Researching William Spence

Spence was born in Bishop Burton in the East Riding of Yorkshire, the oldest of four children of farmer Robert Spence. He was apprenticed to Russian merchants and shipowners Carhill, Greenwood & Co. but little else is known about his early life except that at the age of ten he was in the care of a clergyman who taught him botany. He married Elizabeth Blundell in Hull on 30 June 1804 and very soon supported her brother Henry to set up the highly successful oil and colour company Blundell Spence. He was the father of artist and art dealer William Blundell Spence.

He became interested in entomology when he was 22 and immediately began a correspondence with leading entomologist William Kirby. Together they wrote Introduction to Entomology, published in four volumes between 1815 and 1826, the first popular book on entomology in English. Spence also published some 20 notes on entomology.

In 1822, he also published Tracts on Political Economy Viz. 1. Britain Independent of Commerce; 2. Agriculture the Source of Wealth; 3. The Objections Against the Corn Bill Refuted; 4. Speech on the East India Trade. With Prefatory Remarks on the Causes and Cure of Our Present Distresses as Originating from Neglect of Principles Laid Down in These Works (London: Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, 1822).

In 1833 he was one of the founders of the Society of Entomologists of London, becoming its president in 1847. He was made an 'Honorary English Member' of the Entomological Society at the same time as Kirby was made Honorary Life President.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in April 1834.

He was the first editor of a Hull newspaper, the Hull Rockingham. There is a bust of him by Marochetti in the Hull museum.

Born in Drypool, Yorkshire, to noted entomologist William Spence and his wife Elizabeth Blundell, he spent the years 1826-1832 travelling abroad with his parents. In 1836 he settled in Florence, Italy, where he spent the rest of his life.

As a painter, he specialized, mainly painting Alpine landscapes. At the 1870 Exhibition of Fine Arts in Parma, he exhibited an oil: Bagni of Lucca. Among other works are Dallo Porte Sante and La pensierosa. At Florence, in 1882: Veduta della Marina. In 1885, in the same city: Veduta del Chalet Plauta.

Though not himself an entomologist, he joined the Entomological Society of London at its founding in 1833, and was noted as its longest-surviving original member.

Born in Cockpen in Midlothian, Spence was educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh. When he was fifteen, he became an apprentice sailor, and joined the National Sailors' and Firemen's Union (NSFU). He served in the Merchant Navy for many years, becoming an officer. However, in 1911, he became a strong supporter of the sailors' case in the strike. He resigned his commission, and devoted all his time to trade unionism.

In 1911, Spence began working full-time as an official of the NSFU, based on shore, initially in South Shields, and later in various ports in the south of England. In 1928, he was elected as the union's general secretary, and from 1931 to 1941, he additionally served on the General Council of the Trades Union Congress.

Spence was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1937. During World War II, he was a member of the Advisory Council to the Ministry of Shipping. He retired in 1942, settling in Shoreham-by-Sea.