William Thomas Stead
Encyclopedia
William Thomas Stead was an English
journalist
and editor
who, as one of the early pioneers of investigative journalism
, became one of the most controversial figures of the Victorian era
. His 'New Journalism' paved the way for today's tabloid press. He was influential in demonstrating how the press could be used to influence public opinion and government policy. He was also well known as a world peace advocate, an advocate of women's rights, a defender of civil liberties, and a fighter for the deprived and oppressed. He was among the most famous passengers aboard the RMS Titanic, losing his life when it sank in April 1912.
, the son of a Congregational
minister. A year later the family moved to Howdon
on the River Tyne
. Stead was largely educated at home, and by the age of five he was already well-versed in the Holy Scriptures and is said to have been able to read Latin almost as well as he could read English. For two years he attended Silcoates School
in Wakefield
, but in 1863 at the age of 14 he was apprenticed in a merchant's office at Newcastle upon Tyne
. From 1870, he contributed articles to the fledgling Darlington Northern Echo
, and in 1871 despite his inexperience, was made the editor of the newspaper. At the time, Stead at just 22, was the youngest newspaper editor in the country. Stead used Darlington's excellent railway connections to his advantage, increasing the newspaper's distribution to national levels. Stead was always guided by a moral mission, influenced by his faith, and wrote to a friend that the position would be "a glorious opportunity of attacking the devil".
In 1873 he married his childhood sweetheart, Emma Lucy Wilson and together they had six children. He gained notoriety in 1876 for his coverage of the Bulgarian atrocities agitation. He is also credited as "a major factor" in helping Gladstone to win an overwhelming majority in the 1880 general election
. In 1880 he went to London to be assistant editor of the Pall Mall Gazette
under John Morley. When Morley was elected to Parliament, he became editor
(1883–1889). Over the next seven years he would develop what Matthew Arnold
dubbed 'The New Journalism'.
He made a feature of the Pall Mall extras, and his enterprise and originality exercised a potent influence on contemporary journalism and politics. He also introduced the interview
, creating a new dimension in British journalism when he interviewed General Gordon in 1884. 1885 saw him force the British government to supply an additional £5.5million to bolster weakening naval defences, after he published a series of articles. Stead was no hawk
however, instead believing that Britain's strong navy was necessary to maintain world peace. He distinguished himself for his vigorous handling of public affairs, and his brilliant modernity in the presentation of news. However he is also credited as originating the modern journalistic technique of creating a news event rather than just reporting it, as his most famous 'investigation', the Eliza Armstrong case was to demonstrate.
, Eliza Armstrong.
Though his action is thought to have furthered the passing of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885
, it made his position on the paper impossible. In fact, his successful demonstration of the trade's existence led to his conviction and a three-month term of imprisonment at Coldbath Fields
and Holloway prisons. He was convicted on technical grounds that he had failed to first secure permission for the "purchase" from the girl's father.
The Maiden Tribute campaign was the high point in Stead's career in daily journalism.
In 1886, he started a campaign against Sir Charles Dilke, 2nd Baronet
over his nominal exoneration in the Crawford scandal. The campaign ultimately contributed to Dilke's misguided attempt to clear his name and consequent ruin.
On leaving the Pall Mall he founded the highly successful non-partisan monthly Review of Reviews
(1890). His abundant energy and facile pen found scope in many other directions in journalism of an advanced humanitarian type. This time saw Stead "at the very height of his professional prestige", according to E T Raymond.
Beginning in 1895, Stead issued affordable reprints of classic literature under such titles as Penny Poets and Penny Popular Novels, in which he "boil[ed] down the great novels of the world so that they might fit into, say, sixty-four pages instead of six hundred". His ethos behind the venture pre-dated Allen Lane's
of Penguin Books
by a number of years, and he became "the foremost publisher of paperbacks in the Victorian Age".
Stead became an enthusiastic supporter of the peace movement, and of many other movements, popular and unpopular, in which he impressed the public generally as an extreme visionary, though his practical energy was recognized by a considerable circle of admirers and pupils.
With all his unpopularity, and all the suspicion and opposition engendered by his methods, his personality remained a forceful one both in public and private life. He was an early imperialist dreamer, whose influence on Cecil Rhodes in South Africa
remained of primary importance; and many politicians and statesmen, who on most subjects were completely at variance with his ideas, nevertheless owed something to them. Rhodes made him his confidant, and was inspired in his will by his suggestions; and Stead was intended to be one of Rhodes's executors. At the time of the Second Boer War
he threw himself into the Boer cause and attacked the government with characteristic violence. His name was struck out.
The number of his publications gradually became very large, as he wrote with facility and sensational fervour on all sorts of subjects, from The Truth about Russia (1888) to If Christ Came to Chicago! (1894), and from Mrs Booth (1900) to The Americanisation of the World (1902).
Stead was a pacifist and a campaigner for peace, who favoured a "United States of Europe" and a "High Court of Justice among the nations", yet he also preferred the use of force in the defence of law. He extensively covered the Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907 (for the last he printed a daily paper during the four month conference). He has a bust at the Peace Palace
in The Hague
. As a result of these activities, Stead was repeatedly nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize
.
Stead was an Esperantist
, and often supported Esperanto
, the international language, in a monthly column in Review of Reviews.
In 1904, after the failure of his latest venture, The Daily Paper, after only a few weeks, Stead suffered a nervous breakdown.
quarterly, called Borderland, in which he gave full play to his interest in psychical research. Spiritualism was an accepted pastime in late Victorian Britain, and not considered unusual, with such notable followers as George Bernard Shaw
and Arthur Conan Doyle
. Nevertheless, it was said that "The thing that operated most strongly in lessening Stead's hold on the general public was his absorption in spiritualism". Stead claimed to be in receipt of messages from the spirit world, and to be able to produce automatic writing
. His spirit contact was alleged to be the departed Julia Ames, an American temperance reformer and journalist whom he met in 1890 shortly before her death. In 1909 he established Julia's Bureau where inquirers could obtain information about the spirit world from a group of resident mediums
. In many of his spiritualist
lectures and writings Stead sketched pictures of ocean liners and himself drowning.
After his death, a group of his admirers founded a Spiritualist organisation in Chicago, Illinois called the William T. Stead Memorial Center. The resident pastor and medium was Mrs. Cecil M. Cook. Most of the many books published by the Center were written by the Wisconsin
-born journalist and author Lloyd Kenyon Jones
.
at the request of William Howard Taft
. After the ship struck the iceberg, Stead helped several women and children into the lifeboats, in an act "typical of his generosity, courage, and humanity". After all the boats had gone, Stead went into the 1st Class Smoking Room, where he was last seen sitting in a leather chair and reading a book.
A later sighting of Stead, by survivor Philip Mock, has him clinging to a raft with John Jacob Astor IV
. "Their feet became frozen," reported Mock, "and they were compelled to release their hold. Both were drowned." William Stead's body was not recovered. Further tragedy was added by the widely held belief that he was due to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
that same year.
Stead had often claimed that he would die from either lynching or drowning. Stead published two pieces that gained greater significance in light of his fate on the Titanic. On 22 March 1886, he published an article named "How the Mail Steamer Went Down in Mid-Atlantic, by a Survivor", where a steamer collides with another ship, with high loss of life due to lack of lifeboats. Stead had added "This is exactly what might take place and will take place if liners are sent to sea short of boats". In 1892, Stead published a story called From the Old World to the New, in which a vessel, the Majestic, rescues survivors of another ship that collided with an iceberg
.
In 2001, the W.T. Stead Resource Site
, a not-for-profit reference website devoted to the study of W.T. Stead was launched to encourage and advance debate on both Stead himself and the issues in which he became embroiled. It is currently the largest online database of material on W.T. Stead. The site is utilised by a wide variety of learning institutions, including libraries, colleges and universities within the UK and around the world.
In 2009, the British Library
selected the W.T. Stead Resource Site as a suitable candidate for its web archiving
programme, in which websites that are considered a valuable contribution to UK documentary heritage are permanently archived for future generations.
Papers of William Thomas Stead are also held at The Women's Library at London Metropolitan University
, ref 9/11
Eckley, Grace. Maiden Tribute: A Life of W. T. Stead, 2007.
Jones, Victor G., Saint or Sensationalist? 1988.
NewsStead, twice-yearly Ed. Grace Eckley, 1992-2004.
Robertson Scott, J. W. The Life and Death of a Newspaper, 1954.
Whyte, Frederic. A Life of W. T. Stead, 2 volumes, 1925.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and editor
Editor
The term editor may refer to:As a person who does editing:* Editor in chief, having final responsibility for a publication's operations and policies* Copy editing, making formatting changes and other improvements to text...
who, as one of the early pioneers of investigative journalism
Investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism...
, became one of the most controversial figures of the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
. His 'New Journalism' paved the way for today's tabloid press. He was influential in demonstrating how the press could be used to influence public opinion and government policy. He was also well known as a world peace advocate, an advocate of women's rights, a defender of civil liberties, and a fighter for the deprived and oppressed. He was among the most famous passengers aboard the RMS Titanic, losing his life when it sank in April 1912.
Early career
He was born in Embleton, NorthumberlandEmbleton, Northumberland
Embleton village in the English county of Northumberland is about half-a-mile from the bay that carries its name. The sandy beach is backed by dunes where a variety of flowers bloom: bluebells, cowslips, burnet roses and, to give it its common name, bloody cranesbill, amongst others. Dunstanburgh...
, the son of a Congregational
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
minister. A year later the family moved to Howdon
Howdon
Howdon is a place in Tyne and Wear, England.Howdon is an area in the eastern part of Wallsend, a former coal-mining and shipbuilding town on the north banks of the River Tyne....
on the River Tyne
River Tyne
The River Tyne is a river in North East England in Great Britain. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers: the North Tyne and the South Tyne. These two rivers converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Waters'.The North Tyne rises on the...
. Stead was largely educated at home, and by the age of five he was already well-versed in the Holy Scriptures and is said to have been able to read Latin almost as well as he could read English. For two years he attended Silcoates School
Silcoates School
Silcoates School is a public school in Wakefield, England. It was founded in 1820 as the Northern Congregational School at Silcoates House, for the board and education of the sons of non-conformist clergy; it was located close to Ossett and Horbury, which both had unusually large nonconformist...
in Wakefield
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
, but in 1863 at the age of 14 he was apprenticed in a merchant's office at Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
. From 1870, he contributed articles to the fledgling Darlington Northern Echo
The Northern Echo
The Northern Echo is a leading daily regional morning newspaper, serving the North East of England. The paper is based in Priestgate, Darlington. Its covers national as well as regional news. It is one of the UK's most famous provincial newspaper titles....
, and in 1871 despite his inexperience, was made the editor of the newspaper. At the time, Stead at just 22, was the youngest newspaper editor in the country. Stead used Darlington's excellent railway connections to his advantage, increasing the newspaper's distribution to national levels. Stead was always guided by a moral mission, influenced by his faith, and wrote to a friend that the position would be "a glorious opportunity of attacking the devil".
In 1873 he married his childhood sweetheart, Emma Lucy Wilson and together they had six children. He gained notoriety in 1876 for his coverage of the Bulgarian atrocities agitation. He is also credited as "a major factor" in helping Gladstone to win an overwhelming majority in the 1880 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1880
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher *...
. In 1880 he went to London to be assistant editor of the Pall Mall Gazette
Pall Mall Gazette
The Pall Mall Gazette was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood...
under John Morley. When Morley was elected to Parliament, he became editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
(1883–1889). Over the next seven years he would develop what Matthew Arnold
Matthew Arnold
Matthew Arnold was a British poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, literary professor, and William Delafield Arnold, novelist and colonial administrator...
dubbed 'The New Journalism'.
He made a feature of the Pall Mall extras, and his enterprise and originality exercised a potent influence on contemporary journalism and politics. He also introduced the interview
Interview
An interview is a conversation between two people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee.- Interview as a Method for Qualitative Research:"Definition" -...
, creating a new dimension in British journalism when he interviewed General Gordon in 1884. 1885 saw him force the British government to supply an additional £5.5million to bolster weakening naval defences, after he published a series of articles. Stead was no hawk
War Hawk
War Hawk is a term originally used to describe members of the Twelfth Congress of the United States who advocated waging war against the British in the War of 1812...
however, instead believing that Britain's strong navy was necessary to maintain world peace. He distinguished himself for his vigorous handling of public affairs, and his brilliant modernity in the presentation of news. However he is also credited as originating the modern journalistic technique of creating a news event rather than just reporting it, as his most famous 'investigation', the Eliza Armstrong case was to demonstrate.
Eliza Armstrong case
In 1885, Stead entered upon a crusade against child prostitution by publishing a series of articles entitled The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon. In order to demonstrate the truth of his revelations, he arranged the 'purchase' of the 13-year-old daughter of a chimney sweepChimney sweep
A chimney sweep is a worker who clears ash and soot from chimneys. The chimney uses the pressure difference caused by a hot column of gas to create a draught and draw air over the hot coals or wood enabling continued combustion. Chimneys may be straight or contain many changes of direction. During...
, Eliza Armstrong.
Though his action is thought to have furthered the passing of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885
Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885
The Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 , or "An Act to make further provision for the Protection of Women and Girls, the suppression of brothels, and other purposes", was the latest in a 25-year series of legislation in the United Kingdom beginning with the Offences against the Person Act 1861 that...
, it made his position on the paper impossible. In fact, his successful demonstration of the trade's existence led to his conviction and a three-month term of imprisonment at Coldbath Fields
Coldbath Fields Prison
Coldbath Fields Prison was a prison in the Mount Pleasant area of Clerkenwell, London. Founded during the reign of James I , the prison was completely rebuilt in 1794 and extended in 1850. It was used to house prisoners on short sentences of up to two years...
and Holloway prisons. He was convicted on technical grounds that he had failed to first secure permission for the "purchase" from the girl's father.
The Maiden Tribute campaign was the high point in Stead's career in daily journalism.
Further career
Sir Charles Dilke, 2nd Baronet
Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 2nd Baronet PC was an English Liberal and reformist politician. Touted as a future prime minister, his aspirations to higher political office were effectively terminated in 1885, after a notorious and well-publicised divorce case.-Background and education:Dilke was the...
over his nominal exoneration in the Crawford scandal. The campaign ultimately contributed to Dilke's misguided attempt to clear his name and consequent ruin.
On leaving the Pall Mall he founded the highly successful non-partisan monthly Review of Reviews
Review of Reviews
The Review of Reviews was a noted family of monthly journals founded in 1890-93 by British reform journalist William Thomas Stead...
(1890). His abundant energy and facile pen found scope in many other directions in journalism of an advanced humanitarian type. This time saw Stead "at the very height of his professional prestige", according to E T Raymond.
Beginning in 1895, Stead issued affordable reprints of classic literature under such titles as Penny Poets and Penny Popular Novels, in which he "boil[ed] down the great novels of the world so that they might fit into, say, sixty-four pages instead of six hundred". His ethos behind the venture pre-dated Allen Lane's
Allen Lane
Sir Allen Lane was a British publisher who founded Penguin Books, bringing high quality paperback fiction and non-fiction to the mass market.-Early life and family:...
of Penguin Books
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
by a number of years, and he became "the foremost publisher of paperbacks in the Victorian Age".
Stead became an enthusiastic supporter of the peace movement, and of many other movements, popular and unpopular, in which he impressed the public generally as an extreme visionary, though his practical energy was recognized by a considerable circle of admirers and pupils.
With all his unpopularity, and all the suspicion and opposition engendered by his methods, his personality remained a forceful one both in public and private life. He was an early imperialist dreamer, whose influence on Cecil Rhodes in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
remained of primary importance; and many politicians and statesmen, who on most subjects were completely at variance with his ideas, nevertheless owed something to them. Rhodes made him his confidant, and was inspired in his will by his suggestions; and Stead was intended to be one of Rhodes's executors. At the time of the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
he threw himself into the Boer cause and attacked the government with characteristic violence. His name was struck out.
The number of his publications gradually became very large, as he wrote with facility and sensational fervour on all sorts of subjects, from The Truth about Russia (1888) to If Christ Came to Chicago! (1894), and from Mrs Booth (1900) to The Americanisation of the World (1902).
Stead was a pacifist and a campaigner for peace, who favoured a "United States of Europe" and a "High Court of Justice among the nations", yet he also preferred the use of force in the defence of law. He extensively covered the Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907 (for the last he printed a daily paper during the four month conference). He has a bust at the Peace Palace
Peace Palace
The Peace Palace is a building situated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is often called the seat of international law because it houses the International Court of Justice , the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Hague Academy of International Law, and the extensive Peace Palace Library.In addition...
in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
. As a result of these activities, Stead was repeatedly nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
.
Stead was an Esperantist
Esperantist
An Esperantist is a person who speaks or uses Esperanto. Etymologically, an Esperantist is someone who hopes...
, and often supported Esperanto
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
, the international language, in a monthly column in Review of Reviews.
In 1904, after the failure of his latest venture, The Daily Paper, after only a few weeks, Stead suffered a nervous breakdown.
Spiritualism
From 1893-7, Stead conducted a spiritualistSpiritualism
Spiritualism is a belief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living...
quarterly, called Borderland, in which he gave full play to his interest in psychical research. Spiritualism was an accepted pastime in late Victorian Britain, and not considered unusual, with such notable followers as George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
and 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...
. Nevertheless, it was said that "The thing that operated most strongly in lessening Stead's hold on the general public was his absorption in spiritualism". Stead claimed to be in receipt of messages from the spirit world, and to be able to produce automatic writing
Automatic writing
Automatic writing or psychography is writing which the writer states to be produced from a subconscious and/or spiritual source without conscious awareness of the content.-History:...
. His spirit contact was alleged to be the departed Julia Ames, an American temperance reformer and journalist whom he met in 1890 shortly before her death. In 1909 he established Julia's Bureau where inquirers could obtain information about the spirit world from a group of resident mediums
Mediumship
Mediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...
. In many of his spiritualist
Spiritualism
Spiritualism is a belief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living...
lectures and writings Stead sketched pictures of ocean liners and himself drowning.
After his death, a group of his admirers founded a Spiritualist organisation in Chicago, Illinois called the William T. Stead Memorial Center. The resident pastor and medium was Mrs. Cecil M. Cook. Most of the many books published by the Center were written by the Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
-born journalist and author Lloyd Kenyon Jones
Lloyd Kenyon Jones
Lloyd Kenyon Jones was a newspaper journalist, lecturer, and author who was raised in Wisconsin and became associated with the religion of Spiritualism during the early 20th century....
.
Death on the Titanic
Stead boarded the Titanic for a visit to the USA to take part in a peace congress at Carnegie HallCarnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
at the request of William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
. After the ship struck the iceberg, Stead helped several women and children into the lifeboats, in an act "typical of his generosity, courage, and humanity". After all the boats had gone, Stead went into the 1st Class Smoking Room, where he was last seen sitting in a leather chair and reading a book.
A later sighting of Stead, by survivor Philip Mock, has him clinging to a raft with John Jacob Astor IV
John Jacob Astor IV
John Jacob Astor IV was an American businessman, real estate builder, investor, inventor, writer, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish-American War and a member of the prominent Astor family...
. "Their feet became frozen," reported Mock, "and they were compelled to release their hold. Both were drowned." William Stead's body was not recovered. Further tragedy was added by the widely held belief that he was due to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
that same year.
Stead had often claimed that he would die from either lynching or drowning. Stead published two pieces that gained greater significance in light of his fate on the Titanic. On 22 March 1886, he published an article named "How the Mail Steamer Went Down in Mid-Atlantic, by a Survivor", where a steamer collides with another ship, with high loss of life due to lack of lifeboats. Stead had added "This is exactly what might take place and will take place if liners are sent to sea short of boats". In 1892, Stead published a story called From the Old World to the New, in which a vessel, the Majestic, rescues survivors of another ship that collided with an iceberg
Iceberg
An iceberg is a large piece of ice from freshwater that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. It may subsequently become frozen into pack ice...
.
Website
The W.T. Stead Resource Site
The W.T. Stead Resource Site is a not-for-profit online reference work on the controversial newspaper editor, publisher, pacifist and spiritualist, William Thomas Stead...
, a not-for-profit reference website devoted to the study of W.T. Stead was launched to encourage and advance debate on both Stead himself and the issues in which he became embroiled. It is currently the largest online database of material on W.T. Stead. The site is utilised by a wide variety of learning institutions, including libraries, colleges and universities within the UK and around the world.
In 2009, the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
selected the W.T. Stead Resource Site as a suitable candidate for its web archiving
Web archiving
Web archiving is the process of collecting portions of the World Wide Web and ensuring the collection is preserved in an archive, such as an archive site, for future researchers, historians, and the public. Due to the massive size of the Web, web archivists typically employ web crawlers for...
programme, in which websites that are considered a valuable contribution to UK documentary heritage are permanently archived for future generations.
Archives
14 boxes of the papers of William Thomas Stead are held at Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge ref GBR/0014/STED. The bulk of this collection comprises Stead's letters from his many correspondents including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, William Gladstone, and Christabel Pankhurst. There are also papers and a diary relating to his time spent in Holloway prison in 1885, and to his many publications.Papers of William Thomas Stead are also held at The Women's Library at London Metropolitan University
London Metropolitan University
London Metropolitan University , located in London, England, was formed on 1 August 2002 by the amalgamation of the University of North London and the London Guildhall University . The University has campuses in the City of London and in the London Borough of Islington.The University operates its...
, ref 9/11
Further reading
Major published sources are as follows:Eckley, Grace. Maiden Tribute: A Life of W. T. Stead, 2007.
Jones, Victor G., Saint or Sensationalist? 1988.
NewsStead, twice-yearly Ed. Grace Eckley, 1992-2004.
Robertson Scott, J. W. The Life and Death of a Newspaper, 1954.
Whyte, Frederic. A Life of W. T. Stead, 2 volumes, 1925.
External links
- The W. T. Stead Resource Site
- Encyclopedia Titanica Biography of W. T. Stead
- William Stead: unscrupulous journalist or moral crusader? article by Roy HattersleyRoy HattersleyRoy Sydney George Hattersley, Baron Hattersley is a British Labour politician, author and journalist from Sheffield. He served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1983 to 1992.-Early life:...
- NewsStead: A Journal of History and Literature
- Spiritualism by William Thomas Stead and his daughter Estelle