Robert Stephen was born in Peterhead on the 5th July 1894, the son of Robert Stephen and Jessie Stephen nee Keith. He had two younger brothers and a sister: Alexander, Alfred John and Christina. His family moved to Aberdeen prior to the 1901 census, and they were living at 44 Esslemont Avenue in 1901. The family and Robert later moved to Richmond Terrace.
Robert served as a sapper in the Royal Engineers during the First World War. His diary states that he was conscripted in September 1916, but that he joined the army in November 1915. He served with the 1st/2nd Highland Field Company, allocated to the 51st (Highland) Division on the Western Front. He was promoted to Lance Corporal. Robert's brothers Alexander and Alfred also served in the First World War: Alexander with the Royal Engineers in 48th Highland Division and Alfred with the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders. Alfred was killed in Belgium on the 25th April 1918 aged 19.
Robert left the army in February 1919 and started working for John Alexander & Company in Aberdeen. Robert married Barbara (Bee) Jane Abernethy in Glasgow on the 27th March 1920: at the date of his marriage he was a journeyman cabinet maker living in Glasgow, where the family continued to live until Barbara's death in 1975. They had a daughter, Ruth, in 1921.
Robert died on 9 July 1980 in Hythe, Kent (the town where his daughter Ruth Frost lived). He and Barbara were buried in Glasgow at the Western Necropolis cemetery.
