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 were outraged that Dickens was advocating reciprocal copyright laws, but in the same issue where they chastised Dickens, they were pirating "American Notes", publishing it right on the front page. Dickens commented that the social reform he hoped to see in America was not working. “This is not the republic I came to see,” he said. Dickens wrote about pigs wandering up and down the city streets. Miriam says she is thankful we don’t see anything like that today, as a woman walks by with a pet pot-bellied pig on a leash. Dickens talked about the colors of women’s clothing,