The pioneer of investigative journalism, William Thomas Stead, was born in Embleton on 5th July 1849. His parents were Rev. William and Isabella Stead; he was the second of their 9 children, and the last of the children to be born in the village, the younger ones were born in Howden-on-Tyne.
William was educated at home before attending Silcoates School in Wakefield, a school for the sons of Nonconformist clergy, between 1862 and 1864. He joined the staff of Darlington based newspaper The Northern Echo and by 1871 was its editor, the youngest newspaper editor in the country at the time. In 1873 he married Emma Lucy Wilson and they went on to have 6 children.
In 1880 he moved to London becoming an assistant at the Pall Mall Gazette and then editor, 1883-1889. It was during this time that he wrote the Maiden Tribute series to highlight child slavery and prostitution; to prove his point he arranged to purchase a young 13-year-old girl named Eliza. This campaign successfully led to the increase of the age of consent from 13 to 16, however for Stead it resulted in a 3-month prison sentence as a result of a civil case raised against him.
Having revolutionised Fleet Street, Stead left popular journalism behind him, founded the publication Review of Reviews in 1890 and concentrated on campaigning for peace. He was an advocate for the need of a strong navy and peace through arbitration; he spoke out about atrocities in Bulgaria and the Transvaal, met with the Russian Tsar and travelled to the Hague to lead peace talks.
On 10th April 1912 he boarded the Titanic at Southampton to travel to America where he was due to speak at a peace conference at Carnegie Hall, New York which was being attended by the American President Taft. His body sadly was never found, he was aged 62.
The press of the time reveals what must have been the absolute fear and chaos about the events surrounding that fateful journey. Family and friends rushing to offices of White Star Line hoping for news, a similar picture at the docks waiting for ships carrying survivors to arrive. Within a couple of days, the press began reporting the awful news. The Evening Telegraph and Post on 16th April carried the headline “Mr. W. T. Stead, Reported Victim of the Disaster”; the same day The Shield Daily News stated “Captain, Officers and Mr. W. T. Stead believed to be among the drowned”. The following day The Yorkshire Post said that “among the missing are many prominent personages, including Mr. W. T. Stead…”.
The obituaries that were published list many lifetime accomplishments and give an insight into William Thomas Stead the man; he was described in The Labour Leader as having “rare insight and unique power” as well as “cyclonic energy”. The Suffragist publication The Vote recalled that he supported women’s suffrage as he valued women, he led by example employing women and his belief of equal pay for equal work. The article also reveals an interesting insight into his character, referring to his time in prison it records “every year he wore prison clothes – and gloried in doing so – on the anniversary of his sentence.”
In Embleton, he is remembered with the naming of a street in his memory and the papers of the Embleton Local History Society held at Northumberland Archives include those from events to mark the anniversary of his birth.Â
Days before boarding the Titanic, Stead attended the Biofix Studios in the Strand and had some photographs taken to be used as part of a lecture on photography.  These are believed to be the last images of him.  They can be viewed at https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/william-thomas-stead-biofix-pictures.htmlÂ