Berkeley Stephens

{{Short description|English cricketer (1871–1950)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Use British English|date=February 2013}}

{{Infobox cricketer

| name =

| image =

| country = England

| fullname = Berkeley John Byng Stephens

| nickname =

| birth_date = 22 July 1871

| birth_place = Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire, England

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1950|5|5|1871|7|22|df=yes}}

| death_place = Barnwood, Gloucestershire, England

| heightft =

| heightinch =

| batting = Right-handed

| bowling =

| role = Wicket-keeper

| family = Frederick Stephens (father)
Arthur Byng (cousin)

| club1 = Europeans

| year1 = {{nowrap|1895/96–1899/00}}

| columns = 1

| column1 = First-class

| matches1 = 4

| runs1 = 4

| bat avg1 = 0.66

| 100s/50s1 = –/–

| top score1 = 2

| hidedeliveries = true

| catches/stumpings1 = 5/3

| date = 26 November

| year = 2022

| source = https://www.espncricinfo.com/player/berkeley-stephens-34452 ESPNcricinfo

}}

Berkeley John Byng Stephens {{postnominals|CIE}} (22 July 1871 — 5 May 1950) was an English first-class cricketer and merchant.

The son of the cricketer and British Army officer Frederick Stephens, he was born at Huntingdon in July 1871. He was educated at Winchester College,{{cite book |title=Winchester College, 1836-1906: A Register |date=1907 |publisher=P. and G. Wells |page=438 |url=https://archive.org/details/winchestercolleg00wincuoft |language=en}} where he played for the college cricket team.{{cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/228422.html|title=Wisden - Obituaries in 1950|date=4 December 2005 |publisher=ESPNcricinfo|access-date=26 November 2022}} After completing his education, he worked as a merchant in Liverpool for Messrs W. & R. Graham & Co.. Going to British India, he worked in the teak trade for the Bombay and Burmah Trading Corporation, holding the position of manager of the companies Rangoon operations from 1905 to 1915. While in India, Stephens played first-class cricket for the Europeans cricket team on four occasions as a wicket-keeper in the Bombay Presidency Match between 1895 and 1899.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/14/14629/First-Class_Matches.html|title=First-Class Matches played by Berkeley Stephens|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=26 November 2022|url-access=subscription}} He took five catches and made three stumpings in these matches.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/14/14629/f_Batting_by_Team.html|title=First-Class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Berkeley Stephens|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=26 November 2022|url-access=subscription}} He was a made a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire in the 1915 New Year Honours, for his service as a Member of the Council of Harcourt Butler, the Lieutenant-Governor of Burma.{{London Gazette|issue=29024|date=29 December 1914|page=3|supp=y}} Returning to England in his later life, he was a director of the Cirencester Brewery.£44,000 Gloucestershire estate. Gloucester Citizen. 25 July 1950. p. 5 Formerly a churchwarden at Cirencester, Stephens died there at a nursing home in May 1950, having spent the final years of his life in considerable ill-health.Death of Mr. B. J. Stephens. Gloucestershire Echo. 6 May 1950. p. 6