401
NOTE ON RESIDENCE IN IRELAND 405

CHAPTER VI

JUDICIAL CAREER

I. HISTORY OF CRIMINAL LAW 410
II. 'NUNCOMAR AND IMPEY' 428
III. JUDICIAL CHARACTERISTICS 437
IV. MISCELLANEOUS OCCUPATIONS 450
V. JAMES KENNETH STEPHEN 468
VI. CONCLUSION 477

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE 483

INDEX 487

* * * * *

_ILLUSTRATIONS_

PORTRAIT FROM A DRAWING BY G. F. WATTS, R.A., 1863 _Frontispiece_

" " PHOTOGRAPH BY BASSANO, 1886 _to face p. 410_

LIFE

OF

SIR JAMES FITZJAMES STEPHEN

CHAPTER I

_FAMILY HISTORY_

I. JAMES STEPHEN, WRITER ON IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT

During the first half of the eighteenth century a James Stephen, the
first of the family of whom I have any knowledge, was tenant of a small
farm in Aberdeenshire, on the borders of Buchan.[1] He was also engaged
in trade, and, though it is stated that smuggler would be too harsh a
name to apply to him, he had no insuperable objection to dealing in
contraband articles. He was considered to belong to the respectable
class, and gave his sons a good education. He had nine children by his
wife, Mary Brown. Seven of these were sons, and were said to be the
finest young men in the country. Alexander, the eldest, was in business
at Glasgow; he died when nearly seventy, after falling into distress.
William, the second son, studied medicine, and ultimately settled at St.
Christopher's, in the West Indies, where he was both a physician and a
planter. He probably began life as a 'surgeon to a Guineaman,' and he
afterwards made money by buying 'refuse' (that is, sickly) negroes from
slave ships, and, after curing them of their diseases, selling them at
an advanced price. He engaged in various speculations, and had made
money when he died in 1781, in his fiftieth year. His career, as will be
seen, was of great importance to his relations. The other sons all took
to trade, but all died before William. The two sisters, Mrs. Nuccoll and
Mrs. Calder, married respectably, and lived to a great age. They were
able to be of some service to nephews