seat on the Bench, and on one or two occasions he was appointed Deputy Governor during the term of the late Sir Harry Rawson. The honour of knighthood was conferred upon him in 1904. Thus there has been a unique succession of Judges —grandfather, father, and son. His death removes another member of a well-known family as distinguished in public life as in the ranks of the judiciary. In the social sphere Sir Henry, by his zeal for the benefit of the community, and his unaffected geniality, endeared himself to everyone who knew him, and many persons who through misfortune were reduced to poverty had reason to be grateful to him for timely assistance when things were at their worst with them.
Born in Tasmania on December 5, 1828, he came to New South Wales when he was 10 years of age. He was educated at the Sydney College (now the Sydney Grammar School), and studied under Mr. W. T. Cape, Mr. Brain, and the Rev. J. B. Laughton, and carried off, among other prizes, a medal for classics, another for mathematics, and a third for English composition. He was for two years head pupil of the school, which he left on reaching the age of 17 years to become associate to his father, a position which he filled for four or five years. He was called to the Bar in 1850, becoming the first colonial barrister. He afterwards went to England, where he continued his legal studies, and acted as a special pleader and Equity draughtsman. Upon returning to this State he speedily acquired a lucrative practice. At that time the Bar did not include more than about a dozen practising barristers, of whom the leaders were William Foster, Darvall, Manning, Windeyer, Michie, and Fisher. In the case of Hassall v Rodd, Sir Henry Stephen achieved great celebrity, opposed, as he was, by three Attorneys-General past and present. He had previously been offered the position of Solicitor-General, and in 1879 Sir Henry Parkes sought to bestow a puisne judgeship upon him, but the honour was declined.
In his time Sir Henry Stephen gave some attention to politics, and from 1869 to December, 1871, he represented the electorate of Mudgee in the Assembly, but the subtleties of party warfare did not appeal to him very strongly. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel in April, 1879. He exhibited a lively interest in various philanthropic and social movements, and for many years was vice-president of the New South Wales Cricket Association. He was also for a time president of the Sydney Cricket Ground. It is interesting to note that when the Saturday half-holiday movement was initiated in 1887 he addressed a very large audience at the Victoria Theatre, Pitt-street, in support of the proposal. He acted as hon. secretary to the Sydney Infirmary, and, for a considerable period, was chairman of the directors of the Sydney Grammar School. He also at one period of his career filled the position of chancellor of the diocese of Sydney. After gaining many laurels at the bar, Sir Henry Stephen was elevated to the Bench of the Supreme Court on May 19, 1887, as puisne Judge, and he filled that position until June 15, 1902. On June 16, 1902, he was appointed Acting Chief Justice, and retained that office until February 25, 1904, having served with credit, for about 17 years. Sometime before he relinquished his seat on the Bench he received from the late King Edward the honour of knighthood.
Sir Henry Stephen married twice. His first wife was a daughter of Mr. H. T. Shadforth, for many years Usher of the Black Rod; his second wife was a daughter of Commander Huthwaite, R.N.
The funeral will leave the deceased's late residence, at 9.30 o'clock on Saturday morning for South Head Cemetery.
- The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW) Fri 2 Apr 1920

Sources

1. ↑ https://oa.anu.edu.au/essay/10

• Australian Dictionary of Biography
• Wikipedia
• B. Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Colonial Gentry, London, Harrison & Sons, 1891, vol. 1, p. 42-44.
• "Australia, Tasmania, Civil Registration, 1803-1933," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27M-768C : 13 March 2020), Matthew Henry Stephen, 5 Dec 1828; citing Birth 5 Dec 1828, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, line #2733, Archives Office of Tasmania, Hobart; FHL microfilm 7,368,103.
• "Australia Marriages, 1810-1980", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XTCK-8TT : 28 January 2020), Matthew Henry Stephen, 1854.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 15 September 2020), memorial page for Sir Matthew Henry Stephen (1828-1920), Find a Grave Memorial no. 142761558, citing South Head Cemetery, Vaucluse, Waverley Council, New South Wales, Australia ; Maintained by Rebecca Ewing Peterson (contributor 46987065) .
• "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK1Z-Y2BX : 14 September 2020), Matthew Henry Stephen, ; Burial, Vaucluse, Waverley Council, New South Wales, Australia, South Head Cemetery; citing record ID 142761558, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
• "Australia, New South Wales, Deceased Estate Files, 1880-1923", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2T4-S97B : 3 February 2017), Matthew H Stephen, 1920.
• Karen Fox, 'Australian Legal Dynasties: The Stephens and the Streets', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, originally published 17 February 2015, accessed 4 September 2023.