Howard Handley Spicer, Sir, KBE, (born Bexley

Bexley

Bexley is an South East London]] in the London Borough of Bexley, London, England. It is located on the banks of the River Cray south of the Roman Road, Watling Street...

, Kent 1872 - died London, 16 August 1926) was a prominent papermaker and wholesale stationer and a magazine editor. He was the founder of the Empire League, a patriotic movement for British boys, and editor of the League's magazine, Boys of the Empire.

Life and works

Spicer was the eldest son of James Spicer (b.1846), a wealthy paper merchant. He entered his father's firm in 1890. The family residence was North Park Perry House, Eltham, Kent.

Spicer edited Boys of the Empire, which was published in London by his friend Andrew Melrose from 1901 to 1903. It called itself “A Magazine for British Boys All Over the World” but its published aim was “To promote and strengthen a worthy imperial spirit in British-born boys." It was "arguably the most jingoistic of all the juvenile periodicals". The League attracted over 10,000 members, under the Presidency of Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...

, and provided "lectures,sermons and cultural visits, all on an imperial theme."
A sports enthusiast,Spicer edited books on sport for both boys and girls, published by Andrew Melrose, and was also editor of "The Sports Library", a series of books promoting a wide range of sports. While he was the editor of Sandow's Magazine of Physical Culture

Sandow's Magazine of Physical Culture

Sandow's Magazine of Physical Culture, established by Eugen Sandow in 1898, has been regarded as the first bodybuilding magazine.Founded in summer 1898 under the name Physical Culture, the magazine was renamed Sandow's Magazine of Physical Culture in April 1899. Howard Spicer was editor...

, he introduced the Scottish writer George Douglas Brown

George Douglas Brown

George Douglas Brown was a Scottish novelist, best known for his highly influential realist novel The House with the Green Shutters , which was published the year before his death at the age of 33.-Life and work:...

  to Melrose.

During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, he was a technical advisor to the War Office and was later knighted for his services. He assisted in the design and manufacture of an improved gas mask. He was an authority on dogs, in particular the bloodhound

Bloodhound

The Bloodhound is a large breed of dog which, while originally bred to hunt deer and wild boar, was later bred specifically to track human beings. It is a scenthound, tracking by smell, as opposed to a sighthound, which tracks using vision. It is famed for its ability to discern human odors even...

 and griffon

Griffon

Griffon is a type of dog, a collection of breeds of originally hunting dogs. There are three recognized lines of the griffon type Fédération Cynologique Internationale FCI, the griffon vendéens, the wirehaired pointers, and the smousje...

.

In 1920, Spicer's wife Dame Muriel Eleanor Barrett Handley Spicer filed a Divorce Court petition for restitution of conjugal rights. Spicer was vice-chairman and joint managing director of the paper firm Spicers Ltd., and a director of United Newspapers and the Edinburgh Evening News

Edinburgh Evening News

The Edinburgh Evening News is a local newspaper based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is published daily . It has a circulation of 68,000 and is owned by Johnston Press, which also owns The Scotsman and many regional titles throughout the UK.Much of the copy contained in the Evening News concerns local...

, at the time of his death in 1926. He was found dead in a hotel near the Strand

Strand, London

Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...

, having shot himself . The inquest recorded a finding of suicide while of unsound mind.
His portrait by Walter Stoneman is in the National Portrait Gallery.