Encyclopedias: Spartacus Educational: Journalists and Newspapers: Robert Blatchford

Description: Abstract: Born in Maidstone in 1851, the son of an actor, his father died when he was two and at the age of fourteen he was apprenticed as a brushmaker. He disliked the work and ran away to join the army where he reached the rank of sergeant major before leaving the service in 1878. After trying a variety of different jobs he became a freelance journalist. After working for several newspapers he became leader writer for the Sunday Chronicle in Manchester. While he became a socialist and lobbied for their cause, after the First World War he moved to the right and became a passionate advocate of the British Empire. Robert Blatchford died on 17th December 1943.