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The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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Mr R WHITE STEVENS
The Plymouth business house of Mr R White Stevens, printer, bookseller, chart and nautical instrument seller, and author/publisher/printer of "Stevens on Stowage", was originally situated at number 15 Parade but later expanded through to numbers 20/21 Southside Street, which became the official address. Mr Robert White Stevens was born in Plymouth on September 1st 1806 to Mr John Stevens, landlord of the Maritime Inn on the Barbican [0], and the former Miss Sarah Lee. He was baptised at Charles Church on October 19th that same year. [1] On Saturday July 25th 1840 he married Miss Eliza Ginder in Plymouth [2] and at the time of the census in 1841 they were settled on the Parade, with their four-weeks old son, William, and servant, Miss Ann Williams. Robert was a printer. [3] The couple had one son and three daughters by the time that Mrs Eliza Stevens died in 1850, presumably during or as a result of childbirth. As a result Mr Stevens had the assistance of a governess, Miss Helen Elizabeth Coster, aged 20, in addition to the 19-years-old servant, Miss Margaret Jasper. In 1851 they were living at number 1 Saltram Place, Citadel Road. Mr Stevens was employing two men and three apprentices in the printing business. [4] Mr Robert White Stevens married Miss Helen Elizabeth Coster, the governess, at South Molton, Devon, in 1852 [5]. Their son, Robert Tyeth Stevens was born in Plymouth in 1855 but then the family disappeared until 1863, when Miss Margaret A Stevens was born in Plymouth. By this time the family lived at number 4 Windsor Terrace, Citadel Road. [6] During this period Mr Stevens sat on Plymouth Borough Council and in 1859 was elected as an Alderman. Although not given to public speaking, he was a staunch supporter of improvements to the Town and was also a churchwarden of Holy Trinity Church. [0] On the afternoon of Saturday May 28th 1870 Mr Stevens was walking up Bedford Street and just as he got outside of the offices of Messrs Skardon & Sons, at around 4pm, he was seen to stagger and fall. A bill-poster by the name of Banfield, who was on the opposite side of the Street, and a gentleman named Gard rushed to his assistance and carried him inside the office but he was already dead. Mr J N Stevens, a surgeon, was summoned and confirmed the death. Mr Coroner T C Brian was immediately informed and he quickly empanelled a jury and held the inquest on the premises., the verdict being that Mr Robert White Stevens had died of a disease of the heart. [7] As Mr Stevens was an Alderman of the Borough the flags at the Guildhall and at other prominent places were flown at half-mast. He was also the local correspondent of "The Times". [7] The funeral on Thursday June 2nd 1870 was a civic affair, with the Mayor, Mr W Luscombe, and Corporation being preceded on the walk to Saint Andrew's Church by a contingent of police, under Inspectors Price and Edwards, and the Mace Bearers [8a]. The coffin bearers were Messrs T W Hoppins; T W Southey; E Wyatt; C Axford; W Hazeel, all employees of Mr Stevens; G Stentiford; Captain Christy, of the schooner "Stonehouse"; and Captain Endicott, of the schooner "Plym", all employees of the South Devon Shipping Company, of which Mr Stevens was a director [8a]. Mr Stevens was buried at the Westwell Street Burial Ground, where the coffin was placed in a family vault at the northern end of the Ground [8a]. [8][8a] Mrs Helen Stevens took over the business assisted by her eldest son, Mr Robert Tyeth Stevens, who was then 16 years of age. Her 64-years-old mother, Mrs Mary A Coster, was on hand to assist with the one son and three daughters who were still at school and there were two servants to look after the domestic chores, Miss Elizabeth Parr, 24, and South African born Miss Ann Higgs, 20. They were no doubt assisted financially by a boarder, Mr Thomas Waghorn, a clerk with the Cornwall Railway Company. [7] The printing business continued to expand. When Mr Robert Tyeth Stevens was in charge in 1881 he was employing ten men and eight boys [9]. Early in 1881 he married Miss Mary Louisa Coster in Marylebone, London [5]. They lived at number 10 Saltram Place, Citadel Road [9]. Mrs Helen Elizabeth Stevens and two of the daughters, Octavia and Nona, moved to 44 Western Road, Ermington, Devon [10]. Within a decade Robert, like his father before him, had become a widower. By 1891 he had two sons and two daughters and his mother was living with them at number 6 Saint James Terrace, Citadel Road. There were then three servants, a housemaid, a cook and a 15-years-old nurse, Miss Ada Lavinia Alsop, from Falmouth. [11] By the time of the 1901 census, Robert had moved to Bedford Villas. He was still running the family business and had his 17-years-old son, Harold Coster Stevens, as an apprentice. The housekeeper was a Miss Mary Agnes Brown, aged 45, from Tring in Hertfordshire. [12] In 1907 Mr Robert Tyeth Stevens married his former housekeeper, Miss Brown, at Liskeard, Cornwall [5]. It is not yet known if the business was passed to their son, Mr Harold Coster Stevens. The business certainly continued and by 1914 had expanded to include numbers 20 and 21 Southside Street [13]. But by then Mr Robert Tyeth Stevens had retired and appears in the 1911 census living at "Thornset" in Aylesbury Road, Tring [14]. Was it their son now running the printing works? Mr Robert Tyeth Stevens died at Tring in 1920 at the age of 64 years. [5] It is not known if the business was ever informally known as the Parade Printing Works but the first printed reference to that title appears in 1920 but referred only to the Southside Street premises and not those in The Parade. It was then owned by Mr Albert Cole. [15] Mention must be made of the unusual shape of the premises. Number 15 Parade was on the corner with Parade Ope. Number 15 extended in a zig-zag shape through to number 21 Southside Street. Number 20 Southside Street was originally a completely separate unit. [16] In addition to the book "Stevens on Stowage", the business also published the first booklet of tide tables for the Plymouth area.
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