W. T. Stead was a British journalist in the 19th century, and an early pioneer of investigative journalism. He first became a newspaper editor at 22, and always kept his morals at the forefront, once telling a friend that journalism was "a glorious opportunity of attacking the devil."

He was a supporter of Josephine Butler, an early feminist, in pushing for the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Act (a law that allowed police to arrest women they suspected of prostitution and force them to be examined for venereal disease). He also covered the April Uprising in Bulgaria, whereby the latter obtained independence from the Ottoman Empire.

He began working for the Pall Mall Gazette in 1880, and became its editor in 1883. He started using the paper as a tool for social reform, such as covering the squalid conditions in London slums (which pressured the government into clearing them and building housing). But he also wasn't afraid of making the news himself rather than just covering it.

In 1885, Stead took on child prostitution, which was widespread at that time. The Criminal Law Amendment Act was proposed in Parliament that year, which would have increased the age of consent from 13 to 16. But when it looked like it may not pass the House of Commons (the House of Lords had passed it already), Stead took up his pen, and published "A Frank Warning" on July 4, 1885.

[I]f Ministers think of allowing the bill to drop because the public is not keenly alive to its importance, it is necessary to open the eyes of the public, in order that a measure the urgency of which has been repeatedly admitted may pass into law this session. We have, therefore, determined, with a full sense of the responsibility attaching to such a decision, to publish the report of a Special and Secret Commission of Inquiry which we appointed to examine into the whole subject.

He of course knew how to get people to read, too. From later in the same piece:

But although we are thus compelled, in the public interest, to publish the case for the bill, or rather for those portions of it which are universally admitted to be necessary, we have no desire to inflict upon unwilling eyes the ghastly story of the criminal developments of modern vice. Therefore we say quite frankly to-day that all those who are squeamish, and all those who are prudish, and all those who prefer to live in a fool's paradise of imaginary innocence and purity, selfishly oblivious to the horrible realities which torment those whose lives are passed in the London Inferno, will do well not to read the Pall Mall Gazette of Monday and the three following days.

The series of articles discusses the ongoing child prostitution industry in London at the time. But Stead decided to take it a step further (or, should I say, several steps). To demonstrate how bad it had gotten, he himself "bought" a 13-year-old girl, Eliza Armstrong.

He knew a reformed prostitute and former madam, Rebecca Jarrett, who was living with Josephine Butler at the time. Through her, Stead was able to get in touch with a "procuress," Nancy Broughton, who put her in touch with Eliza's mother (an alcoholic who needed money). Rebecca Jarrett told the mother that, ostensibly, Eliza was going to serve as a maid, but she believed that the mother understood what was actually going on (i.e. that Eliza was being sold into prosecution). The price was £5, or about £575 today. Rebecca then took Eliza to a midwife, Louise Bourez, who confirmed that Eliza was a virgin, and also sold Rebecca a bottle of chloroform. Rebecca took Eliza to a brothel and drugged her to a point (but she was still conscious), after which Stead went in as the "purchaser." The girl screamed when she saw Stead, after which he left (using the scream as proof that he had "had his way" with her). Eliza was then given to Bramwell Booth (the son of Maxwell Booth, who founded the Salvation Army), who took her to France to be raised by a Salvationist family there.

The story exploded, and the Home Government feared rioting in the streets. Copies were apparently sold for 20 times face value, and the Gazette had to buy newsprint from a competitor (the Globe) after they ran out due to the demand.

However, there was also a question about the legality of what had been done. Eliza's mother claimed no knowledge that Eliza would actually be sold into prostitution, and there was the matter that no one had talked to the father. Ultimately, Stead, Jarrett, and Bourez were all convicted of abduction and procurement; Jarrett and the midwife served six months in prison, and Stead three. (Booth was also charged, but was acquitted.)

But not all prison sentences are equal, of course. Jarrett and Bourez were sentenced to hard labor, and Bourez died while in prison. Stead, on the other hand, was a "first-class misdemeanant," meaning he had a private room with a fireplace and another prisoner as servant. He described it as a "charming season of repose," and his family was allowed to visit at Christmas. He would subsequently wear his prison uniform every year on the anniversary of his conviction. This story apparently was the inspiration for George Bernard Shaw to write Pygmalion (in which he named his main character Eliza), and one of the underworld figures named was apparently an inspiration for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

The prosecutor in the case set up a subscription (think the 19th-century equivalent of Patreon) for Eliza, and had her trained at a school for domestic servants. After this, she disappears from the historical record, and no one knows what happened.

Stead would go on to found a new monthly, the Review of Reviews. He also pushed for affordable paperbacks, selling precursors to Penguin's Classics. He advocated in favor of an international court of justice, covered the Hague Peace Conferences of 1889 and 1907 extensively, went to Russia in 1905 to push for peace, and was nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize. He was also an Esperantist.

He published two stories that would seem, in retrospect, prophetic. In March 1886, he published a story about a steamship that sinks in the Atlantic, as told by a (fictional) survivor. One plot point of the story was significant loss of life due to insufficient life boats on board, with Stead writing:

This is exactly what might take place and will take place if liners are sent to sea short of boats.

In 1892, he wrote a short story about a ship rescuing survivors of another one that had struck an iceberg.

If you're paying attention to the dates, you may see where this is going. Stead made several trips to and from the United States, and began one in 1912 aboard H.M.S. Titanic. Reportedly, he went to bed at approximately 10:30pm the night it sank, but was later seen helping women and children into the lifeboats, and also giving his life jacket to another passenger. One survivor reported seeing Stead clinging to debris after Titanic sank, ultimately drowning due to the cold. Stead himself had repeatedly said in the past that he would die either by lynching or drowning.

Said one biographer:

Stead's papers forced his readers to confront the seedy underbelly of their own civilisation, but the editor probably knew more about that dark world than he ever let on. He held up a mirror to Victorian society, yet deep down, like so many tabloid crusaders, he was raging at his own reflection.