Page:A catalogue of notable Middle Templars, with brief biographical notices.djvu/254



Admitted 21 October, 1796.

Only son of George Staunton, Baronet, of Galway, Ireland. He was born at Milford House, near Salisbury, 26 May, 1781. In 1792 he accompanied his father, a distinguished diplomatist, to China, and becoming acquainted with the Chinese language, was able to gather extensive and valuable knowledge of the country and its literature, which he embodied in a series of writings after his return. He succeeded his father in the Baronetcy in 1801. He sat for some time in Parliament, and was a frequent speaker on Colonial subjects and on the affairs of the East India Company, and he was one of the founders of the Royal Asiatic Society. He died in London 10 Aug. 1859.

Admitted 20 May, 1771.

Third son of James Stephen of Aberdeen (who was at one time a member of the Inn, but whom the Benchers refused to call to the Bar, and who thereupon practised as a solicitor). James junior for some time assisted his father as reporter on the Morning Post. After his call to the Bar, 26 Jan. 1782, he practised in the West Indies, where he conceived a horror of the Slave System, and put himself in communication with Wilberforce. On his return to England he married that philanthropist's sister, and a pamphlet he published on the Slave Trade in 1805, entitled War in Disguise, is said to have suggested the Orders in Council of 1807. In 1808 he entered Parliament, and in 1810 signalized himself by a speech against a proposal of the Benchers of Lincoln's Inn to exclude from the Bar any who had ever written for the newspapers. He was appointed a Master in Chancery in 1811. He died 10 Oct. 1832. Besides the above and other pamphlets on the Slave Trade, he wrote an elaborate work upon West Indian Slave Laws and Practice. He was the father of Sir George and Sir James Stephen.

Admitted 9 January, 1786.

Eldest son of Thomas Stephens, Provost of Elgin, N.B. Whilst in the Temple he gave more time to literature than law, and conducted a periodical, entitled The Templar. His first literary production was a poem on Jamaica, in which island he spent some of his early life. He contributed largely to Literary Reviews and Magazines, and in 1803 published a History of the Wars of the French Revolution; but his chief work was a Life of John Horne Tooke, published in 1813. He died 24 Feb. 1821.

Admitted 21 November, 1681.

Fourth son of Richard Stephens of Eastington, Gloucestershire, where he was born. He was educated at Oxford and called to the Bar on 14 June, 1689. He for some time held the appointment of Solicitor to the Customs, but in 1726 suceeeded (q.v.) as Historiographer Royal. In 1702 he published a Collection of Bacon's Letters (a second edition of which, with additions, appeared after his death) and formed materials for a Life of James I. He died on 9 Nov. 1732.