William T. Stead, the founder of the Review of Reviews, and a constant
contributor to a number of American newspapers, was born on July 3,
1849, at Embleton, England, being the son of the Rev. W. Stead, a
Congregational minister. When fourteen years of age he was apprenticed
to a merchant at Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, and began to contribute
to local newspapers. His journalistic promptings at length became
so imperative that he deserted the commercial world, and after a
preliminary struggle became assistant editor of the Pall Mall Gazette.
Later he founded the Review of Reviews, and subsequently the American
Review of Reviews. He takes an active interest in the larger questions
of the day, such as international arbitration, psychological problems,
etc. Mr. Stead has a place in his generation and fills it admirably.