John Alfred Spender CH DL JP (23 December 1862 – 21 June 1942) was a British journalist and author. He also edited the London newspaper The Westminster Gazette from 1896 to 1922.
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Early life
Spender was the eldest of four sons born to John Kent Spender, a doctor, and his wife, the novelist Lillian Spender. He was educated at Bath College and Balliol College, Oxford, where he did well in his studies but missed a first in Greats because of illness.
Editor
Though Benjamin Jowett, the Master of Balliol, suggested for Spender to become a lawyer, Spender sought out a career in journalism instead and he had the assistance of his uncle, William Saunders, who owned the Western Morning News and Eastern Morning News as well as the Central News Agency. After a brief period as Saunders's secretary, Spender was offered a position as a leader writer for The Echo by John Passmore Edwards, but their relationship proved difficult and Spender left after only five months in the post. In 1886 Saunders offered his nephew the editorship of the struggling Hull newspaper Eastern Morning News. Spender eagerly accepted and spent a little more than four years in the post. As the editor of a provincial daily, Spender undertook whatever jobs were necessary: sales manager, leader writer, reporter and critic. His efforts returned the paper to profitability, but it was sold by Saunders in February 1891. Spender returned to London, where he worked as a freelance contributor to a number of papers and wrote his first book, a tract on old-age pensions that won him the friendship of John Morley.