Shortly before midnight on April 14th 1912 the Titanic hit an iceberg. Less than three hours later, it was fully submerged in the icy waters. Tragically, over 1,500 people lost their lives.

In recent reading/research I discovered that W. T. Stead was one of the passengers aboard the inaugural trip of the Titanic. Stead was the editor of the “Pall Mall Gazette” in England and he is known as one of the pioneers of investigative journalism.

In 1885, debates were raging in parliament over the issue of child prostitution. Stead entered the crusade against this atrocity by writing a series of articles attacking the immorality of purchasing girls. What was interesting to me is that William and Bramwell Booth had helped convince him that he needed to join the efforts of the Salvation Army in rallying against the selling and purchasing girls. He did, and ended up going to jail because of it.

Stead organized the “purchase” of a girl named Eliza Armstrong from a chimney-sweep and his wife. He purchased the girl, and then set up a potential sale to sell her to someone else. Once the “sale” took place, Stead and the Booths rescued the girl before anything bad could happen.

Stead used this purchase and subsequent sale to launch his attacks in the newspaper. This created an uproar, because powerful men, including a few members of Parliament, made lucrative money off of this atrocity. William Booth and the Salvation Army began holding rallies all over the country against what was then legal child prostitution. They gathered over 400,000 signatures from citizens who demanded action against this evil. Stead and Bramwell Booth were both charged with kidnapping. Booth was acquitted, but Stead was sent to prison for six months. He told William that rescuing so many girls was worth imprisonment.

A few years later, when William wanted to write his book he asked Stead to help him. Together they produced “In Darkest England and the Way Out” which addressed remedies to help the poor, the homeless, the abused, and the addicted.

As the Titanic was going down, Stead was seen helping women and children unto the lifeboats,  as well as giving up his life jacket to another individual. He was still helping people even as death was near.

After the life boats were full, Stead jumped into the freezing waters and held onto the side of a life boat, just like many others did. Titanic survivor Philip Mock reported that Stead’s feet became frozen and he drowned.

It does not appear that Stead was ever an official part of the Salvation Army, but his legacy continues these many years after his death.