About the WTSRS

Launched in 2001, the W.T. Stead Resource Site is a free, noncommercial website which is intended to raise awareness of W.T. Stead and the important contributions which he made to the journalistic, political and social spheres of his age. It is also aimed at aiding in the research of his life and career and the issues in which he became embroiled. Since its inception, the WTSRS has been utilised by students, scholars and authors around the world. It is credited as a "treasure trove of contemporary documentation" in Richard Webster's book, The Secret of Bryn Estyn, the Making of a Modern Witch Hunt (2005), and it was extensively mined for BBC Radio Five's Saturday drama, "The Maiden Tribute" (Oct. 2005).

Much of the material on this website comes from original sources, and I have taken every care to accurately transcribe the texts displayed. With so much material, however, occasional errors invariably occur. So, if you notice anything amiss, please feel free to drop me an .

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Owen Mulpetre (About me..)

I am currently employed as a research assistant at the University of Teesside (NE England.), from which, as a mature student, I received my BA (hons) in history in 1999. My interest in Stead began in the final year of my degree when I was loaned a microfilm of Stead's "Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon" (which I'd never heard of before!). You can view a version of the dissertation I wrote on the "Maiden Tribute" here. I have also written several articles on Stead and occasionally have my arm twisted into giving a lecture. I am currently researching Stead's career at the Northern Echo in Darlington.

Echo's Editor Blazed a Trail

by Nick Morrison (Northern Echo article about this website - Sunday 17 June 2001)

Research into the pioneering Northern Echo editor WT Stead could cement his position as one of the founders of modern journalism. Owen Mulpetre has already completed a disertation on the titan of Victorian newspapers and his campaign against child prostitution, now published on the Internet. Now the Teesside University student is looking at Stead's role in developing a new form of journalism while he edited the Echo, from 1871 to 1880.

Owen was searching for a subject to research as part of a history degree when his tutor showed him one of Stead's articles on child prostitution in the Pall Mall Gazette. Owen said: "There are two schools of thought - that he did it for purely commercial reasons, to sell newspapers, or that he felt there was a lot of abuse of the working classes. "When you look at his writing in The Northern Echo you find the same kind of language and he hints at his concerns over child prostitution in some very early articles." After finishing his first degree, Owen decided to stick with Stead for a Master of Philosophy degree, but now looking at his influence over a new style of journalism. He said: "They say he was one of the founders of modern journalism and I'm trying to see whether that started at the Pall Mall Gazette or The Northern Echo." "And from what I've found so far, I personally think it started with The Northern Echo, the same kind of language is being used. His idea was that sensationalism was fine as long as it was serving a justified cause."

He said Stead's own approach came from both his fiercely Nonconformist religious views and his lack of journalistic training. "There was an etiquette in journalism at the time but Stead has this rampaging style." Owen's initial research has been published on the Internet and can be read through The Northern Echo's CommuniGate site, which helps community groups get online.