Alban Charles Stonor, barrister, was the son of Charles Stonor, a colonel in the Spanish army, and his wife Mary, daughter of Charles Butler, a prominent advocate of Catholic emancipation. The Stonors were an ancient Catholic family of Oxfordshire that can be traced back to the fourteenth century. Stonor was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn and in 1841 appointed crown solicitor in Van Diemen's Land. He arrived in Sydney in January 1842. In Hobart Town Stonor claimed the additional position of clerk of the peace at 250 pounds and appealed to Downing Street successfully when Lieutenant Governor Franklin rejected his claim. His application for the position of solicitor-general in 1844 was rejected as it was felt he had diligence but not eminence at the Bar. Stonor succeeded to the position in 1848 only to take extended leave in 1852 as the Medical Board found he was 'labouring under melancholy.' He returned to England and in December 1853 was asked to resign and eventually granted a gratuity of 425 pounds.
On 18 November 1844 Stonor married Eliza Anne, the eldest daughter of A. R. Truro. In 1845 he became editor of the Spectator, supporting the unpopular Eardley-Wilmot and in 1846, The foundation of Christ College, a 'noble seminary of native talent' in 1846 prompted the publication of his Poetical Fragments, translations from classical literature. E. Morris Miller's Australian Literature from its Beginnings to 1935 (1940): 218 comments: 'The advancement of culture seriously occupied many Tasmanian citizens from the beginnings of the State's colonization, and there were frequent discussions on the foundation of schools of higher learning, even including a University. Stonor's book is an interesting relic of this cultured age'. The local press was unsympathetic to Stonor's politics but a reviewer in the Hobart Courier said that he 'displays a refined mind, cultured taste, considerable command of language and facility for versification'. (218).
(Source: 'Stonor, Alban Charles (1817 - 1866)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 2, MUP, (1967):489-490).
