Rowland Stephenson (banker)

Rowland Stephenson (19 May 1782 – 2 July 1856)^[1] was a British banker and politician who precipitated the collapse of a bank and took refuge in America.^[2]

The son of a banker and a great nephew of his namesake,

In 1771, Stephenson's father, John (died 1822), married Mary Broadley, the niece of Royal Naval commander, Thomas Broadley. In 1776, John became a member of the King's Council in Pensacola, Florida—under British control since 1763—where he worked as a merchant and provisioning agent. During the American Revolutionary War, John's business collapsed and opted to return to London and become a banking partner in his uncle Rowland Stephenson's bank. It was during their return to London while still at sea that Mary gave birth to Rowland.^[1] Stephenson was baptised 2 August 1782 in Camden Town, Greater London.^{[citation needed]}

Stephenson married his cousin, Mary Eliza, on 23 April 1807.^[1] His eldest son, Rowland Macdonald Stephenson (1808–1895), became a civil engineer and managing director of the East India Railway Company, for which he was knighted in October 1856.^{[citation needed]}

Banking career

He was treasurer of St Bartholomew's Hospital from 1824 until 1829, where he had an apartment.^{[citation needed]}

Parliamentary career

After several attempts he was elected MP for the Leominster constituency from February 1827 to February 1830, although only after the candidate who had beaten him in 1826 was disqualified.^[3]

Banking scandal

Stephenson had apparently invested heavily in

• Kerr, Ian J. Engines of Change: The Railroads that Made India (London: Praeger, 2007), 28, 105.
• The Spectator Archive. "Rowland Stephenson".(25 April 1829), p. 10.
• Obituary of Mrs. Hannah Wilson, aged 103, Housekeeper for 75 years with the Stephenson Families. The Anthenaeum. 1807.

References