He studied chemistry under Dr Chaim Weizmann at Victoria University of Manchester.

[2] Along with Dr. J. E. Myers, Stephen contributed to the British World War I effort by developing a process to make mustard gas that was more rapid than the process being used by the Germans.

[3][1] He received his DSc degree from Victoria University of Manchester in 1920 and continued on as a senior lecturer.

His second marriage was to Theodora (Dora) Elizabeth De Kiewiet, PhD in South Africa.

[5] His widow Dora donated the lake and woodland behind The Kilns in Risinghurst to the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust in 1969, and it was known until recently as the Henry Stephen/C.S.Lewis Nature Reserve monikered in his memory.