the bothy story

Henry ‘Inky’ Stephens was born on 2 February 1841, the son of Dr Henry Stephens and his second wife, Anne who was from Redbourn, Hertfordshire. Dr Henry Stephens (1796–1864) was the inventor in 1832 of an indelible “blue-black writing fluid” which was to become famous as Stephens Ink and which established the foundation of a successful worldwide company for over 130 years.

Inky grew up among his father’s work and learnt the business from a young age. Outbuildings at their family home were used by his father as a laboratory for the research and manufacture of ink and wood stains, nurturing Inky’s love for experimentation.

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At the age of 23, in 1864, he took over the management of the company upon the sudden death of his father who collapsed and died at Farringdon station.

The Stephens Ink Company was innovative and profitable, and Inky was a very wealthy man. He was popular in Finchley as a businessman, lecturer and philanthropist and was known as the ‘uncrowned king of Finchley’. He was also a politician and sat in the House of Commons from 1887 to 1900 as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Hornsey division of Middlesex, which included Finchley.

Aside from the family business and politics, he was also a chemist and had an interest in agriculture and water management. Inky purchased the land, where Stephens House & Gardens, (formerly known as the Avenue House Estate) now sits, in 1874 and started developing the house and grounds. With the death of Inky in 1918, Stephens House & Gardens was bequeathed to the ‘people’. The Estate had a variety of uses before opening as a public park in 1928. [/read]