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 St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, but did not graduate. Stephen was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

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: * ''A Treatise on the Principles of Pleading in Civil Actions: comprising a Summary of the whole Proceedings in a Suit of Law'', 1824, 1827, 1834, 1838, 1843, 1860 (by J. Stephen and F. F. Pender); and 1866 (by F. F. Pender); eight American editions from 1824 to 1859. Considered lucid by

Albert Venn Dicey Albert Venn Dicey, (4 February 1835 – 7 April 1922) was a British Whig jurist and constitutional theorist. He is most widely known as the author of '' Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution'' (1885). The principles it expou ...

. * ''Summary of the Criminal Law'', 1834; translated as ''Handbuch des englischen Strafrechts'', by E. Mühry, 1843. * ''New Commentaries on the Laws of England'' (based on

William Blackstone Sir William Blackstone (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, Justice (title), justice, and Tory (British political party), Tory politician most noted for his ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'', which became the best-k ...

's commentaries), 1841–5, 4 vols.; later editions, edited by his son, James Stephen, and his grandson, H. St. James Stephen; the tenth appeared in 1895. The book was reprinted in America in 1843–1846.

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: *Sarah Wilberforce Stephen, born 28 June 1816, was author of a religious story ''Anna; or the Daughter at Home'', which went through several editions, and was one of the founders of the Metropolitan Association for befriending Young Servants. She died, aged 79, on 5 January 1895, Hastings. *James, born 16 September 1820, was recorder of

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

, professor of law at

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, and then judge of the county court at Lincoln. He edited later editions of the ''Commentaries'' and their ''Questions for Law Students''. He died 25 November 1894.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephen, Henry John 1787 births 1864 deaths English barristers Serjeants-at-law (England) Stephen–Bell family English legal writers 19th-century English lawyers Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge