India and the Stevens Family
Not much is known about the Stevens family, or their connection to Northbourne, although the gravestones in the south-west corner of the churchyard at Northbourne illustrate how much information churchyard monuments can sometimes provide.
Lieutenant Colonel Stephen James Stevens
Sacred to memory of STEPHEN JAMES STEVENS
L. Col. CB Formerly of the Bombay Army
who died at Warley Barracks Essex March 21 1867
Aged 59 years
His remains were removed from Warley
and committed to their final resting place under this monolith
in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life
Also in loving memory of
GEORGINA ANNE widow of
Liet Colonel STEVENS C.B.
Born 26th April 1812
Died 25th April
1891
The East India Company transferred to Warley in 1843 from Brompton Barracks, Chatham, Kent. By end of 1857 2,500 men had passed through the barracks and shipped to India. Administrative rights of the East India Company were transferred to the Crown in 1858. The War office took possession of Warley Barracks in 1861, and a depot battery of Royal Artillery was stationed there. In 1864, Warley became a depot for the Guards. The site of Warley Barracks is now the UK headquarters for the Ford Motor Company.
Georgina Anne Stevens
Georgiana [sic] Stevens is a signatory of a letter to the Times Nov. 22, 1842 - "Journey through Egypt," dated Alexandria, 25th October 1842 it was a "... complaint concerning the accommodation provided for crossing the Desert from Suez to Cairo." A failure ... "to provide for the comfort and quick conveyance of travellers." An overland journey was necessary because construction work for the Suez Canal did not begin until 1859.
"Having frequently read in the English and Indian newspapers, the most flourishing advertisements of the arrangements made by Messrs. Hill and Co. for conveying passengers through the Desert of Egypt, we, the undersigned, consider ourselves called on by regard for truth, and consideration for future travellers, to declare our disappointment and to describe the utter inefficiency of the measures adopted for the transit of passengers, and the gross exaggeration of the professions made by Messrs. Hill and Co."
"The horses employed for drawing the vans, containing four or six persons, are so lamentably deficient, both in number and strength, that although our party was by no means so overwhelmingly numerous as to furnish any excuse for want of conveyance, we were exposed to the greatest inconvenience and to the most annoying delay; many of the wretched animals were driven 40 miles in about 12 hours, and some compelled to make the whole journey with very little rest, and when at length their exhausted strength could no longer be goaded on, even by the most barbarous treatment, they remained immovable in the heavy sand, the gentlemen being obliged to lend their aid in turning the wheels, while ladies and children were exposed for hours to a burning sun, and to the no less trying night wind, until fresh horses could be obtained from the nearest station, which generally took several hours; indeed, one van with ladies and children was standing in the Desert from 9 p.m. until 7 a.m. waiting for horses, to get which, one of the gentlemen of the party was obliged to walk in the night a very considerable distance….."
The letter was signed by 22 people, including Georgiana [sic] Stevens. The other travellers included two members of the Bombay Civil Service and five members from the Bombay Army, notably T. Morgan, Major General.
Stephen and Georgina Stevens are known to have had at least three children:
- Maria Georgina, eldest daughter, who married Edward Pakenham Repton in 1864
- Emily Isabella (died 1868 age 21)
- George Shepherd, Major General Bombay Staff Corps (1836-1888)
Maria Georgina Stevens
The Times of India announced a forthcoming wedding at the Cathedral, Bombay, on 3rd January [1864], the Rev. W. K. Fletcher, Edward Pakenham Repton, Esq., eldest son of the late Edward E. H. Repton, Bengal Civil Service, to Maria Georgina, eldest daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Stephen J. Stevens, C. B, Royal Artillery Depot, Warley.
Emily Isabella Stevens
The gravestone in the family plot at Northbourne relates the fate of Emily:
EMILY ISABELLA GEORGINA
the youngest and dearest
loved child of the late
Col. STEPHEN JAMES
STEVENS C.B.
GEORGINA ANNE his wife
who was killed by the
falling of a stone at
Chamonix in Switzerland
August 6th 1868
Aged 21
Weep not she is not dead
but sleepeth
fairest flower
bud and bloom and fade away
George Shepherd Stevens (1836-1888)
George followed his father's career:
GEORGE SHEPHERD STEVENS
Major General
Bombay Staff Corps
son of
Lt Col. STEPHEN JAMES STEVENS
and GEORGINA ANNE wife
Born 26th November 1835
Died 27th May 1888
Aged 52