52 Ancestors 2026 Week 18 - Tradition
Four Generations of Firstborn Stephens Some family traditions are loud and ceremonial. Others are quiet, almost invisible, carried not in objects or rituals but in the simple act of naming a child. In the Wadey family of Brighton, the tradition was unmistakable: for four generations, the firstborn son was named Stephen . By the time Stephen Arthur Wadey arrived in 1921, he was the latest in a line of Stephens stretching back nearly a century — a tradition that began with a Victorian patriarch and echoed through every generation that followed. This is the story of that tradition, and of the men who carried the name. 1. Stephen Edwin Wadey (1829–1902): The Patriarch Who Began the Tradition The tradition begins with Stephen Edwin Wadey , born in 1829 — the earliest known Stephen in the family and the man whose name became the anchor for the generations that followed. He lived through the rapid expansion of Brighton from a seaside town to a bustling urban centre. His life set the patter...
