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.
He was born the eighth son of one Rev. John Stephens.[1][2] His siblings included John (1806-1850)[3] and Edward (1811-1861).[4]
He travelled to South Australia in February 1836 in the Duke of York (the first of the Company ships, followed by the Lady Mary Pelham, and the John Pirie) with 8 fellow-colonists and 29 labourers, and on 27 July 1836 was the first to embark on Kangaroo Island, the intended site of the first settlement.[1] The capital of the island, originally to be called "Angas" for the Company's chairman, was renamed Kingscote by Stephens.[5] His brother-in-law Thomas Hudson Beare (died 7 November 1861), who travelled with him, was the first storekeeper of the Colony.[6]
Stephens resigned his position in 1837 to concentrate on exploration of the colony. Other accounts depict Stephens as an inept manager, tardy in administrative duties and exceeding his authority, that he was replaced by David McLaren before the expiration of his contract of seven years, then sacked after he killed a sailor from a rival firm at Encounter Bay.[2] He was heavily criticised for the purchase, contrary to instructions, of 60 acres of town land for the South Australian Company, but many came later to applaud his action.[1]
In 1839 he was appointed inaugural treasurer of the committee to found the Botanical and Horticultural Gardens.[7]
He was killed on his return to Adelaide on the final downhill, from an expedition up the River Murray, when his horse stumbled and rolled over him.[8] He was survived by his wife Charlotte Hudson Stephens (née Beare), who died in 1875.[2]