Lehmann Henschke - Person Sheet
Lehmann Henschke - Person Sheet
NameSTEPHENS, Samuel 
Immigration1836, ‘Duke Of York’114008 Age: 27
FatherSTEPHENS, Rev John (1772-1841)
MotherRAYNER, Rebecca Eliza
Obituary
South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900) Sat 25 Jan 1840114010
DEATH OF MR SAMUEL STEPHENS.
IT is our painful duty to record this week the
death, a fall from his horse, of our esteemed
brother colonist Mr SAMUEL STEPHENS. In
another part of our paper will be found an account
of the melancholy particulars as given in evidence
on the inquest which was held on Monday last.
When the fatal accident took place Mr Stephens
was on his return from the Murray, whither he
had accompanied Mr Morphett and a party of
gentlemen for the purpose of examining the
special surveys taken there by Mr Morphett. A
few hundred yards before reaching the brow of
the last hill he had to descend, Mr Stephens pro-
ceeded in advance of the party, and was observed
to halt his horse on the summit where it is usual
to dismount before commencing the descent.
This was the last time he was seen before the
fatal accident. On reaching the foot of the hill
the friends who had accompanied him found him
thrown from his horse, lying insensible, and in-
jured too seriously to admit a hope of his recovery.
He was taken to the house of Mr E. Gleeson,
and died in about half an hour after his removal.
When viewed in connexion with the rise and
progress of the colony we consider this melancholy
event deserving of something beyond a passing
notice. Mr Stephens was one of those who took
an active part in the England in the measures which
(resulted in the establishment of our infant settle-
ment. He was connected with the early body of
colonists soon after the commission was opened
and was greatly instrumental in carrying on those
negotiations with the Commissioners which led
in the first instance to the preliminary sales of
land, and [?ety] to the formation of the
South Australian Company. In laying down
their plans for commencing operations in the
colony, Mr Stephens afforded the Company im-
portant assistance ; and the introduction into the
Commissioners' regulations for the sale of land
of a clause authorising special surveys is also, we
believe, to be attributed to him. It is foreign to
our present purpose to discuss the policy or im-
policy of this privilege, or to weigh the objections
that have been urged against it on the supposition
that it militates in theory and in practice against
the fundamental principles of the colony ; but
the advantages which it gave a body commanding
a capital so great as that of the South Australian
Company, are too obvious to require pointing
out. So far as they have availed themselves of
these advantages, so far have the Company been
indebted to the talent and foresight of their able
officer.
The exertions of Mr Stephens in England in
behalf of the Company were appreciated by
them, and he was appointed to the arduous post
of Colonial Manager of their affairs. In this
capacity he sailed from England in February,
1836, and in July landed in Kangaroo Island, the
first colonist who trod the shores of South
Australia.
It is yet too early a day in our history as a co-
lony, to hope to discuss the events that took
place, even in commencement of our course,
without bias or partiality ; and we do not pre-
tend to offer an opinion upon the grounds which
induced the South Australian Company to super-
sede Mr. Stephens within twelve months after
his arrival. But we should be doing his memory
and our own feelings an injustice, if we did not
impress our belief, that to the possession of abi-
lities that peculiarly fitted him for his important
position, he added an earnest desire to exercise
his talents to the utmost, for the benefit of the
great interests committed to his charge ; and that
his exertions were never wanting, and his per-
sonal interests never spared, whenever for the
advancement of the Company he was called upon
to disregard them. It required but little con-
sideration to see, that where vast discretionary
powers are necessarily confided, great caution
should be used in judging of the way they may
be exercised by an individual to whom they are
properly entrusted. It his known abilities make him
worthy of confidence when his plans are only in
theory, he is worthy of support when he proceeds
to action. He has a right to claim the same con-
fidence in the propriety of his alterations as he
had in the correctness of his original design. We
believe that some of Mr Stephens's proceedings
as colonial manager, have been since viewed in a
very different light to that in which they were
first considered and condemned. We know that
his purchase for the company, of sixty acres at
the sale of town land, was contrary to his instruc-
tions, and was the subject of severe animadver-
sion. We presume there can now be no doubt
that his deviation was worthy of praise rather
than of blame. We give this instance because it
is a prominent, but an isolated one, there are
others in which the correctness of his views,
time has only lately, though fully, substantiated.
Since his retirement from the Company's
service, Mr Stephens has devoted a great portion
of his time in exploring and examining different
parts of the province. Perhaps few men could
be found more fitted for such a pursuit. To a
considerable knowledge of agriculture theoreti-
cally and practically, and an excellent judgment of
the nature and value of land, he added great
quickness in observing all the minute circum-
stances that could cause local variations in any
particular port of a district, and displayed equal
power in taking a comprehensive and generalizing
view of the whole. He possessed undaunted
courage, great physical energy, a capability of
enduring privation and fatigue, almost uninter-
rupted health, and abundant and ceaseless flow
of high and cheerful spirits. To all these he
added a caution and prudence that were rarely at
fault, and an attention to minutiæ that suffered
nothing to escape it. He was consequently
sought and prized as a companion in most explo-
ratory expeditions, and we believe he has seen
more of the colony generally, and had more care-
fully examined every portion that has been sur-
veyed for sale than any other individual.
In his social relations he was exemplary, and
to the circle of his immediate friends he was
endeared by the benevolence of his disposition
and kindness of his heart, as he was admired for
his clear perception and sound judgment. No
case of real distress or difficulty ever appealed to
him in vain, and his sympathy was always ren-
dered doubly valuable by the sincerity with which
it was exercised. He delighted in benefiting all
he could ; and if ever he thought of heaping fire
on the head of an opponent, it was sure to be by
rendering him a kindness. We can hardly give a
stronger proof of the predominance of this feeling,
so honorable and so characteristic, than by men-
tioning that after his official connection with the
Company had ceased, and that under circum-
stances which might be supposed to engender
some little feeling of bitterness on his part, he
communicated to his successor, prior to the
selection of the country preliminary lands, a copy
of his notes of the relative value of the sections
open for selection. This showed his willingness
to afford every assistance to the operations of the
Company, notwithstanding his own belief in his
precipitate if not unjust removal.
Mr Stephens was almost thirty-one years of age.
He was the son of the Rev. John Stephens, many
years a highly respected minister in the Wesleyan
Connexion, and was the brother to Mr E.
Stephens, the Cashier of the South Australian
Company's Bank. The loss to his bereaved re-
latives here and in England in doubtless a severe
one, but we can assure them that they have the
sympathy of hundreds who respected and es-
teemed their departed friend in proportion to
their knowledge of him.
To those who are curious in noticing the co-
incidences that may be sometimes detected in
particular dates, we may remark that Wednesday
last, the 22nd January, the day on which we
followed the deceased gentleman to his grave,
was the anniversary of the calamitous fire that
destroyed last year the houses and the property
of Mr Fisher and Colonel Light, and also the
anniversary of the formation of the South
Australia Company in 1836, in which Mr
Stephens took so able a part and so deep an in-
terest.
DEATH OF MR SAMUEL STEPHENS.
IT is our painful duty to record this week the
death, a fall from his horse, of our esteemed
brother colonist Mr SAMUEL STEPHENS. In
another part of our paper will be found an account
of the melancholy particulars as given in evidence
on the inquest which was held on Monday last.
When the fatal accident took place Mr Stephens
was on his return from the Murray, whither he
had accompanied Mr Morphett and a party of
gentlemen for the purpose of examining the
special surveys taken there by Mr Morphett. A
few hundred yards before reaching the brow of
the last hill he had to descend, Mr Stephens pro-
ceeded in advance of the party, and was observed
to halt his horse on the summit where it is usual
to dismount before commencing the descent.
This was the last time he was seen before the
fatal accident. On reaching the foot of the hill
the friends who had accompanied him found him
thrown from his horse, lying insensible, and in-
jured too seriously to admit a hope of his recovery.
He was taken to the house of Mr E. Gleeson,
and died in about half an hour after his removal.
When viewed in connexion with the rise and
progress of the colony we consider this melancholy
event deserving of something beyond a passing
notice. Mr Stephens was one of those who took
an active part in the England in the measures which
(resulted in the establishment of our infant settle-
ment. He was connected with the early body of
colonists soon after the commission was opened
and was greatly instrumental in carrying on those
negotiations with the Commissioners which led
in the first instance to the preliminary sales of
land, and [?ety] to the formation of the
South Australian Company. In laying down
their plans for commencing operations in the
colony, Mr Stephens afforded the Company im-
portant assistance ; and the introduction into the
Commissioners' regulations for the sale of land
of a clause authorising special surveys is also, we
believe, to be attributed to him. It is foreign to
our present purpose to discuss the policy or im-
policy of this privilege, or to weigh the objections
that have been urged against it on the supposition
that it militates in theory and in practice against
the fundamental principles of the colony ; but
the advantages which it gave a body commanding
a capital so great as that of the South Australian
Company, are too obvious to require pointing
out. So far as they have availed themselves of
these advantages, so far have the Company been
indebted to the talent and foresight of their able
officer.
The exertions of Mr Stephens in England in
behalf of the Company were appreciated by
them, and he was appointed to the arduous post
of Colonial Manager of their affairs. In this
capacity he sailed from England in February,
1836, and in July landed in Kangaroo Island, the
first colonist who trod the shores of South
Australia.
It is yet too early a day in our history as a co-
lony, to hope to discuss the events that took
place, even in commencement of our course,
without bias or partiality ; and we do not pre-
tend to offer an opinion upon the grounds which
induced the South Australian Company to super-
sede Mr. Stephens within twelve months after
his arrival. But we should be doing his memory
and our own feelings an injustice, if we did not
impress our belief, that to the possession of abi-
lities that peculiarly fitted him for his important
position, he added an earnest desire to exercise
his talents to the utmost, for the benefit of the
great interests committed to his charge ; and that
his exertions were never wanting, and his per-
sonal interests never spared, whenever for the
advancement of the Company he was called upon
to disregard them. It required but little con-
sideration to see, that where vast discretionary
powers are necessarily confided, great caution
should be used in judging of the way they may
be exercised by an individual to whom they are
properly entrusted. It his known abilities make him
worthy of confidence when his plans are only in
theory, he is worthy of support when he proceeds
to action. He has a right to claim the same con-
fidence in the propriety of his alterations as he
had in the correctness of his original design. We
believe that some of Mr Stephens's proceedings
as colonial manager, have been since viewed in a
very different light to that in which they were
first considered and condemned. We know that
his purchase for the company, of sixty acres at
the sale of town land, was contrary to his instruc-
tions, and was the subject of severe animadver-
sion. We presume there can now be no doubt
that his deviation was worthy of praise rather
than of blame. We give this instance because it
is a prominent, but an isolated one, there are
others in which the correctness of his views,
time has only lately, though fully, substantiated.
Since his retirement from the Company's
service, Mr Stephens has devoted a great portion
of his time in exploring and examining different
parts of the province. Perhaps few men could
be found more fitted for such a pursuit. To a
considerable knowledge of agriculture theoreti-
cally and practically, and an excellent judgment of
the nature and value of land, he added great
quickness in observing all the minute circum-
stances that could cause local variations in any
particular port of a district, and displayed equal
power in taking a comprehensive and generalizing
view of the whole. He possessed undaunted
courage, great physical energy, a capability of
enduring privation and fatigue, almost uninter-
rupted health, and abundant and ceaseless flow
of high and cheerful spirits. To all these he
added a caution and prudence that were rarely at
fault, and an attention to minutiæ that suffered
nothing to escape it. He was consequently
sought and prized as a companion in most explo-
ratory expeditions, and we believe he has seen
more of the colony generally, and had more care-
fully examined every portion that has been sur-
veyed for sale than any other individual.
In his social relations he was exemplary, and
to the circle of his immediate friends he was
endeared by the benevolence of his disposition
and kindness of his heart, as he was admired for
his clear perception and sound judgment. No
case of real distress or difficulty ever appealed to
him in vain, and his sympathy was always ren-
dered doubly valuable by the sincerity with which
it was exercised. He delighted in benefiting all
he could ; and if ever he thought of heaping fire
on the head of an opponent, it was sure to be by
rendering him a kindness. We can hardly give a
stronger proof of the predominance of this feeling,
so honorable and so characteristic, than by men-
tioning that after his official connection with the
Company had ceased, and that under circum-
stances which might be supposed to engender
some little feeling of bitterness on his part, he
communicated to his successor, prior to the
selection of the country preliminary lands, a copy
of his notes of the relative value of the sections
open for selection. This showed his willingness
to afford every assistance to the operations of the
Company, notwithstanding his own belief in his
precipitate if not unjust removal.
Mr Stephens was almost thirty-one years of age.
He was the son of the Rev. John Stephens, many
years a highly respected minister in the Wesleyan
Connexion, and was the brother to Mr E.
Stephens, the Cashier of the South Australian
Company's Bank. The loss to his bereaved re-
latives here and in England in doubtless a severe
one, but we can assure them that they have the
sympathy of hundreds who respected and es-
teemed their departed friend in proportion to
their knowledge of him.
To those who are curious in noticing the co-
incidences that may be sometimes detected in
particular dates, we may remark that Wednesday
last, the 22nd January, the day on which we
followed the deceased gentleman to his grave,
was the anniversary of the calamitous fire that
destroyed last year the houses and the property
of Mr Fisher and Colonel Light, and also the
anniversary of the formation of the South
Australia Company in 1836, in which Mr
Stephens took so able a part and so deep an in-
terest.
Spouses
BirthMar 1788, Winchester, Hampshire114008
Death17 Dec 1875, SA114008 Age: 87
FatherBEARE, Thomas
MotherHUDSON, Martha