Celebrating Hampshire Historians

Stephens, Rev William Richard Wood

05.10.1839 - 22.12.1902

Born in Gloucestershire in 1839, William was youngest son of Charles Stephens, a banker. He was educated privately before proceeding to Balliol College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1862 with a first class in Literae humaniores. Ordained during the 1860s, in 1869 he married Charlotte Jane Hook.

He served in various parishes, many in the Diocese of Chichester, with which he had a close connection, until 1895 when he was appointed Dean of Winchester. Although the cause of his death was formally recorded as ‘typhoid fever’, it was closely linked to the infamous oysters from Emsworth which had been consumed at a complimentary dinner held at the Guildhall on November 10th in honour of the ex-mayor (Hampshire Chronicle, 27 December 1902, p.4).

Sources

• Wikipedia

• Hampshire Chronicle, 27 December 1902, p.4.

Portrait

None no, but the above shows the cover of Stephens' book on 'The Bishops of Winchester

Contribution to county’s history

Stephens was another in the very long line of clerical historians. As the titles of his works listed below indicate, he applied his interest in ecclesiastical matters to illuminating aspects of the history of Winchester Diocese and Cathedral. 

Relevant published works

• with F.T. Madge, Documents relating to the history of the Cathedral church of Winchester in the seventeenth century (Winchester: Warren, 1897).

• with Very Rev. W.W. Capes Canon of Hereford, The Bishops of Winchester: Birinus to Stigand and Walkelin to Gardiner (Winchester: Warren, 1903)

Critical Comments

Other Comments

In his newspaper obituary, reference is made to ‘his quiet and studious life at Woolbeding … with hours of study, turned to such good account that in later and busier days standard works were produced without any undue trespass upon the manifold duties of a busy Dean’ (Hampshire Chronicle, 27 December 1902, p.4). It is probable that, but for his untimely death, he would have produced further works on the history of Winchester Diocese and Cathedral.

Contributor

Roger Ottewill (15 May 2024)

Key Words

Winchester Cathedral, the Bishops of Winchester,

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