William Edward Stevens was born in 1880 the youngest of the three children of Arthur Stevens (1855-1920) and Jane Stevens née Hunt (1857-1883). His birth was registered in the 1st quarter of 1881 in the Islington registration district. On 30 January 1881 he was jointly baptised with his sister Clara Stevens (b.1878) at St James the Great Church, Bethnal Green. The baptismal register shows the family were living at 3 Chapel Place and that their father was a tailor.
The 1881 census confirms that he was living at 3 Chapel Place, Park Place, Highbury, with his parents and two siblings: Annie Stevens (b.1877) and Clara. His father was now described as a grocer's assistant. His mother died of tuberculosis on 19 June 1883 and his father remarried the following year to Kate Bradley (1856-1910). The 1891 census shows him as a scholar living at 12 Cemetery Road, Ipswich, with his father, his step-mother and two siblings, Annie and Clara.
On 21 July 1901 he married Eleanor Neale (1883-1906) at St Philip's Church, Clerkenwell, and the marriage register shows him as a store keeper giving both their addresses as 2 Sekeforde Street, Clerkenwell. They had three children: William Alfred Arthur Stevens (1901-1982), Violet Helena Stevens (1903-1906) and Arthur Stevens (1905-1973).
His wife died of typhoid fever on 12 July 1906 at St Bartholomew's Hospital, and 22 June 1908 he was remarried to Lucy Maud Bishop (1882-1915) at St Luke's Church, Mile End Old Town, Limehouse. The marriage register shows him as a widower and a porter, giving both their addresses as 123 Coutts Road, Mile End. This address is confirmed in the 1911 census that shows him as a 'Licensed Messenger by City Police' living there with his wife and their son, John Stevens (1909-1994) who had been born on 20 January 1909 in Walworth. Their daughter, Marjorie May Stevens (1912-1999) was born on 16 November 1912 in Hendon.
His wife died from puerperal septicaemia on 12 December 1915 at 9 Argyle Road, Hendon. In the 3rd quarter of 1919 he married Nellie Cowell (1890-1940) in the Southwark registration district and their son, Henry Stevens (1923-2000) was born on 9 February 1923. Electoral registers from 1922 to 1939 show him and his wife listed at 134A Union Street, Borough High Street, Southwark.
He died, aged 59 years, on 10 September 1940, as a result of enemy action when a bomb fell on the Ewer Street air raid shelter. Also killed was his wife, Nellie Stevens and they were buried together at Plaistow Cemetery. His name can be found on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's website and it is also recorded in The Civilian War Dead Roll of Honour 1939-1945 that is kept just outside the entrance to St George's Chapel at the west end of Westminster Abbey. These incorrectly show that he was aged 60 years and that he and his wife were living at 134D Union Street.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
