Stephen and Bedford families papers, approximately 1840-1987

MLMSS 11830

fonds

approximately 1840-1987

Textual Records, Clippings, Graphic Materials, Photographs

9614587

0.01 metres of textual material (1 folder)

Sir Alfred Stephen (1802-1894), judge and parliamentarian, was born at Basseterre, St. Christopher, West Indies, son of John and Mary Anne Stephen. He returned to England in 1804 and was educated at various schools before he entered Lincoln's Inn in 1818 to read for the English Bar to which he was admitted in 1823. Stephen and his first wife Virginia, nee Consett, arrived at Hobart in 1825 and he was appointed Solicitor-General. After the death of his first wife in 1837 Stephen remarried to Eleanor Martha Pickard, daughter of Rev. W. Bedford. He transferred his family to Sydney in 1839 accepting a temporary position as judge and was appointed puisne judge in 1841. In 1845 Stephen was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of NSW. He was appointed a member of the NSW Legislative Council in the first parliament after responsible government in 1856 and as President of the Council from 1856 to 1857 prepared the rules and forms of the House and those respecting communication between both houses. He introduced law reform bills to the House. Stephen was a member of the Legislative Council on four separate occasions from 1856 to 1858, 1875 to 1879, 1879 to 1885, and 1885 to 1890. Stephen retired as Chief Justice in 1873 but remained active in public life until his death in 1894.

Reference:
Rutledge, Martha. "Stephen, Sir Alfred (1802–1894)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Accessed 7 February 2023.
https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/stephen-sir-alfred-1291



Rev. William Bedford was born approximately 1781. He was ordained as a priest by the Bishop of London in 1821 and the following year was appointed assistant military chaplain for Van Diemen’s Land. He arrived in Hobart in 1823 and replaced Rev. Robert Knopwood as minister at St David’s Church. Bedford remained in this position for the rest of his life. He was involved in the life of the colony as superintendent of schools, a member of the Legislative Council and a Justice of the Peace. His daughter, Eleanor, became the second wife of Sir Alfred Stephen. He died in 1852.

Reference:
Australian Dictionary of Biography. "Bedford, William (1781–1852)". Accessed 8 February 2023.
https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bedford-william-1760



Ruth Marjory Bedford was born in 1882 in Petersham, Sydney, to Alfred Percival Bedford and Agnes Victoria Stephen, daughter of Sir Alfred Stephen. She was a close friend of Dorothea Mackellar and they co-authored two light novels, 'The Little Blue Devil' (1912) and 'Two's Company '(1914).  Throughout her career as a full-time writer Bedford published seven collections of verse. She received most acclaim for her last book, 'Think of Stephen: a family chronicle' (1954). She died in 1963.

Reference:
Connors, Jane. "Bedford, Ruth Marjory (1882–1963)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Accessed 8 February 2023.
https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bedford-ruth-marjory-9468

The donor’s father inherited a desk from his mother’s cousin, Ruth M. Bedford, a descendant of Sir Alfred Stephen. The collection of papers was found in the desk.

This collection comprises papers, predominantly correspondence, of the Stephen and Bedford families. Also includes papers relating to the Isaacs and Sedgwick families.

1. Letter from Sir Alfred Stephen to Rev. William Bedford, 1 December 1840

2. Letter from Eleanor, Lady Stephen to ‘Vergy’ (Lady Eleanor Stephen's stepdaughter, Clara Virginia Stephen), 6 November 1855. The entire letter is cross-hatched.

3. Letter from Eleanor, Lady Stephen to Alfred Stephen Hewlett (Clara Virginia Stephen's husband), 6 November 1855. The entire letter is cross-hatched.

4. Last page of a letter from Rev. William Bedford to his wife, undated

5. Last four pages of a letter from Eleanor, Lady Stephen to her father, Rev. William Bedford, undated

6. Invitation to ‘Soirée Musicale’ (Sir Alfred Stephen was a committee member), ‘in presence of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh’, addressed to Mrs S.J. Hughes, 3 March 1868.

7. Handwritten account of a voyage with albumen photograph of a sailing ship pasted on verso (one page), undated

8. Four letters from Hugh McCrae to Ruth Bedford, 21 March 1952, 27 December 1952, two undated

9. ‘Who is David Happyreader?’, typescript poem by David Griffin, 1948

10. Newspaper clipping ‘A Sydney-side Singer’. Review of Ruth M. Bedford's ‘Sydney at Sunset: And Other Verses” (1911), Brisbane Mail

11. Printed thank you note (on Buckingham Palace letterhead) from King George V, presumably to a wounded soldier, 1918

12. Telegram template with seal wax from ‘Vinegar Hill Post Office’, undated

13. Partial deck of playing cards with added illustrations in black pen, undated

14. Baptism record of Henry Sedgwick, 29 October 1868

15. Marriage souvenir (poem) 'In Commemoration of the Marriage of Miss Mary Teresa (Molly) Sedgwick of Guigola', approximately 1898

16. Certificate of Marriage, Frank Delvin Vyner Isaacs and Patience Ehrenswärd Bedford, 22 November 1905

17. Dental Board of New South Wales Certificate of Frank D.V. Isaacs, 10 December 1914

18. Prisoner of War letter (‘Kriegsgefangenenpost’) from Corporal William Lowen (POW in Germany) to 'Mrs Isaacs', 15 May 1944

19. Two printed and annotated genealogy charts related to the Vyner and 'Laycock - Bedford - Isaacs' families, approximately 1987

Copyright restrictions may apply:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy copyright holder