Sir Matthew Henry Stephen (5 December 1828 – 1 April 1920) was a politician and Puisne Judge in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. The Stephen family is a prominent legal dynasty in Australia. Stephen was the eldest son of the Hon. Sir Alfred Stephen (1802–1894), who would later become Chief Justice of NSW and Lieutenant-Governor of NSW, and was born at

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania during the European exploration of Australia, European exploration and colonisation of Australia in the 19th century. The Aboriginal Tasmanians, Aboriginal-inhabited island wa ...

(later named

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

). He was called to the New South Wales Bar in 1850, and was appointed a

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

(QC) in 1879. He was a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

for

Mudgee Mudgee () is a town in the Central West (New South Wales), Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It is in the broad fertile Cudgegong River valley north-west of Sydney and is the largest town in the Mid-Western Regional Council Local gov ...

from December 1869 to December 1871, defeating

Samuel Terry Samuel Terry (c. 1776 – 22 February 1838) was an English man who was penal transportation, transported to Australia as a criminal, where he became a wealthy landowner, merchant and philanthropist. His extreme wealth made him by far the ric ...

who had been a member for that an

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

from 1859–1869. Stephen was a Supreme Court Judge from 1887. He married on 30 September 1854, Caroline Sibella, daughter of Henry Tudor Shadforth, formerly of the 57th Regiment, and Usher of the Black Rod, New South Wales. Sir Henry was Chancellor of the Church of England diocese of Sydney. Stephen was senior vice-president of the

New South Wales Cricket Association Cricket NSW (officially known as the ''New South Wales Cricket Association'') is an Australian sporting association that administers cricket in New South Wales. It is based at the Sydney Olympic Park. The New South Wales Blues, the New South ...

and from 1895, was a fellow of the Royal Colonial Institute. Stephen died at Bellevue Hill, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on 1 April 1920, survived by his second wife (Florence Sophie, ''née'' Huthwaite) and by Caroline, his only daughter from his first marriage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephen, Henry 1828 births 1920 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Judges of the Supreme Court of New South Wales Colony of New South Wales judges 19th-century Australian judges 20th-century Australian judges Australian King's Counsel