The son of William Stephens of Bristol, labourer, he was the brother of Edward Stephens (A).
The Stephen’s family had lived in Plymouth, Devon, before moving to Bristol in about 1770 (Mackenna 1957, 34).
| 1772 | 23 Jan. He was apprenticed to Richard and Judith Champion. Friends to find apparel (A). |
It has been suggested that William Stephens was apprenticed to William Cookworthy in 1770 and that this apprenticeship to Champion was a transfer (Mackenna 1957, 34). However, there is no record of Cookworthy having taken apprentices in Bristol and any transfer of apprenticeship would also have been recorded.
| 1781 | 17 Feb. The freedom of ‘William Stephens China painter (a Quaker) apprentice to Richard Champion’ (F, G). |
| 1781 | China Painter, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire (P). |
He was apparently employed at Tewkesbury as a woollen draper’s assistant, and later in the same trade at Plymouth (Mackenna 1957, 36). He died in Bridport, Dorset, in February 1837 (Mackenna 1957, 38).