THE second editor of The Northern Echo has been commemorated with a plaque outside his former home in London.

Plaques in New York, London, Northumberland and Darlington already pay tribute to the achievements of William Thomas Stead.

Now another has been unveiled outside where he once lived in Smith Square, Westminster, marking the life of a man who died on board the Titanic in 1912.

He campaigned to improve the conditions of London's poor and against child prostitution. He also strengthened the Navy and, according to the Encyclopedia of the British Press, was the "apostle of the New Journalism".

Westminster councillor Angela Hooper said: "William Thomas Stead was one of Britain's greatest Edwardians and we are delighted we can honour a journalist of such high calibre in this way."