Memorial

Stained Glass Window Stephensons 1915 and 1917 St. Peter

Wallsend

Memorial Name: Stained Glass Window Stephensons 1915 and 1917 St. Peter (W7.15)

NEWMP Ref No.: W7.15

Parish: Wallsend

Original Location:

St. Peter’s Church, Church Bank / North Terrace.

Which War:

1914-18

Dedication, Creation or Publication date:

“To be unveiled shortly” (March 1922)

Who Commissioned:

Mrs. C. Stephenson, mother of the two named, widow of the late Christopher Stephenson.

How Money was Raised:

Private

Present Condition: Restored recently

Inscription:

Left hand light
To the glory of God & in loving memory
of Mary Sylvia Jane Stephenson, Red Cross Nurse, V.A.D.
Died in Cairo November 9th 1915 aged 23 years.

Right hand light:
To the glory of God and in loving memory of
2nd Lieut. Robert Brewis Stephenson, N.F., M.C., died
of wounds in France October 23rd 1917 aged 20 years.

Memorial Description:

Stained glass window of three lights, total width 5 feet 6 inches.

This is a family memorial, with the central panel recording the names of the rest of the family.

The left hand window records the daughter who died. It shows a woman in blue robes carrying a vase, and bears the text “She hath done what she could” which appears in a panel half way up the window.

The right hand light commemorates the son who was killed, and depicts David with a staff. It has the text “I came to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts” in a panel half way up the window.

Names:

See above.

Notes:

1. See Robert Brewis Stephenson’s Every Name a Story Entry.

2. His elder brother, Christopher, who reached the rank of Captain in the Northumberland Fusiliers, also won the Military Cross.

3. See Mary Sylvia Stephenson’s Every Name a Story entry

4. Angela Conroy says: “One of the lady workers at the Church told me a story about the Church going to be demolished in the 1990s. She said a schoolgirl had written to the Queen about this and apparently the Queen had got in touch with the Archbishop of Canterbury. Their was a public outcry and a huge amount of money was brought forth from some organisation (I can’t remember which one now) and the building was able to be stabilised and saved.”

Sources:

Photos: Ralph Gould; Tony Harding

Newcastle Weekly Chronicle
25/03/1922 reports proposed unveiling “shortly”.

Shields Daily News
20/03/1922 reports proposed unveiling.

A History of the Parish of Wallsend, William Richardson, (Northumberland Press, 1923)

Sources of quotations:
“She hath done what she could.” Mark 14 v 8. The story of the woman who anointed Jesus’s feet with precious ointment.
“I came to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts”. 1 Samuel 17-45. The story of David & Goliath.