Albert Alexander Leslie Stephen spent five terms at Westminster before migrating to Eton. His father was Major James Young Stephen and his maternal grandfather Admiral Sir Cornwallis Ricketts so a military career was perhaps inevitable. At the age of nineteen Stephen became a 2nd Lieutenant in the Scots Guards and remained with that regiment for his military career. He served in South Africa in the Boer War and received the Distinguished Service Order,typically awarded to officers ranked majoror higher, but occasionally awarded to especially valorous junior officers.

In August 1914 the 2nd Battalion of the Scots Guard embarked for France, joining the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division of the British Expeditionary Force. They took part in some of the major defensive battles of the initial few months of the war. Stephen was listed in Sir John French’s Dispatch of 8th October. On 29th October Stephen sustained wounds during the Battle of Gheluvelt and died a few days later in Ypres.