Tomb Of James Stephen, Churchyard Of Old Church Of St Mary

Chest tomb of James Stephen in the churchyard of Old Church of St Mary, Stoke Newington Church Street. The tomb commemorates James Stephen (1758-1832) and earlier members of his family: his father, his beloved mother, his two wives Anna Stent and then Sarah Wilberforce, and two daughters who had died in infancy.

The Neo-Classical tomb is constructed of Portland stone and is situated in the east part of the churchyard, facing the public footpath. The name "James Stephen" is carved into the west end of the capstone, visible from the path and facing the east end of the church. The tomb features a gently convex capstone that overhangs a deep frieze and tapered legs to each corner. The legs and frieze are all inscribed with delicate fluting. The inset panels to each side and end are blank with a slightly irregular surface suggesting remains of lime-wash. The entire structure rests on a continuous chamfered plinth and is raised on a stone platform. The capstone was largely illegible and covered with moss when inspected in 2007, though some words including "his mother" became visible after gentle moss removal.

James Stephen was born in Poole, Dorset in 1758 and brought up in an educated but financially unstable household. His father worked as a dealer and conveyancer. Stephen studied law and entered Lincoln's Inn in 1775, the year his mother died from tuberculosis, an event that caused him profound grief. His first significant post was reporting on parliamentary debates and important trials for the Morning Star.

After marrying Anna Stent at St. Leonard, Shoreditch, Stephen sailed to St. Kitts to practise law. During the voyage and in Bridgetown, Barbados, he witnessed the trial of four slaves falsely accused of murder. This experience shaped his beliefs and career — he determined never to own a slave. Following his wife Anna's death in 1796, Stephen returned to England, where his grief intensified the religious convictions he had developed with his mother's death. He moved to Clapham and became active in the Clapham Sect, maintaining this association for life. There he met William Wilberforce and other prominent anti-slavery figures, and married Wilberforce's sister Sarah in 1800.

Stephen's experience in St. Kitts enabled him to provide Wilberforce with first-hand information about slavery in the West Indies. He used his legal training to serve as counsel for the Sierra Leone Company, drafted an order to prevent the slave trade in Guiana, and drafted a bill to abolish the foreign slave trade. He worked closely with the London Abolition Committee through its successful campaign for Parliament to abolish the transatlantic slave trade on 25 March 1807. Following this achievement, Wilberforce helped establish the African Institution to encourage legal and humane trade with Africa. Stephen served as Member of Parliament from 1808 to 1814, during which time he worked on proposals for slave registration in Trinidad (passed in 1812) and extended to other colonies soon after. He resigned when the Registration Bill was not passed.

Stephen wrote the two-volume text "The Slavery of the British West India Colonies Delineated", acknowledged as the main source for anti-slavery campaigners. He presided over an Anti-Slavery Society meeting in 1832 and died later that year. An engraved portrait of Stephen, seated next to a chest of African products reflecting his work to encourage proper trade with the continent, is included in the permanent exhibition "London, Sugar & Slavery" at the Museum of Docklands.

The tomb has group value with the Grade II Old St. Mary's Church in whose churchyard it sits and the Grade II New St. Mary's Church directly across the road. It also groups with the Grade II tomb of Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1743-1825), poet and essayist.