George Stephen, 1st Baron Mount Stephen bare-footed stable boy, he became the richest man in Canada and closely associated with George V, whose wife, Queen Mary, was a lifelong friend and confidante of the second Lady Mount Stephen. In 1829, Stephen was born at Dufftown, Banffshire, in a cottage built by his grandfather. He was the son of William Stephen (b. 1801), a carpenter, and Elspet, daughter of John Smith, a crofter at Knockando, Moray. His mother was a first cousin of the philanthropic Grant brothers of Manchester, immortalised as the "Cheeryble Brothers" in Charles Dickens' book, Nicholas Nickleby. Stephen began life as a boy running
Dickens in America completely restored. Miriam tells us that when Dickens came to the hall for his public reading there was a poultry show going on downstairs and when the janitor turned on the lights for the show, the roosters thought it was morning and started to crow. They continued to do so throughout the reading. Dickens was quite put out. Miriam finishes her tour of America with a special meeting at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the New York Public Library on Saturday, December 18, 2004. Everyone who appears in the series, from Boston to St. Louis to Montreal, was invited and