Sir Stephen Edward De Vere, 4th Baronet (26 July 1812 – 10 November 1904)[1] was an Anglo-Irish, Whig Party, Member of Parliament for County Limerick, who in the Famine year 1847 bore personal witness to the conditions aboard the "coffin ships" that carried Irish emigrants to North America, and who converted to Roman Catholicism.
[2] In 1847, he took passage in one of the infamous "coffin ships" that transported Irish emigrants fleeing the Great Famine to British North America and the United States, wanting to see for himself the horrendous conditions that were leading to the deaths of so many of these passengers.
[4] De Vere composed a withering report on his voyage now contained within The Elgin-Grey Papers.
[5] When Colonial Secretary Earl Grey read this report, he forwarded it to Lord Elgin, Governor-General of Upper Canada and Lower Canada in the hope that these inhumane conditions could be improved.
With the title, Stephen inherited the Curraghchase Forest Park estate, in County Limerick.