The Late T.B. Stephens M.L.C.
THE announcement of the decease of the Hon. THOMAS BLACKET STEPHENS will be received throughout the colony with the feeling that a public loss has been incurred. His name is familiar to many who have never seen him or known him personally and for such the following brief sketch of his life and character is chiefly written:-
Mr. STEPHENS was the son of a Baptist minister, and was born in Rochdale in 1819. Here he acquired the knowledge of wool and the wool market which enabled him at once to take a responsible position on his arrival in Australia. When a young man he was brought under the personal influence of Cobden and Bright, under whose banner he was actively engaged in the Anti-Corn Law agitation. His friendship with Mr John Ashworth helped greatly to develop the moral and religious principles inculcated in childhood and boyhood. The influence of these three gentlemen upon him was deep and lasting, and especially well qualified to prepare him for colonial life. He came to Sydney in 1849, where his business worth was soon recognised. For a year or two he was accustomed to travel the Darling Downs as a wool buyer entrusted with the negotiation of large money transactions with a confidence seldom placed in a new arrival. With a view to localise his business matters he came to reside in Brisbane in 1855. Again, as in Sydney, the weight and force of his individual character were quickly discerned, and he was soon at work outside his business engagements.
In the establishment of a Baptist church in Brisbane he took a part, involving not only advances of money, but not trifling money liabilities, and zeal and enterprise helped to place his own denomination in a permanent and respectable position in Queensland. When Brisbane was formed into a Municipality, he was sought for as an alderman, and occupied afterwards the Mayor's chair. In a civic capacity Mr Stephens may be said to have first evinced in Brisbane those qualities which ranked him as a foremost public man. He was previously known to be shrewd in his own business, and his brother aldermen quickly acknowledged his peculiar abilities for working in a larger area. Some of these gentlemen are accustomed still to allude to the lessons, so to speak, they received from him in the matter of how to carry a desired point; and to refer humorously to the surprise alderman would now and then express at finding that although he was not aware of it, nor intending it, he had really been helping Mr. STEPHENS alll the time, and found himself landed, as it were, in a strange place.
From the Municipal Council to the Legislative Assembly was, for Mr. STEPHENS, a short and natural step. As a resident in South Brisbane, the electorate chose him, and stuck well to him, until from ill-health he was compelled to resign to them his trust only a short time since.
Of Mr. STEPHENS as a member of the Legislative Assembly it is difficult to speak. Political opinions are much like a boiling pot, suggestive of hot water and scalded fingers. Opinions of him as a politician will vary extremely. His early training and asso- ciations marked out the main line on which his politics would travel, and the line he steadfastly adhered to; though it has been said, and perhaps may be said with a measure of truth, that now and again there was more shunting to this side or that than was ever clearly explained. This, however, will be admitted by all parties that his political intelligence and influence were always sincerely meant to be employed on the right side to the best of his judgment; and the right side to him was not inevitably the side which would favorably affect his private interests. This distinction is worth recognising and keeping in mind with reference to present political applications. Had he consulted his own interests with microscopic eye, it is conceivable that the bridge over the river Brisbane would have been a free bridge sooner than it was, and that the railway to Brisbane would have reached the city on the south side. Rising to the elevation of a Cabinet Minister, Mr. STEPHENS was Colonial Treasurer, Post master-General, and Minister for Lands. His work in each department was faithful and thorough. While Minister for Lands, his con- stitution broke down, and, medically advised, he retired into private life for a while. Partially re- gaining strength he was nominated as a member of the Legislative Council, but was not strong enough to be often in his place. He would very reluctantly admit it, but those who saw most of him attribute the somewhat sudden failure of physical strength to his unintermitting labors to become familiar with the complicated endless details of the Lands Department. He was unable to continue just at the time when he thought he was beginning to see his way ; to have to resign at such a moment was a bitter trial to him. Politically speaking, he was deficient in dash ; but then, on the other hand, he well knew how to bit and bridle coadjutors who had that quality,in dangerous excess and through his mediumship, times of reefs, sandbanks, and eddies, were frequently safely navigated past and through.
No aspect of Mr. STEPHENS varied labors is more interesting than his conduct of the Courier newspaper for fourteen years. Why he should undertake so Herculean a task his friends never could understand. He made no pretension to be a literary man. He used to say that he bought the Courier from a desire to have in his hands the most potent agent not only upon politics but upon morals and social progress. The accomplish- ment of his wish entailed upon him enormous labor and the most wearing anxieties, yet he never flinched nor regretted. Hardly ever writing himself, he kept a keen watch upon the currents of public opinion, and by the freest intercourse and association with his writers, the tone of the paper was through out maintained at a level equal to his original intention.
When it is said that besides these duties, numerous and onerous enough for ordinary persons, Mr. STEPHENS was also a member of the Education Board, of the "Waterworks Board, a Director of some Building Societies, and a Trustee of the Grammar School, it is sufficiently clear that he was a man of remark- able energy and capacity. But there are some personal characteristics not so well known, which may be referred to with general ad- vantage. He was essentially a devout and religious man; not given to talk- ing, rather preferring that this side of his nature should be revealed by deeds, and shy of publicity with respect to them. Those who knew him only as a public or a business man, would be surprised if they also knew how supreme over him was the control of moral motive. These are matters which some may deem unsuitable for the columns of a secular paper, but they are necessary to be referred to in a complete outline of his character.
Those who have worked under MR STEPHENS will readily testify to his kindness and con- siderateness, his care for their self-respect, his efforts for their comfort and welfare. To all he was always willing to bestow time and trouble when his advice was sought, and there are not a few in Brisbane to whom his suggestions have been worth more than money. Yet with his money he was quietly and silently liberal. He had lived in the colony long enough to know that money is the most injurious thing you can give to some people, and yet that there are times when money is the one item necessary to start on a career of successful industry ; between these two he wisely discriminated, and acted accordingly.
It would be a mistake to think that, engrossed and busy as he always was, he was so much so as to have no time or inclination for those pleasures which are the peculiar privilege of home and domestic life. His home was always full of life and love. He could not have been what he was outside but for the complexion his strong domestic affections gave to the whole of his character. These were his inner strength, and made the time devoted to public and business pursuits often feel like a sacrifice. They supply also a key to the geniality and humaneness which helped him to get through so much tedious routine work, and enabled him to become so skilful a manipulator of those he had to work along with. For the last two years his life has been one of much bodily pain and weakness borne with a cheerful patience which has often been the wonder of those near him. The week before his death he was seized with another attack of difficulty of breathing; and last Sunday morning it was evident to his relatives and friends, before his medical adviser told them, that the end was very near. At night Dr O'Doherty came in just in time to see him pass away as in sleep, without a struggle or even a sigh. But it may be objected that this is the record of a fellow-laborer, the panegyric of a friend. The funeral which left the old house on the hillside at Cumbooquepa yesterday is the answer. Thomas Blacket Stephens had then ceased to be a politician. From him no one expected grace none sought favor. He had been just long enough out of public life to have no claim on organisations, social or poli- tical, and which, by the way, he personally always discouraged. When he was the most active Minister of past administrations he made some enemies, but many friends, and yesterday no man who attended his funeral to the picturesque hill-side at South Brisbane had aught to gain or expect by doing so. Yet he had the largest and most thoroughly representative funeral ever seen in this colony. The Ministry, and the leading members of ther Opposition, the Brisbane trader and the farmer, all ranks and creeds, were blended in one earnest expres- sion of esteem and regret for the deceased, who, through private and public life, had borne the character and deserved the distinction of being a good colonist ; and so we lose those whom we would fain keep with us. He was, as Whittier says:- Tender as a woman: manliness and meekness in him were so allied That they who judged him by his strength or weakness, Saw but a single side. And round his grave are quietude and beauty, With the sweet heavens above - The fitting symbol of a life of duty Transfigured into love.
The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933) Tue 28 Aug 1877
Page 3 The Late T. B. Stephens, M.L.C
THE announcement of the decease of the Hon. THOMAS BLACKET STEPHENS will be received throughout the colony with the feeling that a public loss has been incurred. His name is familiar to many who have never seen him or known him personally and for such the following brief sketch of his life and character is chiefly written:-
Mr. STEPHENS was the son of a Baptist minister, and was born in Rochdale in 1819. Here he acquired the knowledge of wool and the wool market which enabled him at once to take a responsible position on his arrival in Australia. When a young man he was brought under the personal influence of Cobden and Bright, under whose banner he was actively engaged in the Anti-Corn Law agitation. His friendship with Mr John Ashworth helped greatly to develop the moral and religious principles inculcated in childhood and boyhood. The influence of these three gentlemen upon him was deep and lasting, and especially well qualified to prepare him for colonial life. He came to Sydney in 1849, where his business worth was soon recognised. For a year or two he was accustomed to travel the Darling Downs as a wool buyer entrusted with the negotiation of large money transactions with a confidence seldom placed in a new arrival. With a view to localise his business matters he came to reside in Brisbane in 1855. Again, as in Sydney, the weight and force of his individual character were quickly discerned, and he was soon at work outside his business engagements.
In the establishment of a Baptist church in Brisbane he took a part, involving not only advances of money, but not trifling money liabilities, and zeal and enterprise helped to place his own denomination in a permanent and respectable position in Queensland. When Brisbane was formed into a Municipality, he was sought for as an alderman, and occupied afterwards the Mayor's chair. In a civic capacity Mr Stephens may be said to have first evinced in Brisbane those qualities which ranked him as a foremost public man. He was previously known to be shrewd in his own business, and his brother aldermen quickly acknowledged his peculiar abilities for working in a larger area. Some of these gentlemen are accustomed still to allude to the lessons, so to speak, they received from him in the matter of how to carry a desired point; and to refer humorously to the surprise alderman would now and then express at finding that although he was not aware of it, nor intending it, he had really been helping Mr. STEPHENS alll the time, and found himself landed, as it were, in a strange place.
From the Municipal Council to the Legislative Assembly was, for Mr. STEPHENS, a short and natural step. As a resident in South Brisbane, the electorate chose him, and stuck well to him, until from ill-health he was compelled to resign to them his trust only a short time since.
Of Mr. STEPHENS as a member of the Legislative Assembly it is difficult to speak. Political opinions are much like a boiling pot, suggestive of hot water and scalded fingers. Opinions of him as a politician will vary extremely. His early training and asso- ciations marked out the main line on which his politics would travel, and the line he steadfastly adhered to; though it has been said, and perhaps may be said with a measure of truth, that now and again there was more shunting to this side or that than was ever clearly explained. This, however, will be admitted by all parties that his political intelligence and influence were always sincerely meant to be employed on the right side to the best of his judgment; and the right side to him was not inevitably the side which would favorably affect his private interests. This distinction is worth recognising and keeping in mind with reference to present political applications. Had he consulted his own interests with microscopic eye, it is conceivable that the bridge over the river Brisbane would have been a free bridge sooner than it was, and that the railway to Brisbane would have reached the city on the south side. Rising to the elevation of a Cabinet Minister, Mr. STEPHENS was Colonial Treasurer, Post master-General, and Minister for Lands. His work in each department was faithful and thorough. While Minister for Lands, his con- stitution broke down, and, medically advised, he retired into private life for a while. Partially re- gaining strength he was nominated as a member of the Legislative Council, but was not strong enough to be often in his place. He would very reluctantly admit it, but those who saw most of him attribute the somewhat sudden failure of physical strength to his unintermitting labors to become familiar with the complicated endless details of the Lands Department. He was unable to continue just at the time when he thought he was beginning to see his way ; to have to resign at such a moment was a bitter trial to him. Politically speaking, he was deficient in dash ; but then, on the other hand, he well knew how to bit and bridle coadjutors who had that quality,in dangerous excess and through his mediumship, times of reefs, sandbanks, and eddies, were frequently safely navigated past and through.
No aspect of Mr. STEPHENS varied labors is more interesting than his conduct of the Courier newspaper for fourteen years. Why he should undertake so Herculean a task his friends never could understand. He made no pretension to be a literary man. He used to say that he bought the Courier from a desire to have in his hands the most potent agent not only upon politics but upon morals and social progress. The accomplish- ment of his wish entailed upon him enormous labor and the most wearing anxieties, yet he never flinched nor regretted. Hardly ever writing himself, he kept a keen watch upon the currents of public opinion, and by the freest intercourse and association with his writers, the tone of the paper was through out maintained at a level equal to his original intention.
When it is said that besides these duties, numerous and onerous enough for ordinary persons, Mr. STEPHENS was also a member of the Education Board, of the "Waterworks Board, a Director of some Building Societies, and a Trustee of the Grammar School, it is sufficiently clear that he was a man of remark- able energy and capacity. But there are some personal characteristics not so well known, which may be referred to with general ad- vantage. He was essentially a devout and religious man; not given to talk- ing, rather preferring that this side of his nature should be revealed by deeds, and shy of publicity with respect to them. Those who knew him only as a public or a business man, would be surprised if they also knew how supreme over him was the control of moral motive. These are matters which some may deem unsuitable for the columns of a secular paper, but they are necessary to be referred to in a complete outline of his character.
Those who have worked under MR STEPHENS will readily testify to his kindness and con- siderateness, his care for their self-respect, his efforts for their comfort and welfare. To all he was always willing to bestow time and trouble when his advice was sought, and there are not a few in Brisbane to whom his suggestions have been worth more than money. Yet with his money he was quietly and silently liberal. He had lived in the colony long enough to know that money is the most injurious thing you can give to some people, and yet that there are times when money is the one item necessary to start on a career of successful industry ; between these two he wisely discriminated, and acted accordingly.
It would be a mistake to think that, engrossed and busy as he always was, he was so much so as to have no time or inclination for those pleasures which are the peculiar privilege of home and domestic life. His home was always full of life and love. He could not have been what he was outside but for the complexion his strong domestic affections gave to the whole of his character. These were his inner strength, and made the time devoted to public and business pursuits often feel like a sacrifice. They supply also a key to the geniality and humaneness which helped him to get through so much tedious routine work, and enabled him to become so skilful a manipulator of those he had to work along with. For the last two years his life has been one of much bodily pain and weakness borne with a cheerful patience which has often been the wonder of those near him. The week before his death he was seized with another attack of difficulty of breathing; and last Sunday morning it was evident to his relatives and friends, before his medical adviser told them, that the end was very near. At night Dr O'Doherty came in just in time to see him pass away as in sleep, without a struggle or even a sigh. But it may be objected that this is the record of a fellow-laborer, the panegyric of a friend. The funeral which left the old house on the hillside at Cumbooquepa yesterday is the answer. Thomas Blacket Stephens had then ceased to be a politician. From him no one expected grace none sought favor. He had been just long enough out of public life to have no claim on organisations, social or poli- tical, and which, by the way, he personally always discouraged. When he was the most active Minister of past administrations he made some enemies, but many friends, and yesterday no man who attended his funeral to the picturesque hill-side at South Brisbane had aught to gain or expect by doing so. Yet he had the largest and most thoroughly representative funeral ever seen in this colony. The Ministry, and the leading members of ther Opposition, the Brisbane trader and the farmer, all ranks and creeds, were blended in one earnest expres- sion of esteem and regret for the deceased, who, through private and public life, had borne the character and deserved the distinction of being a good colonist ; and so we lose those whom we would fain keep with us. He was, as Whittier says:- Tender as a woman: manliness and meekness in him were so allied That they who judged him by his strength or weakness, Saw but a single side. And round his grave are quietude and beauty, With the sweet heavens above - The fitting symbol of a life of duty Transfigured into love.
The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933) Tue 28 Aug 1877
Page 3 The Late T. B. Stephens, M.L.C
The Late T.B. Stephens M.L.C.
THE announcement of the decease of the Hon. THOMAS BLACKET STEPHENS will be received throughout the colony with the feeling that a public loss has been incurred. His name is familiar to many who have never seen him or known him personally and for such the following brief sketch of his life and character is chiefly written:-
Mr. STEPHENS was the son of a Baptist minister, and was born in Rochdale in 1819. Here he acquired the knowledge of wool and the wool market which enabled him at once to take a responsible position on his arrival in Australia. When a young man he was brought under the personal influence of Cobden and Bright, under whose banner he was actively engaged in the Anti-Corn Law agitation. His friendship with Mr John Ashworth helped greatly to develop the moral and religious principles inculcated in childhood and boyhood. The influence of these three gentlemen upon him was deep and lasting, and especially well qualified to prepare him for colonial life. He came to Sydney in 1849, where his business worth was soon recognised. For a year or two he was accustomed to travel the Darling Downs as a wool buyer entrusted with the negotiation of large money transactions with a confidence seldom placed in a new arrival. With a view to localise his business matters he came to reside in Brisbane in 1855. Again, as in Sydney, the weight and force of his individual character were quickly discerned, and he was soon at work outside his business engagements.
In the establishment of a Baptist church in Brisbane he took a part, involving not only advances of money, but not trifling money liabilities, and zeal and enterprise helped to place his own denomination in a permanent and respectable position in Queensland. When Brisbane was formed into a Municipality, he was sought for as an alderman, and occupied afterwards the Mayor's chair. In a civic capacity Mr Stephens may be said to have first evinced in Brisbane those qualities which ranked him as a foremost public man. He was previously known to be shrewd in his own business, and his brother aldermen quickly acknowledged his peculiar abilities for working in a larger area. Some of these gentlemen are accustomed still to allude to the lessons, so to speak, they received from him in the matter of how to carry a desired point; and to refer humorously to the surprise alderman would now and then express at finding that although he was not aware of it, nor intending it, he had really been helping Mr. STEPHENS alll the time, and found himself landed, as it were, in a strange place.
From the Municipal Council to the Legislative Assembly was, for Mr. STEPHENS, a short and natural step. As a resident in South Brisbane, the electorate chose him, and stuck well to him, until from ill-health he was compelled to resign to them his trust only a short time since.
Of Mr. STEPHENS as a member of the Legislative Assembly it is difficult to speak. Political opinions are much like a boiling pot, suggestive of hot water and scalded fingers. Opinions of him as a politician will vary extremely. His early training and asso- ciations marked out the main line on which his politics would travel, and the line he steadfastly adhered to; though it has been said, and perhaps may be said with a measure of truth, that now and again there was more shunting to this side or that than was ever clearly explained. This, however, will be admitted by all parties that his political intelligence and influence were always sincerely meant to be employed on the right side to the best of his judgment; and the right side to him was not inevitably the side which would favorably affect his private interests. This distinction is worth recognising and keeping in mind with reference to present political applications. Had he consulted his own interests with microscopic eye, it is conceivable that the bridge over the river Brisbane would have been a free bridge sooner than it was, and that the railway to Brisbane would have reached the city on the south side. Rising to the elevation of a Cabinet Minister, Mr. STEPHENS was Colonial Treasurer, Post master-General, and Minister for Lands. His work in each department was faithful and thorough. While Minister for Lands, his con- stitution broke down, and, medically advised, he retired into private life for a while. Partially re- gaining strength he was nominated as a member of the Legislative Council, but was not strong enough to be often in his place. He would very reluctantly admit it, but those who saw most of him attribute the somewhat sudden failure of physical strength to his unintermitting labors to become familiar with the complicated endless details of the Lands Department. He was unable to continue just at the time when he thought he was beginning to see his way ; to have to resign at such a moment was a bitter trial to him. Politically speaking, he was deficient in dash ; but then, on the other hand, he well knew how to bit and bridle coadjutors who had that quality,in dangerous excess and through his mediumship, times of reefs, sandbanks, and eddies, were frequently safely navigated past and through.
No aspect of Mr. STEPHENS varied labors is more interesting than his conduct of the Courier newspaper for fourteen years. Why he should undertake so Herculean a task his friends never could understand. He made no pretension to be a literary man. He used to say that he bought the Courier from a desire to have in his hands the most potent agent not only upon politics but upon morals and social progress. The accomplish- ment of his wish entailed upon him enormous labor and the most wearing anxieties, yet he never flinched nor regretted. Hardly ever writing himself, he kept a keen watch upon the currents of public opinion, and by the freest intercourse and association with his writers, the tone of the paper was through out maintained at a level equal to his original intention.
When it is said that besides these duties, numerous and onerous enough for ordinary persons, Mr. STEPHENS was also a member of the Education Board, of the "Waterworks Board, a Director of some Building Societies, and a Trustee of the Grammar School, it is sufficiently clear that he was a man of remark- able energy and capacity. But there are some personal characteristics not so well known, which may be referred to with general ad- vantage. He was essentially a devout and religious man; not given to talk- ing, rather preferring that this side of his nature should be revealed by deeds, and shy of publicity with respect to them. Those who knew him only as a public or a business man, would be surprised if they also knew how supreme over him was the control of moral motive. These are matters which some may deem unsuitable for the columns of a secular paper, but they are necessary to be referred to in a complete outline of his character.
Those who have worked under MR STEPHENS will readily testify to his kindness and con- siderateness, his care for their self-respect, his efforts for their comfort and welfare. To all he was always willing to bestow time and trouble when his advice was sought, and there are not a few in Brisbane to whom his suggestions have been worth more than money. Yet with his money he was quietly and silently liberal. He had lived in the colony long enough to know that money is the most injurious thing you can give to some people, and yet that there are times when money is the one item necessary to start on a career of successful industry ; between these two he wisely discriminated, and acted accordingly.
It would be a mistake to think that, engrossed and busy as he always was, he was so much so as to have no time or inclination for those pleasures which are the peculiar privilege of home and domestic life. His home was always full of life and love. He could not have been what he was outside but for the complexion his strong domestic affections gave to the whole of his character. These were his inner strength, and made the time devoted to public and business pursuits often feel like a sacrifice. They supply also a key to the geniality and humaneness which helped him to get through so much tedious routine work, and enabled him to become so skilful a manipulator of those he had to work along with. For the last two years his life has been one of much bodily pain and weakness borne with a cheerful patience which has often been the wonder of those near him. The week before his death he was seized with another attack of difficulty of breathing; and last Sunday morning it was evident to his relatives and friends, before his medical adviser told them, that the end was very near. At night Dr O'Doherty came in just in time to see him pass away as in sleep, without a struggle or even a sigh. But it may be objected that this is the record of a fellow-laborer, the panegyric of a friend. The funeral which left the old house on the hillside at Cumbooquepa yesterday is the answer. Thomas Blacket Stephens had then ceased to be a politician. From him no one expected grace none sought favor. He had been just long enough out of public life to have no claim on organisations, social or poli- tical, and which, by the way, he personally always discouraged. When he was the most active Minister of past administrations he made some enemies, but many friends, and yesterday no man who attended his funeral to the picturesque hill-side at South Brisbane had aught to gain or expect by doing so. Yet he had the largest and most thoroughly representative funeral ever seen in this colony. The Ministry, and the leading members of ther Opposition, the Brisbane trader and the farmer, all ranks and creeds, were blended in one earnest expres- sion of esteem and regret for the deceased, who, through private and public life, had borne the character and deserved the distinction of being a good colonist ; and so we lose those whom we would fain keep with us. He was, as Whittier says:- Tender as a woman: manliness and meekness in him were so allied That they who judged him by his strength or weakness, Saw but a single side. And round his grave are quietude and beauty, With the sweet heavens above - The fitting symbol of a life of duty Transfigured into love.
The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933) Tue 28 Aug 1877
Page 3 The Late T. B. Stephens, M.L.C
THE announcement of the decease of the Hon. THOMAS BLACKET STEPHENS will be received throughout the colony with the feeling that a public loss has been incurred. His name is familiar to many who have never seen him or known him personally and for such the following brief sketch of his life and character is chiefly written:-
Mr. STEPHENS was the son of a Baptist minister, and was born in Rochdale in 1819. Here he acquired the knowledge of wool and the wool market which enabled him at once to take a responsible position on his arrival in Australia. When a young man he was brought under the personal influence of Cobden and Bright, under whose banner he was actively engaged in the Anti-Corn Law agitation. His friendship with Mr John Ashworth helped greatly to develop the moral and religious principles inculcated in childhood and boyhood. The influence of these three gentlemen upon him was deep and lasting, and especially well qualified to prepare him for colonial life. He came to Sydney in 1849, where his business worth was soon recognised. For a year or two he was accustomed to travel the Darling Downs as a wool buyer entrusted with the negotiation of large money transactions with a confidence seldom placed in a new arrival. With a view to localise his business matters he came to reside in Brisbane in 1855. Again, as in Sydney, the weight and force of his individual character were quickly discerned, and he was soon at work outside his business engagements.
In the establishment of a Baptist church in Brisbane he took a part, involving not only advances of money, but not trifling money liabilities, and zeal and enterprise helped to place his own denomination in a permanent and respectable position in Queensland. When Brisbane was formed into a Municipality, he was sought for as an alderman, and occupied afterwards the Mayor's chair. In a civic capacity Mr Stephens may be said to have first evinced in Brisbane those qualities which ranked him as a foremost public man. He was previously known to be shrewd in his own business, and his brother aldermen quickly acknowledged his peculiar abilities for working in a larger area. Some of these gentlemen are accustomed still to allude to the lessons, so to speak, they received from him in the matter of how to carry a desired point; and to refer humorously to the surprise alderman would now and then express at finding that although he was not aware of it, nor intending it, he had really been helping Mr. STEPHENS alll the time, and found himself landed, as it were, in a strange place.
From the Municipal Council to the Legislative Assembly was, for Mr. STEPHENS, a short and natural step. As a resident in South Brisbane, the electorate chose him, and stuck well to him, until from ill-health he was compelled to resign to them his trust only a short time since.
Of Mr. STEPHENS as a member of the Legislative Assembly it is difficult to speak. Political opinions are much like a boiling pot, suggestive of hot water and scalded fingers. Opinions of him as a politician will vary extremely. His early training and asso- ciations marked out the main line on which his politics would travel, and the line he steadfastly adhered to; though it has been said, and perhaps may be said with a measure of truth, that now and again there was more shunting to this side or that than was ever clearly explained. This, however, will be admitted by all parties that his political intelligence and influence were always sincerely meant to be employed on the right side to the best of his judgment; and the right side to him was not inevitably the side which would favorably affect his private interests. This distinction is worth recognising and keeping in mind with reference to present political applications. Had he consulted his own interests with microscopic eye, it is conceivable that the bridge over the river Brisbane would have been a free bridge sooner than it was, and that the railway to Brisbane would have reached the city on the south side. Rising to the elevation of a Cabinet Minister, Mr. STEPHENS was Colonial Treasurer, Post master-General, and Minister for Lands. His work in each department was faithful and thorough. While Minister for Lands, his con- stitution broke down, and, medically advised, he retired into private life for a while. Partially re- gaining strength he was nominated as a member of the Legislative Council, but was not strong enough to be often in his place. He would very reluctantly admit it, but those who saw most of him attribute the somewhat sudden failure of physical strength to his unintermitting labors to become familiar with the complicated endless details of the Lands Department. He was unable to continue just at the time when he thought he was beginning to see his way ; to have to resign at such a moment was a bitter trial to him. Politically speaking, he was deficient in dash ; but then, on the other hand, he well knew how to bit and bridle coadjutors who had that quality,in dangerous excess and through his mediumship, times of reefs, sandbanks, and eddies, were frequently safely navigated past and through.
No aspect of Mr. STEPHENS varied labors is more interesting than his conduct of the Courier newspaper for fourteen years. Why he should undertake so Herculean a task his friends never could understand. He made no pretension to be a literary man. He used to say that he bought the Courier from a desire to have in his hands the most potent agent not only upon politics but upon morals and social progress. The accomplish- ment of his wish entailed upon him enormous labor and the most wearing anxieties, yet he never flinched nor regretted. Hardly ever writing himself, he kept a keen watch upon the currents of public opinion, and by the freest intercourse and association with his writers, the tone of the paper was through out maintained at a level equal to his original intention.
When it is said that besides these duties, numerous and onerous enough for ordinary persons, Mr. STEPHENS was also a member of the Education Board, of the "Waterworks Board, a Director of some Building Societies, and a Trustee of the Grammar School, it is sufficiently clear that he was a man of remark- able energy and capacity. But there are some personal characteristics not so well known, which may be referred to with general ad- vantage. He was essentially a devout and religious man; not given to talk- ing, rather preferring that this side of his nature should be revealed by deeds, and shy of publicity with respect to them. Those who knew him only as a public or a business man, would be surprised if they also knew how supreme over him was the control of moral motive. These are matters which some may deem unsuitable for the columns of a secular paper, but they are necessary to be referred to in a complete outline of his character.
Those who have worked under MR STEPHENS will readily testify to his kindness and con- siderateness, his care for their self-respect, his efforts for their comfort and welfare. To all he was always willing to bestow time and trouble when his advice was sought, and there are not a few in Brisbane to whom his suggestions have been worth more than money. Yet with his money he was quietly and silently liberal. He had lived in the colony long enough to know that money is the most injurious thing you can give to some people, and yet that there are times when money is the one item necessary to start on a career of successful industry ; between these two he wisely discriminated, and acted accordingly.
It would be a mistake to think that, engrossed and busy as he always was, he was so much so as to have no time or inclination for those pleasures which are the peculiar privilege of home and domestic life. His home was always full of life and love. He could not have been what he was outside but for the complexion his strong domestic affections gave to the whole of his character. These were his inner strength, and made the time devoted to public and business pursuits often feel like a sacrifice. They supply also a key to the geniality and humaneness which helped him to get through so much tedious routine work, and enabled him to become so skilful a manipulator of those he had to work along with. For the last two years his life has been one of much bodily pain and weakness borne with a cheerful patience which has often been the wonder of those near him. The week before his death he was seized with another attack of difficulty of breathing; and last Sunday morning it was evident to his relatives and friends, before his medical adviser told them, that the end was very near. At night Dr O'Doherty came in just in time to see him pass away as in sleep, without a struggle or even a sigh. But it may be objected that this is the record of a fellow-laborer, the panegyric of a friend. The funeral which left the old house on the hillside at Cumbooquepa yesterday is the answer. Thomas Blacket Stephens had then ceased to be a politician. From him no one expected grace none sought favor. He had been just long enough out of public life to have no claim on organisations, social or poli- tical, and which, by the way, he personally always discouraged. When he was the most active Minister of past administrations he made some enemies, but many friends, and yesterday no man who attended his funeral to the picturesque hill-side at South Brisbane had aught to gain or expect by doing so. Yet he had the largest and most thoroughly representative funeral ever seen in this colony. The Ministry, and the leading members of ther Opposition, the Brisbane trader and the farmer, all ranks and creeds, were blended in one earnest expres- sion of esteem and regret for the deceased, who, through private and public life, had borne the character and deserved the distinction of being a good colonist ; and so we lose those whom we would fain keep with us. He was, as Whittier says:- Tender as a woman: manliness and meekness in him were so allied That they who judged him by his strength or weakness, Saw but a single side. And round his grave are quietude and beauty, With the sweet heavens above - The fitting symbol of a life of duty Transfigured into love.
The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933) Tue 28 Aug 1877
Page 3 The Late T. B. Stephens, M.L.C
Gravesite Details
; son/William & Elizabeth (Blacket)
Family Members
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