Fascinating facts in the history of Mauritius: Sir William Stevenson, K.C.B

At the end of the courtyard formed by the wings of the Government House, behind the statue of Queen Victoria, is the martial figure in bronze of Sir William Stevenson, K.C.B. who had assumed the reins of Government from 1857 to 1863.

His administration had proved most prosperous. He was able to adopt a more equitable system for the payment of the Civil Service than the one which had existed so far. The salaries of the officials were raised, and they saw before them the prospect of further increments. His genial manner and sterling honesty endeared him in a peculiar degree to the planters.

Little did he know that he who witnessed the unveiling of the statue of La Bourdonnais, a tardy tribute to this man of genius, father of the colony’s prosperity, would have his statue erected by the public officials of the British colony on the 20^th June 1867. This mastery work of art is attributed to Prosper d’Epinay, one of the most famous and distinguished sculptors at that present time.

Sir William Stevenson who died at Rēduit was buried in Moka, Mauritius. About his son, Francis Seymour Stevenson, born in Moka too, he said that he could learn “to glory in looking upon himself as a true Mauritian’.

Lza M Natur