Author: Stevens, John Lee
Biography:
STEVENS, John Lee (1796-1863: ancestry.co.uk)
He was born on 12 Feb. 1796 and baptised on 12 Feb. at St. Charles, Plymouth, the fourth of thirteen children of John Stevens (1762-1831), coal merchant and shipbroker, and his wife Sarah Lee (1770-1845), who had married in 1790. He was probably educated at Plymouth Grammar School and then entered his father’s business. Various members of his family subscribed to Fancy’s Wreath (1820) and Lyrics (1837). Other local poets also subscribed: N. T. Carrington, Nathaniel Howard (qq.v.). (He had earlier announced Lyrics, And Other Poetic Effusions in 1829 but it seems not to have appeared and it may have been an early version of his 1837 volume.) He married Elizabeth Weeks (1800-74) on 15 Mar. 1822 at her parish, Barnstaple, Devon. They went on to have six children. In 1829 he went bankrupt in Plymouth, trading as a coal merchant. Around 1832 they moved to London where he was active as a shipping agent, civil engineer, and inventor, registering patents for steam carriages, paddles, furnaces, smokeless chimneys, and much else. They lived mostly in Kennington (south London) but he had offices at Leadenhall, City of London. He also edited The Shipping Gazette and contributed to various periodicals, including the Literary Gazette, Athenaeum, and Monthly Magazine. However, he was often in financial difficulty and applied to the RLF several times (1838-60); they made two awards of £25. His final application of 6 Sept. 1860 recorded his recent bankruptcy and the seizure of his furniture, an invalid wife and six children aged 21 to 38. In the 1851 Census he described himself as a “Public Writer,” but his 1860 bankruptcy recorded him as a dealer in iron with offices at 1 Fish. St. Hill, City of London. He died on 10 Dec.1863, aged 67, at his residence, 18 Cambridge Terrace, Kennington, and was buried on 15 Dec. 1863 at Norwood Cemetery. (ancestry.co.uk 16 Dec. 2022; findmypast.co.uk 16 Dec. 2022; RLF #926; Western Times 31 Oct. 1829; Exeter Flying Post 28 Mar. 1822; Western Morning News 2 Sept. 1948; West Country Poets 426; London Gazette various issues) AA
Other Names:
- J. L. Stevens
- John L. Stevens