Thomas Stevenson
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Thomas Stevenson (1838 - 1908)

Sir Thomas Stevenson
Born in Rainton, Yorkshire, Englandmap
Ancestors ancestors
Son of and
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of — married 7 Feb 1867 in Marylebone, London, UKmap
Descendants descendants
Father of , and
Died at age 70 in Sandhurst Lodge, Streatham High Road, Lambeth, London, Englandmap
Problems/Questions Profile manager: Liz Verran private message [send private message]
Profile last modified | Created 2 Apr 2014
This page has been accessed 877 times.

Contents

Biography

Name

Name: Sir Thomas /Stevenson/[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]
Name: Sir Thomas /Stevenson/[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]
Name: Thomas /Stevenson/[30][31]
Name: Thomas /Stevenson/ Sir[32]

Found multiple versions of NAME. Using Sir Thomas /Stevenson/.

Birth

Birth: Topcliffe gravestones
Date: 14 APR 1838
Place: Rainton, Yorkshire, England[33][34]


Death

Death: Diabetic Coma
Date: 27 JUL 1908
Place: Sandhurst Lodge, Streatham High Road, Lambeth, London, England[35][36][37][38]
Death: Age: 70


Event

Event: Laid foundation stone with trowel presented to his mother
Type: Foundation of Rainton Methodist Church
Date: 22 JUL 1881
Place: Rainton Cum Newby, Yorkshire, England
Event: Knighthood
Date: 1904

Census

Census:
Date: 1891
Place: Truro, on holiday at Easter
Note: #N162
Census:
Date: 1881
Place: 45 Gresham Road, Lambeth, London, England
Census:
Date: 1851
Place: Rainton with Newby, Yorkshire, England
Census:
Date: 1901
Place: Streatham, London, England

Residence

Residence:
Date: 1841
Place: Topcliffe, Yorkshire, England[39]
Residence: On holiday with Agnes at Easter
Date: 1851
Place: Rainton with Newby, Yorkshire, England[40]
Residence:
Date: 1861
Place: Rainton with Newby, Yorkshire, England[41]


Residence:
Date: 1881
Place: Lambeth, London, England[42]
Date: 1891
Place: Tormoham, Devon, England[43]
Residence:
Date: 1901
Place: Streatham, London, England[44]


Probate

Probate:
Date: 13 AUG 1908
Place: London, London, England[45][46]

Burial

Burial: Age: 70
Date: 31 JUL 1908
Place: Norwood Cemetary, Lambeth, London[47][48][49]


Title

Title: Knighted
Date: JUL 1904
Place: London, London, England[50][51]

Occupation

Occupation: Senior analyst to the Home Office
Date: 1881
Occupation: lecturer in forensic medicine
Date: BET 1878 AND 1908
Occupation: Lecturer in chemistry
Date: BET 1870 AND 1898
Occupation: from census
Date: 1861
Place: Medical Student
Occupation: Scientific Analyst to the Home Office
Date: 1872
Occupation:
Date: 1871
Place: Fellow of Royal College of Physicians[52]
Occupation: Guys Hospital
Date: BET 1859 AND 1863
Place: Medical Student
Occupation:
Date: 1901
Place: Physician MRCS
Occupation: Lecturer in chemistry
Date: BET 1870 AND 1898
Occupation: lecturer in forensic medicine
Date: BET 1878 AND 1908
Occupation: Senior analyst to the Home Office
Date: BET 1881 AND 1908
Note: #N163
Occupation:
Date: 1881
Place: Physician MRCS

Graduation

Graduation: FRCP
Date: 1871
Graduation: MRCP
Date: 1864
Graduation: MD - Guys Hospital
Date: 1864
Graduation: MB - Guys Hospital
Date: 1863
Graduation:
Date: 1864
Place: MD - Guys Hospital
Graduation:
Date: 1864
Place: MRCP


Education

Education: Medical Student at Guys Hospital
Date: BET 1859 AND 1863
Education: John Nesbitt's school of Chemistry and agriculture
Date: BET 1856 AND 1857
Place: Kennington, London, England[53]

Note

Note: #N166

Marriage

Husband: Sir Thomas Stevenson
Wife: Agnes Maberly
Child: Claude Maberly Stevenson
Relationship to Father: Natural
Relationship to Mother: Natural
Marriage:
Date: 07 FEB 1867
Place: Marylebone, London, UK[54][55][56][57]

Sources

  1. ↑ Source: #S32 Page: Class: RG11; Piece: 617; Folio: 107; Page: 12; Line: ; GSU roll: 1341142. Data: Text: Name: Ethel Agnes Stevenson Birth Date: abt 1870 Birth Place: St Pancras, Middlesex, England Residence Date: 1881 Residence Place: Lambeth, London, England Object: @M1368@
  2. ↑ Source: #S32 Page: Class: RG11; Piece: 617; Folio: 107; Page: 12; Line: ; GSU roll: 1341142. Data: Text: Name: Clara Hilda Stevenson Birth Date: abt 1872 Birth Place: St Pancras, Middlesex, England Residence Date: 1881 Residence Place: Lambeth, London, England Object: @M2062@
  3. ↑ Source: #S50 Page: Source Citation: London Metropolitan Archives, Saint Marylebone, Register of marriages, P89/MRY1, Item 239 Data: Text: marriage date: 07 Feb 1867 marriage place: Marylebone, Middlesex, , England Name: Sir Thomas Stevenson Object: @M1009@
  4. ↑ Source: #S43 Page: Class: RG14; Piece: 32061; Schedule Number: 123 Data: Text: Record for Artemas Dunn Object: @M1201@
  5. ↑ Source: #S37 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for Thomas Stevenson Object: @M2129@
  6. ↑ Source: #S38 Page: Class: HO107; Piece: 2281; Folio: 617; Page: 11; GSU roll: 87466-87467. Data: Text: Name: Thomas Stevenson Birth Date: abt 1839 Birth Place: Rainton, Yorkshire, England Residence Date: 1851 Residence Place: Rainton With Newby, Yorkshire, England Object: @M1597@
  7. ↑ Source: #S25 Page: Class: HO107; Civil Parish: Topcliffe; County: Yorkshire; Enumeration District: 1A; Page: 12; Line: 9; GSU roll: 464231. Data: Text: Name: Thomas Stevenson Birth Date: abt 1838 Birth Place: Yorkshire, England Residence Date: 1841 Residence Place: Topcliffe, Yorkshire, England Object: @M1128@
  8. ↑ Source: #S38 Page: Class: HO107; Piece: 1917; Folio: 514; Page: 30; GSU roll: 221071 Data: Text: Record for Elizth Chellew Object: @M2131@
  9. ↑ Source: #S6 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for Thomas Stevenson Object: @M2128@
  10. ↑ Source: #S37 Page: Class: RG9; Piece: 3200; Folio: 36; Page: 5; GSU roll: 543094. Data: Text: Name: Peter Stevenson Birth Date: abt 1798 Birth Place: Rainton, Yorkshire, England Residence Date: 1861 Residence Place: Rainton With Newby, Yorkshire, England Object: @M1130@
  11. ↑ Source: #S32 Page: Class: RG11; Piece: 617; Folio: 107; Page: 12; Line: ; GSU roll: 1341142. Data: Text: Name: Claude M. Stevenson Birth Date: abt 1879 Birth Place: Lambeth, Surrey, England Residence Date: 1881 Residence Place: Lambeth, London, England Object: @M1368@
  12. ↑ Source: #S53 Page: London Metropolitan Archives, Norwood Cemetery, Norwood Road, Lambeth, Transcript of Burials, 1906 Dec-1908 Dec, DW/T Item, 0959; Call Number: DW/T/0959
  13. ↑ Source: #S129
  14. ↑ Source: #S44
  15. ↑ Source: #S35 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for Peter Stevenson
  16. ↑ Source: #S33 Page: Class: RG13; Piece: 478; Folio: 5; Page: 1. Data: Text: Name: Thomas Stevenson CONT Birth Date: abt 1839 CONT Birth Place: Topcliffe, Yorkshire, England CONT Residence Date: 1901 CONT Residence Place: Streatham, London, England Object: @M2113@
  17. ↑ Source: #S6 Data: Text: Birth date: Apr 1838 CONT Birth place: South Yorkshire, Yorkshire - West Riding, United Kingdom Object: @M2128@
  18. ↑ Source: #S32 Page: Class: RG11; Piece: 617; Folio: 107; Page: 12; Line: ; GSU roll: 1341142. Data: Text: Name: Thomas Stevenson CONT Birth Date: abt 1839 CONT Birth Place: Topcliffe, Yorkshire, England CONT Residence Date: 1881 CONT Residence Place: Lambeth, London, England Object: @M1368@
  19. ↑ Source: #S38 Page: Class: HO107; Piece: 2281; Folio: 617; Page: 11; GSU roll: 87466-87467. Data: Text: Name: Thomas Stevenson Birth Date: abt 1839 Birth Place: Rainton, Yorkshire, England Residence Date: 1851 Residence Place: Rainton With Newby, Yorkshire, England Object: @M1597@
  20. ↑ Source: #S25 Page: Class: HO107; Civil Parish: Topcliffe; County: Yorkshire; Enumeration District: 1A; Page: 12; Line: 9; GSU roll: 464231. Data: Text: Name: Thomas Stevenson Birth Date: abt 1838 Birth Place: Yorkshire, England Residence Date: 1841 Residence Place: Topcliffe, Yorkshire, England Object: @M1128@
  21. ↑ Source: #S34 Page: Class: RG12; Piece: 1702; Folio 40; Page 17; GSU roll: 6096812. Data: Text: Name: Thomas Stevenson CONT Birth Date: abt 1839 CONT Birth Place: Topcliffe, Yorkshire, England CONT Residence Date: 1891 CONT Residence Place: Tormoham, Devon, England Object: @M2127@
  22. ↑ Source: #S38 Page: Class: HO107; Piece: 1917; Folio: 514; Page: 30; GSU roll: 221071 Data: Text: Record for Elizth Chellew Object: @M2131@
  23. ↑ Source: #S35 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for Sir Thomas Stevenson
  24. ↑ Source: #S35 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for Hannah Stevenson
  25. ↑ Source: #S35 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for Hannah Williamson
  26. ↑ Source: #S35
  27. ↑ Source: #S35 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for Agnes Maberly
  28. ↑ Source: #S35 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for Claude Maberly Stevenson
  29. ↑ Source: #S37 Page: Class: RG9; Piece: 3200; Folio: 36; Page: 5; GSU roll: 543094. Data: Text: Name: Thomas Stevenson CONT Birth Date: abt 1839 CONT Birth Place: Rainton, Yorkshire, England CONT Residence Date: 1861 CONT Residence Place: Rainton With Newby, Yorkshire, England Object: @M1130@
  30. ↑ Source: #S33 Page: Class: RG13; Piece: 478; Folio: 5; Page: 1. Data: Text: Name: Thomas Stevenson CONT Birth Date: abt 1839 CONT Birth Place: Topcliffe, Yorkshire, England CONT Residence Date: 1901 CONT Residence Place: Streatham, London, England Object: @M2113@
  31. ↑ Source: #S32 Page: Class: RG11; Piece: 617; Folio: 107; Page: 12; Line: ; GSU roll: 1341142. Data: Text: Name: Thomas Stevenson CONT Birth Date: abt 1839 CONT Birth Place: Topcliffe, Yorkshire, England CONT Residence Date: 1881 CONT Residence Place: Lambeth, London, England Object: @M1368@
  32. ↑ Source: #S35 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for Joseph Verran
  33. ↑ Source: #S38 Page: Class: HO107; Piece: 2281; Folio: 617; Page: 11; GSU roll: 87466-87467. Data: Text: Name: Thomas Stevenson Birth Date: abt 1839 Birth Place: Rainton, Yorkshire, England Residence Date: 1851 Residence Place: Rainton With Newby, Yorkshire, England Object: @M1597@
  34. ↑ Source: #S53 Page: London Metropolitan Archives, Norwood Cemetery, Norwood Road, Lambeth, Transcript of Burials, 1906 Dec-1908 Dec, DW/T Item, 0959; Call Number: DW/T/0959
  35. ↑ Source: #S35 Page: Database online.
  36. ↑ Source: #S53 Page: London Metropolitan Archives, Norwood Cemetery, Norwood Road, Lambeth, Transcript of Burials, 1906 Dec-1908 Dec, DW/T Item, 0959; Call Number: DW/T/0959
  37. ↑ Source: #S129
  38. ↑ Source: #S44
  39. ↑ Source: #S25 Page: Class: HO107; Civil Parish: Topcliffe; County: Yorkshire; Enumeration District: 1A; Page: 12; Line: 9; GSU roll: 464231. Data: Text: Name: Thomas Stevenson Birth Date: abt 1838 Birth Place: Yorkshire, England Residence Date: 1841 Residence Place: Topcliffe, Yorkshire, England Object: @M1128@
  40. ↑ Source: #S38 Page: Class: HO107; Piece: 2281; Folio: 617; Page: 11; GSU roll: 87466-87467. Data: Text: Name: Thomas Stevenson Birth Date: abt 1839 Birth Place: Rainton, Yorkshire, England Residence Date: 1851 Residence Place: Rainton With Newby, Yorkshire, England Object: @M1597@
  41. ↑ Source: #S37 Page: Class: RG9; Piece: 3200; Folio: 36; Page: 5; GSU roll: 543094. Data: Text: Name: Peter Stevenson Birth Date: abt 1798 Birth Place: Rainton, Yorkshire, England Residence Date: 1861 Residence Place: Rainton With Newby, Yorkshire, England Object: @M1130@
  42. ↑ Source: #S32 Page: Class: RG11; Piece: 617; Folio: 107; Page: 12; Line: ; GSU roll: 1341142. Data: Text: Name: Thomas Stevenson CONT Birth Date: abt 1839 CONT Birth Place: Topcliffe, Yorkshire, England CONT Residence Date: 1881 CONT Residence Place: Lambeth, London, England Object: @M1368@
  43. ↑ Source: #S34 Page: Class: RG12; Piece: 1702; Folio 40; Page 17; GSU roll: 6096812. Data: Text: Name: Thomas Stevenson CONT Birth Date: abt 1839 CONT Birth Place: Topcliffe, Yorkshire, England CONT Residence Date: 1891 CONT Residence Place: Tormoham, Devon, England Object: @M2127@
  44. ↑ Source: #S33 Page: Class: RG13; Piece: 478; Folio: 5; Page: 1. Data: Text: Name: Thomas Stevenson CONT Birth Date: abt 1839 CONT Birth Place: Topcliffe, Yorkshire, England CONT Residence Date: 1901 CONT Residence Place: Streatham, London, England Object: @M2113@
  45. ↑ Source: #S35 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for Hannah Stevenson
  46. ↑ Source: #S35 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for Claude Maberly Stevenson
  47. ↑ Source: #S35 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for Hannah Stevenson
  48. ↑ Source: #S35 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for Claude Maberly Stevenson
  49. ↑ Source: #S53 Page: London Metropolitan Archives, Norwood Cemetery, Norwood Road, Lambeth, Transcript of Burials, 1906 Dec-1908 Dec, DW/T Item, 0959; Call Number: DW/T/0959
  50. ↑ Source: #S35 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for Hannah Stevenson
  51. ↑ Source: #S35 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for Claude Maberly Stevenson
  52. ↑ Source: #S86 Page: Sir Thomas' obit
  53. ↑ Source: #S86 Page: Sir Thomas' obit
  54. ↑ Source: #S35 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for Sir Thomas Stevenson
  55. ↑ Source: #S50 Page: Source Citation: London Metropolitan Archives, Saint Marylebone, Register of marriages, P89/MRY1, Item 239 Data: Text: marriage date: Mar 1867 CONT marriage place: Marylebone, Middlesex, , England CONT Name: Agnes Maberly Object: @M2124@
  56. ↑ Source: #S35 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for Sir Thomas Stevenson
  57. ↑ Source: #S50 Page: Source Citation: London Metropolitan Archives, Saint Marylebone, Register of marriages, P89/MRY1, Item 239 Data: Text: marriage date: 07 Feb 1867 marriage place: Marylebone, Middlesex, , England Name: Sir Thomas Stevenson Object: @M1009@
  • Source: S129 Title: Directory of Deceased American Physicians, 1804-1929 Repository: #R1
  • Repository: R1 Name: Ancestry.com Address: http://www.Ancestry.com E-Mail Address: Phone Number:
  • Source: S2 Author: FreeBMD Title: England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index: 1837-1915 Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006.Original data - General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office. © Crown copyright. Published by permission of the Cont; Repository: #R2
  • Repository: R2 Name: Ancestry.co.uk Address: http://www.Ancestry.co.uk E-Mail Address: Phone Number:
  • Source: S25 Author: Ancestry.com Title: 1841 England Census Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006.Original data - Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1841. Data imaged from the National; Repository: #R2
  • Source: S32 Author: Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Title: 1881 England Census Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004. 1881 British Isles Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © Copyright 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. All use is subject to the; Repository: #R2
  • Source: S33 Author: Ancestry.com Title: 1901 England Census Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005.Original data - Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1901. Data imaged from the National; Repository: #R2
  • Source: S34 Author: Ancestry.com Title: 1891 England Census Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005.Original data - Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1891. Data imaged from The National; Repository: #R2
  • Source: S35 Author: Ancestry.com Title: Public Member Trees Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006.Original data - Family trees submitted by Ancestry members.Original data: Family trees submitted by Ancestry members.; Repository: #R2 NOTEThis information comes from 1 or more individual Ancestry Family Tree files. This source citation points you to a current version of those files. Note: The owners of these tree files may have removed or changed information since this source citation was created.
  • Source: S37 Author: Ancestry.com Title: 1861 England Census Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005.Original data - Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1861. Data imaged from the National; Repository: #R2
  • Source: S38 Author: Ancestry.com Title: 1851 England Census Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005.Original data - Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1851. Data imaged from the National; Repository: #R2
  • Source: S43 Author: Ancestry.com Title: 1911 Wales Census Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.Original data - Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA), 1911. Data imaged from the National Archives, London, England.; Repository: #R3
  • Repository: R3 Name: iOS Application Address: http://www.iOS Application E-Mail Address: Phone Number:
  • Source: S44 Author: Ancestry.com Title: England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966 Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.Original data - Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. Londo; Repository: #R3
  • Source: S50 Author: Ancestry.com Title: London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921 Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.Original data - Church of England Parish Registers, 1754-1921. London Metropolitan Archives, London.Images produced by permission of the City of London Corporation Libraries, Archives; Repository: #R3
  • Source: S53 Author: Ancestry.com Title: London, England, Deaths and Burials, 1813-1980 Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.Original data - Board of Guardian Records, 1834-1906 and Church of England Parish Registers, 1813-1906. London Metropolitan Archives, London.Images produced by permission of the City; Repository: #R3
  • Source: S6 Author: FreeBMD Title: England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915 Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006.Original data - General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office. © Crown copyright. Published by permission of the Cont; Repository: #R2
  • Source: S86 Title: obit

Notes

Note N162Servants in 1891 census:
Emily Wood Gay - Governess aged 30 born Bristol
Charlotte Delicate - Cook aged 27 born Pewsey
Eliza Delicate - Parlour maid aged 23 born Pewsey
Sarah Ann Walter - Housemaid aged 19 born Pewsey
Note N163Pimlico Mystery and Maybrick case
Note N164Ellen Rand - Cook aged 23 born Little Berry, Essex
Jane Davies - Housemaid aged 24 born Wickham Brook, Suffolk
Note N165Diabetic coma
Note N166Streatham in 1901 consulting Physician
Sir Thomas Stevenson (1838-1908) by Paul Graham
Thomas Stevenson was born at Rainton in Yorkshire and educated at John Collis Nesbit's Kennington school of agriculture and chemistry, where he studied scientific farming for a year [1]. In 1857 Stevenson became a medical pupil to Mr Steel of Bradford. He entered Guy's Hospital Medical School in 1859 and graduated MB, London, in 1863 and MD in 1864. He won several gold medals whilst a student. He became MRCP in 1864 and FRCP in 1871. Stevenson became demonstrator in practical chemistry at Guy's in 1864, and was lecturer in chemistry, 1870-98, and in forensic medicine, 1878-1908, in succession to the renowned Dr Alfred Swaine Taylor (1806-80). He also served as the President of the Institute of Chemistry and of the Society of Public Analysts.
In 1872 he became scientific analyst to the Home Office, rising to the position of senior analyst in 1881. In this capacity, he was involved as an expert witness in nearly all of the leading poisoning cases from 1881 until his death. He was considered an admirable witness whose evidence, delivered in a broad Yorkshire accent, was so accurate that cross-examination only served to strengthen its effect. He was the principal scientific witness in two particularly sensational cases where the chief suspects were women, demonstrating that Florence Bravo was not the only wife suspected of circumventing the tortuous Victorian divorce laws by means of poison.
The Pimlico Mystery
Adelaide Bartlett was at the heart of the "Pimlico Mystery" of 1886. She was charged with the murder of her husband Edwin, owner of a string of south London grocery stores, by poisoning him with chloroform. In court it emerged that they and Methodist minister the Rev. George Dyson had comprised a menage à trois in a flat in Claverton Street, Pimlico. Edwin had nominated Dyson as his successor as Adelaide's husband should anything befall him. The contents of his stomach were conveyed in specimen jars to Stevenson at Guy's. He testified to the coroner that "there was no other poison beside chloroform present in the stomach."
This was the first recorded case of alleged murder by chloroform. Stevenson agreed at the Old Bailey trial that administering liquid chloroform would cause the recipient such pain as to leave him in no doubt that he was being fed a harmful substance and would leave seared places in the mouth and throat. Stevenson allowed that, whilst the drug had been used in suicide attempts, it posed massive and unpredictable problems for a would-be murderer. Stevenson's opinion was that the lethal dose had been swallowed by the victim rather than administered by his wife. Her barrister, Edward Clarke, later wrote:
"The crucial part of the case was reached when Dr Stevenson and Dr Meymott Tidy (another expert on chloroform) came into the witness box. They were both men of high character reputation and were probably the best authorities then living upon the quality of chloroform, and the method and effect of its administration, and their evidence was given with admirable fairness and caution."
Adelaide was found not guilty. This verdict clearly gratified Stevenson. Whether convinced of Adelaide's innocence or seduced by her beauty, he put aside professional detachment and wrote to congratulate her on her victory. Less convinced, or susceptible, was the eminent surgeon, Sir James Paget (1814-99), who spoke for many when he remarked: "Once it was over, she should have told us, in the interests of science, how she did it."
The Maybrick Case
Mrs Florence Maybrick was the American wife of a Liverpool cotton broker. She was accused of poisoning her husband James with arsenic, a drug he regularly took to counter malaria and to act as an aphrodisiac. Eleven jars containing parts of his viscera were conveyed to Stevenson. During the trial in August 1889 he testified that he had found "about one hundredth of a grain" of arsenic in the intestines and one third of a grain of arsenic in the whole liver. None were in the stomach, bile, mouth, heart or lungs. Stevenson stated that:
"the body at the time of death probably contained a fatal dose of arsenic. I have found a little more or a little less than the quantity I did find here in undoubtedly fatal cases of arsenic poisoning."
Florence was found guilty and sentenced to death after a prejudicial summing up by the judge, who shortly afterwards was declared insane! Public and press outrage against those connected with the prosecution ensued (porters even refusing to carry Stevenson's luggage from his hotel to a cab) and the sentence was commuted to life. Florence was released in 1904 by order of the Home Secretary, after serving 15 years. She returned to America where she died in poverty surrounded by cats [Note 2 ].
Other Notable Cases
In the course of his professional duties, Stevenson also encountered a husband who killed three of his "wives". George Chapman (Severino Klosowski) was a Pole who adopted the family name of the first of his string of mistresses. He dispatched three of them of whom he had grown tired. The first, a Mrs Spink, died in 1897 after a lingering illness marked by vomiting and diarrhoea, Chapman seemingly having fed her tartar emetic (antimony potassium tartrate) on a regular basis. Her successor, Bessie Taylor went the same way in 1901. The third death, which seemed to persuade the authorities that coincidence was being stretched too far, was that of the third "wife", Maud Marsh, in 1902 at the Monument Tavern, Borough. An autopsy was carried out on her which caused the other two to be exhumed. All the bodies contained antimony. Chapman was arrested, convicted and executed in 1903.
Apart from these cases, Stevenson also gave evidence in many notable murder trials including that of the notorious serial killer Dr Thomas Neil Cream. He poisoned by strychnine Mathilda Clover in Lambeth Road in 1891. Delirium tremens was diagnosed. Only after three similar deaths of prostitutes in 1891 and 1892, was her body exhumed and the true cause of her death established. Cream was tried at the Old Bailey in October 1892 and executed at Newgate the same year. Others cases included those of Dr George Lamson (aconite, 1882); Edward Bell (antimony, 1899); Mary Ansell (1899); Arthur Devereaux (opium, 1905); and Richard Brinkley (prussic acid, 1907).
There was at least one unusual incident. Walter Horsford had poisoned his cousin Annie Holmes with strychnine at St Neots in 1898. One of the barristers upset a packet of strychnine in Court and the judge ordered Stevenson, a man of commanding appearance with a large flowing grey beard, to go down on his hands and knees and pick up every atom of the powder before he would allow the trial to be resumed!
Private Life
Away from the courtroom and the laboratory, Stevenson was a devout churchman, an active supporter of medical missions abroad and of church schools at home. Untypically, for a man of his age and background, he was a consistent advocate of higher education for women. One of his daughters proved the point by qualifying as a physician before entering the Indian mission field. A contemporary journalist recorded that Stevenson enjoyed a game of tennis and a glass of port after dinner.
Stevenson was knighted in 1904. He died in a diabetic coma at his home, Sandhurst Lodge, Streatham High Road, on 27 July 1908. His wife Agnes (née Maberly), whom he had married in 1867, died on 18 January 1908 aged 68, and is also buried in the grave at Norwood (grave 26,543, square 95). They had two sons and five daughters. Their tombstone is extant although the cross which presumably rested on top of the shaft is missing. A portrait of Stevenson hangs in the Gordon Museum at Guy's and a caricature by "WAG" appeared in Vanity Fair (30 November 1899).
Note 1. Nesbit (1818-1862) had studied chemistry under John Dalton (1766-1844) in Manchester. An expert on guano and other naturally-occurring phosphates, he wrote the immortal History and Properties of Natural Guanos, 1860. However, he is chiefly remembered as the father of the novelist Edith Nesbit. He is buried at Norwood, either in the catacombs or in the grave of his own father Anthony Nesbit (1778-1859) (grave 397, square 73) (monument destroyed)
Note 2. For detailed accounts of the Bartlett and Maybrick cases see: The Pimlico Murder by Kate Clarke (1990) and The Poisoned Life of Mrs Maybrick by Bernard Ryan (1977), respectively
Legend to Figure
1. Stevenson family monument at Norwood (drawing by Don Bianco)
2. Draft Note: John - I can try to obtain a copy of the Vanity Fair caricature if there is room. Please let me know if you want me to do this




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Rejected matches › Thomas Greig Stevenson (-bef.1906)

Featured National Park champion connections: Thomas is 17 degrees from Theodore Roosevelt, 20 degrees from Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 21 degrees from George Catlin, 21 degrees from Marjory Douglas, 30 degrees from Sueko Embrey, 20 degrees from George Grinnell, 25 degrees from Anton Kröller, 23 degrees from Stephen Mather, 19 degrees from Kara McKean, 24 degrees from John Muir, 15 degrees from Victoria Hanover and 30 degrees from Charles Young on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.

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