Samuel Stephens

Samuel Stephens (1808 – 18 January 1840) was an English businessman who was the first Colonial Manager appointed by the South Australian Company to the new colony of South Australia. Origins He was born the eighth son of Rev. John Stephens (1772-1841) who was prominent in the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society and was President of the British Wesleyan Conference in 1827. His siblings included John (1806-1850) and Edward (1811-1861), both of whom were to be prominent in the settlement of South Australia. A quarrelsome individual, he fell out with the Wesleyan authorities in 1835 and applied for a position as an assistant surveyor in the proposed new colony of South Australia. Instead, however, he ended up being appointed the first manager of the South Australian Company. Manager, South Australian Company