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 in London for advice on what to do and see. The experts include the late Cedric Charles Dickens, great grandson of the Inimitable; Professor Michael Slater, one of the world's most renowned Dickens scholars and author of a recently released biography of Dickens; Dr. Paul Schlicke, then President of the Dickens Fellowship; Professor Lisa Jardine from the University of London and Jan Mark, writer and critic. The conversation ranges from advice on some of the lesser known places to go, to a discussion of what Dickens expected to do and accomplish. The Dickensians show Miriam the original Daniel Maclise drawing