Stephen Stewart Smalley was Dean of Chester in the last part of the 20th century and the first year of the 21st,and an eminent Anglican scholar.

Born in London in 1931, educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, and ordained in 1958, Stephen was a Curate at St Paul’s, Portman Square, and then Chaplain and later Acting Dean of Peterhouse, Cambridge. From 1960 to 1969 he was a Lecturer at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He returned to the U.K. to become Lecturer and then Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester from 1977 to 1986, and served at the same time as Warden of St Anselm Hall. Before his elevation to the Deanery of Chester in 1987, Stephen was Canon Residentiary of Coventry Cathedral, where he was appointed Canon Precentor and latterly Vice Provost of the Cathedral.