Stephen married Lydia Tough on Boxing Day 1918. They initially lived with Lydia's parents at 22 Leechmere Road, Grangetown, Sunderland. In November 1919 she bore him his first daughter, Linda, who was closely followed by his second daughter, Norah. Stephen worked as a shipwright in the shipyards on the River Wear.

Towards the end of the 1920's Sunderland's shipyards were closing due to the onset of the depression and Stephen was forced to work and lodge in London to support his family. Eventually in approximately 1930 Lydia and family joined him in London, initially in Kilburn, in the North West of the city. A few years later Lydia managed to find work as a caretaker at a High School for Girls that provided accomodation so the family moved to Balham, South London.

Their eldest daughter, Linda, left blitz-hit London in approximately 1942 to live with Lydia's sisters in Grangetown, Sunderland.

Lydia and Stephen eventually settled in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. When Lydia died in 1966 she was a grandmother of four. The death certicate records the cause of death as "Cerebral Haemorrhage" (bleeding of the brain) and "Chronic Hypertension" (extremely high blood pressure).