« Reply #31 on: Monday 07 September 15 21:46 BST (UK) »
It transpires that there were two William Stephens, both farmers, around the same age, living in Maker at the time of the 1871 census - both of whom's wives were called Mary

how freaky is that?
Anyway, I think that the death I discovered above was for the second William Stephens, born abt. 1806 Stoke Damerel, Devon (just over the water in Plymouth). His wife was Mary Ann, born abt. 1807, Quethiok, Cornwall - she appears in Maker as a widow in 1881.
Still doesn't explain why 'our' William Stephens' death can't be found in 1873. Registered in another district perhaps?
Ruth
McArthur, Milne, Mitchell, Black, Robertson, Morrison, Slessor, Lawrence - Aberdeenshire/Banffshire. Muir, Waddell, Fraser, Orr, Cowden - Lanarkshire/Renfrewshire/Dunbartonshire. Dalziel, Dalzell, Gourley, Cromie, Crombie, Bell - Co Down. Lewis, Corrigan, Morris, Cox, Hay - Monmouthshire/Pembrokeshire. Baker, Ginger, Woodhurst, Swift, Jones - Kent/London.