James Stephen

Stephen was born in Poole, Dorset, and began his career reporting on parliamentary proceedings. He held an official post in St. Kitts[?], at that time a British colony. His experiences in the West Indies turned him against the concept of slavery , and he joined the abolitionist movement, marrying the sister of William Wilberforce in 1800. In 1808 he became an MP and rose to the position of under-secretary[?] in the Colonial Office[?]. He was the grandfather of Sir James Fitzjames Stephen and Sir Leslie Stephen.

Works

• The Slavery of the British West Indies (1824)