McManus 168

Robert Gibb Stephen was born in 1829 to George Stephen, iron merchant, and his wife, Ann Gibb.^[1] Robert became a third generation to become a metal worker, his grandfather, David Stephen, having been a ‘hammerman’ or blacksmith.^[12]

By 1846, his father, George Stephen had not only survived the sequestration of his business but had managed to re-establish a favourable and successful position.^[13]

The following year, his son, Robert Gibb Stephen, became an assistant in his father’s ironmonger’s business, at approximately 18 years of age.^[10] He was to remain in this role for a further 7 years, before being made a co-partner in 1854.^[10] Father and son worked in tandem until 1861, when their co-partnery was dissolved.^[9] Robert Gibb Stephen remained, becoming head of the long established firm.^[4]

Another employee within the firm, Alexander Stewart Rae, was assumed as a partner, together with Robert Stephen, around 1871.^[14] He had been connected with the firm from the early 1850s^[6] before becoming a partner. In turn, his sons, Alexander Stewart Rae and George Stephen Rae, were to follow in their father’s footsteps.^[14]

Robert Gibb Stephen took an active hand in the establishment of the Dundee Tramway Company and was reported as having ‘devoted a large amount of time and labour to the management and working of the tramway system.’^[15]

Reknowned for having been an active and successful businessman, Robert Stephen was highly respected too for his amiable qualities.^[6]

In 1936, the Dundee Chamber of Commerce listed ‘George Stephen & Son’ as one of the few businesses in Dundee to be over a century old.^[16]

Ten years later, in 1946, the firm of ‘George Stephen & Son,’ 29 Castle Street, Dundee, was purchased by ‘Messrs Brown & Tawse,’ the same firm which acquired the neighbouring firm of iron merchants, ‘D & W Robertson,’ in 1881.^[17]