[2][3] Upon his retirement in 1879, Stevens moved to Reading, Berkshire as a widower to pursue his archaeological and geological interests.
[4][1] Whilst appointed as Medical Officer, Stevens reported that disease was being spread by polluted water and poor hygiene and informed support for significant health legislations including the 1866 Sanitary Act which had been hastened by the cholera epidemic.
[2] Outside of his medical career, Stevens was fascinated with history, geology, botany, and archaeology and wrote detailed finds on his collections.
[1] He has been heralded by past curator of natural history at Reading Museum, David Norton, for his approach towards curating, citing that he can be perceived as a "pioneer in seeing museums not as cabinets of curiosities but as places of education and particularly of their localities" after discussing how Stevens refused a chipped off stone fragment from Stonehenge out of concern that it would promote further destruction.
[2] At the time of his death, Stevens was a member of the Royal College of Physicians London, and the British Archaeological Association.