THE COLONEL STEPHENS SOCIETY
THE COLONEL
A Summary of Issue 83
The Colonel
A Summary of Issue 85
The Winter 2006 issue of The Colonel has just been published.
The main feature is a presentation of the
results, so far, of Philip Shaw’s long-term research into the family history of
Holman F Stephens. His attempts to unravel the
mystery surrounding the origins of his grandfather, Septimus, are explained together with
an account of his extremely varied life as a tavern keeper, master of a workhouse,
butcher, general dealer and land agent. It represented a great contrast to that of his son
as a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and of his grandson, the light railway
promoter, engineer and manager. The article is accompanied by a family tree and
illustrations of the Colonel’s parents and grandparents.
Other features include:
- The first instalment of edited extracts of a survey of the mineral
resources located near five of the Colonel’s railways, apparently commissioned by
Stephens and published in 1921.
- A further instalment of the Southern Railway’s report on the Hundred
of Manhood and Selsey Tramway.
- The final part of David Powell’s analysis of the Ward Green Archive
of papers relating to the re-opening of the Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Railway.
- A fascinating reminiscence by Howard Carey of the operation of the level
crossing gates at All Saints, Clevedon on the Weston, Clevedon & Portishead Railway.
- The final instalment of Laurie Cooksey’s campaign to ‘set the
record straight’ on a published account of the Rye & Camber tramway.
- Les Darbyshire’s address to members gathered at the Charing Cross
Hotel to mark the 75th anniversary of the Colonel’s death in which he
poses the question; ‘How Great Was the Colonel?’
- A full review of the long-awaited history of the Selsey Tramway by Laurie
Cooksey.
- Our regular trawl of the railway press for items of interest to members.
The
Colonel is distributed quarterly to members of the Colonel Stephens Society.
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