James STEVENS 2
- Born: 11 May 1773 3
- Christened: 8 Jun 1773, St Andrew, Farnham, Surrey 4
- Marriage (1): Eliza Watts WILKINSON on 30 Apr 1804 in St Leonard, Shoreditch, Middlesex 1
- Died: 31 Mar 1850, Farnham, Surrey 4 5
- Buried: 9 Apr 1850, St Andrew, Farnham, Surrey 4 5
 Notes:
He was the younger of the two surviving sons. After leaving school James learnt the farming business in Tongham with his uncle James Paine, but after two years took up the Draper's trade, which he did not enjoy, and then moved into banking in The Borough with the draper Daniel Bristow. He had sole control of the Bank from 1804 to 1828, when it was sold to George Knight and Sons. In 1802 James moved into 62 Castle Street, which he inherited from his aunt Mary Smither in 1805, and in 1808 purchased 61 Castle Street which he rebuilt as his Banking House. Family tradition is that he got into banking because he took an armed servant with him to Weyhill Fair near Andover, which led to him carrying money for other farmers, but the tale has probably grown with the telling. James became a significant figure in Farnham, as a banker, landowner, hop grower and merchant, and his two eldest sons were the first in the Stevens line to be educated at University.
In 1804 James married Eliza Wilkinson (qv), daughter of a Clergyman in the City of London, and had at least eight children, four of whom survived to adulthood. The family lived at 62 Castle Street. Their eldest son James was educated at St John's College Oxford and became Rector of Chesham Bois in Buckinghamshire, but died from TB when he was 35. He had married his cousin Charlotta Goudge, who remarried and moved to Brighton. James snr's only daughter Louisa did not marry, and lived in Castle Street. Their second son William was educated at Worcester College Oxford, and was appointed Curate of Stoke next Guildford. He married three times, had seven children, but also died from TB when he was 40. His surviving wife Sarah retired with her daughter in Bristol. James' youngest son was Alfred (qv).
PCC: James Stevens PROB11/2113 dated 6-5-1850
Additional sources:
Florence Stevens et al (1909 et seq). Stevens family history - unpublished compilation.
Heather, P. (2019). The Town of Farnham Vol 1 A History of The Borough and Castle Street. Farnham and District Museum Society.
Foster J (1888) Alumni Oxoniensis
Clergy List
James married Eliza Watts WILKINSON, daughter of Rev Watts WILKINSON and Elizabeth MARLOW, on 30 Apr 1804 in St Leonard, Shoreditch, Middlesex.1 (Eliza Watts WILKINSON was born on 9 Mar 1781 in Hoxton, Middlesex 6, christened on 5 Apr 1781 in St Leonard, Shoreditch, Middlesex,7 died on 10 Aug 1845 in Farnham, Surrey 4 5 and was buried on 19 Aug 1845 in St Andrew, Farnham, Surrey 4.)
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