Henry Halliday Sparling (1860 – 9 September 1924) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

journalist and socialist activist. Sparling became a socialist in 1878, and soon began lecturing on the topic. He began writing for ''Progress'' in 1884, and joined the Socialist League, serving on its executive, including a stint as secretary, and assisting

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

with editing ''

Commonweal Commonweal or common weal may refer to: * Common good, what is shared and beneficial for members of a given community * Common Weal, a Scottish think tank and advocacy group * ''Commonweal'' (magazine), an American lay-Catholic-oriented magazin ...

'' from 1885 to 1890. He was married to Morris’ daughter

May May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. May is a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, May in the Southern Hemisphere is the ...

between 1890 and 1898, when they were divorced. Sparling disassociated himself from the Socialist League along with Morris, as it became dominated by

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

s, and instead found work as a sub-editor for the ''People's Press'', moving to the ''Worker's Cry'' in 1891. That year, he joined the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...

, and served on its executive from 1892 until 1894, during this period also writing the "Fabian Notes" column for the ''Workman's Times''. In this period, he was also secretary to William Morris'

Kelmscott Press The Kelmscott Press, founded by William Morris and Emery Walker, published 53 books in 66 volumes between 1891 and 1898. Each book was designed and ornamented by Morris and printed by hand in limited editions of around 300. Many books were illus ...

, for whom he corrected Caxton's text of ''The History of Godefrey of Boloyne and of the Conquest of Iherusalem'' for the press. In 1894, Sparling moved to Paris as a correspondent for the ''Weekly Times and Echo'' and also the ''

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'', returning to London in 1910. He later moved to California, then returned to Paris in the early 1920s. In 1924, his book ''The Kelmscott Press and William Morris'' was published, and he died later in the year.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sparling, Henry Halliday 1860 births 1924 deaths English journalists Members of the Fabian Society Socialist League (UK, 1885) members