Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Winspear, William Robert, 1859-1944
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1859-1944
History
William Winspear, socialist and journalist, was born in England in 1859 and migrated to New South Wales about 1874, where he worked in the New Lambton coalmines. In 1887, he published the first issue of the 'Radical', which soon became the mouthpiece of the Australian Socialist League. The paper ceased publication in April 1890 after Winspear fell out with the League over its growing support for state socialism. Forced to sell his printing plant and move to Sydney, Winspear was unable to support his wife and five children and was imprisoned for housebreaking in a desperate attempt to provide food. While he was in prison, his 32-year-old wife Alice Maud Drake hanged herself, after being refused help by several charities. Winspear found work as a clerk on his release and in 1910 published a volume of poems. Full-time treasurer of the Australian Socialist Party from 1912-1916, he often edited its newspaper, the 'International Socialist', and was a regular contributor of poetry, articles and 'socialist fables'. His 'Essays and rhymes of the system' (1939) showed that he retained libertarian socialist convictions to the end of his life. He died in 1944.