Death and Legacy
Stephen's final years were undermined first by physical and then steady mental decline. Despite accusations of unfairness and bias regarding the murder trials of Israel Lipski in 1887 and Florence Maybrick in 1889, Stephen continued performing his judicial duties. However, by early 1891 his declining capacity to exercise judicial functions had become a matter of public discussion and press comment, and following medical advice Stephen resigned in April of that year. Even during his final days on the bench, Stephen is reported to have been 'brief, terse and to the point, and as lucid as in the old days'. Having lost his intellectual power, however, 'as the hours wore on his voice dropped almost to a whisper'
Stephen died of chronic renal failure on 11 March 1894 at Red House Park, a nursing home near Ipswich, and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery. His wife survived him.
He is the subject of the book James Fitzjames Stephen: Portrait of a Victorian Rationalist by Keith John Michael Smith.
An eleven-volume set of his collected writings is currently being prepared for Oxford University Press by the Editorial Institute at Boston University.
Read more about this topic: James Fitzjames Stephen
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