Sir William Haswell Stephenson (1836-1918) was an English industrialist, Methodist and philanthropist, and mayor of

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

Personal life

Stephenson was born at

Throckley Throckley is a village located in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England, approximately west of Newcastle city centre. Hadrian's Wall passed through the village, its course traced by the village's main road, Hexham Road. Throckley lies within ...

, near

, on 15 May 1836. His family were Methodists and his ancestors had been involved in

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

's first establishment of Methodism in the north east of England in the 1740s. He was educated at Wesley College in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

. He became a methodist local preacher in 1859, and was a supporter of the Local Preachers' Mutual Aid Association. He married Eliza Mary Bond, from Lincolnshire, in 1862. She died in December 1901, aged 67. They had two daughters, Charlotte, who died before her father, and Kate. Stephenson died on 7 May 1918.

Career, public office and philanthropy

Stephenson was involved in his family's business, the Throckley Coal Company, and later in other local businesses including John Spencer and sons, steel manufacturers, and Airedale Mills. He was Mayor of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1875, 1884, and 1894; Lord Mayor in 1902, 1909, 1910, and 1911; and sheriff in 1886. In November 1902 he received the Lord Mayor ( Sir Marcus Samuel) and Sheriffs of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

on an official visit to Newcastle. Together with his wife he endowed several early public libraries in Newcastle. In 1896 the Stephenson Library at Elswick was the first branch library in the city, built at a cost of £4,000. It became West End Leisure and Learning in 1984, later a housing office, and then West End Woman and Girls Centre. The Victoria Library in Heaton was opened in 1898; by 2001 it was no longer in use as a library and the council had proposed selling the building but after local objections it was agreed to use it as a centre for the local Muslim community. After his wife's death in 1901 Stephenson built the Lady Stephenson Library in

Walker Walker or The Walker may refer to: People *Walker (given name) *Walker (surname) *Walker (Brazilian footballer) (born 1982), Brazilian footballer Places In the United States *Walker, Arizona, in Yavapai County *Walker, Mono County, California * ...

; opened in 1908 it was still in use as a library, also known as Walker Library, until it closed on 29 June 2013 and was refurbished in 2014 to form the premises of

Cambridge Scholars Publishing Cambridge Scholars Publishing (CSP) is an academic book publisher based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is not affiliated with the University of Cambridge or Cambridge University Press. The company publishes in health science, life scienc ...

. In 1903 Stephenson gave the city a bronze statue of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

Alfred Gilbert Sir Alfred Gilbert (12 August 18544 November 1934) was an English sculptor. He was born in London and studied sculpture under Joseph Boehm, Matthew Noble, Édouard Lantéri and Pierre-Jules Cavelier. His first work of importance was ''The Kis ...

, to commemorate 500 years of the office of

Sheriff of Newcastle upon Tyne The office of Sheriff of Newcastle upon Tyne existed from until local government reorganisation in , and was reintroduced in as a title held additionally by the Deputy Lord Mayor of Newcastle upon Tyne. The city has a sheriff because it was ...

. It stands in St Nicholas Square, near

Newcastle Cathedral Newcastle Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Nicholas, is a Church of England cathedral in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Newcastle and is the mother church of the Diocese of Newcastle. ...

in the city centre and is Grade II*

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

Recognition

Stephenson was knighted on 30 June 1900 at Windsor Castle.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, William Haswell 1836 births 1918 deaths Mayors of Newcastle upon Tyne English philanthropists 19th-century British philanthropists People educated at Wesley College, Sheffield