William Thomas Stead

Biographical History

William Thomas Stead was born in 1849, the son of a Congregationalist minister. He attended school formally for only two years from 1891-3 but then became an apprentice office worker in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. From 1870 he began to send articles to the Northern Echo in Darlington and became its editor the following year. His reputation was established by a series of articles on Bulgarian atrocities in Turkey between 1876 and 1878. In 1880 he moved to London as assistant editor of the Liberal newspaper the Pall Mall Gazette, becoming acting editor in 1883 when his superior, John Morley, was elected to parliament as an MP. Under his editorship the newspaper established what Matthew Arnold called the 'New Journalism', introducing the use of illustrations, headlines, maps, and interviews to Britain for the first time. He was also strong in his support for Josephine Butler and the campaign for the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts. One of his articles, 'What is the Truth About the Navy' of 1884 forced the government to refit British naval defences.

It was in 1885, however, that his four articles on prostitution London entitled 'The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon' were published and had a profound influence on the country as a whole. An immediate effect of the work was the introduction of the Criminal Law Amendment Act that raised the age of consent to sixteen for the first time in Britain. However, Stead's investigative methods had left him open to prosecution and he was jailed for three months. Other members of the press and public figures attacked his reputation, but Stead also received support from such as Cardinal Manning, Josephine Butler and Lord Shaftsbury.

While Editor of the Pall Mall Gaztte, Stead wrote a article for the March 22nd issue called "How The Mail Steamer Went Down In Mid Atlantic; by a Survivor" The steamer sinks after colliding with another vessel. Due to a lack of lifeboats aboard, there is a great loss of life. Stead decided to end his article with "This is what might take place and will take place if the liners are sent to sea short of lifeboats".

Stead retired from daily journalism in January 1890, founding the monthly Review of Reviews, which he edited until his death, although his attempt in 1904 to start his own newspaper, The Daily Paper, failed almost immediately. During the 1890s, he also became involved with spiritualism and edited for four years a psychic journal called Borderland. He also later became part of the peace movement and became unpopular in many quarters due to opposition to the Boer War.

W T Stead traveled to America to take part in a peace congress at Carnegie Hall that would have been on the 21st April 1912. He took his passage aboard the ill fated White Star liner - R.M.S Titanic. His story of 1886 came true, Stead lost his life aboard Titanic on that tragic night.

letter signed by W T Stead, the British publishing tycoon who died aboard Titanic.