Francis Stephen is the son of colonial judge and Chief Justice of New South Wales Sir Alfred Stephen. He married Frances Shadforth, a daughter of lieutenant-colonel Thomas Shadforth and Frances Shadforth (nee Hinson), in 1829.
Together with G. R. Nichols, Stephen was co-editor of the Australian newspaper from 1833 to 1835. According to R. B. Walker's The Newspaper Press in New South Wales, 1803-1920, the co-editors were 'faithful to the liberal and emancipist point of view' of the newspaper.
On 14 November 1835, the Sydney Monitor carried an announcement that a new periodical, to be edited by Stephen, would 'make its appearance on New Year's Day [1836] under the title of the Australian Magazine'. No evidence has yet been found that this journal was published at that time.
