He was educated at King William's College, Isle of Man.

[1] In the 1860s, Stephenson travelled to New Zealand to supervise the survey and arrangements for the construction of a railway from Christchurch, through Mount Pleasant to Lyttelton Harbour.

Stephenson enjoyed a long association with the country, for which he designed several other works in the mid-nineteenth century.

He is perhaps most famous for his close relationship with the Institution of Civil Engineers.

The expansion of the Institution's premises in 1868 was made possible by his donation of land to the rear of his offices at 24 Great George Street.