Francis Herbert Stead (1857 – 14 January 1928), commonly cited as F. H. Stead, was a British social reformer notable for the establishment of Browning Hall in London, 1895, and for his work on the National Committee of Organised Labour which waged a decade-long campaign for the introduction of a general tax-funded system of old-age pensions from 1899.
[2][3][4] He was the Minister of Gallowtree Gate Congregational Church, Leicester, from 1884 to 1890,[3] during which period he married Bessie MacGregor, a school teacher.
Stead moved to London to assume the editorship of the Independent and Nonconformist from 1890 to 1892[3] and was involved in the settlement movement, which aimed to encourage relatively wealthy, educated and socially advantaged people to live in proximity with the working poor.
The Robert Browning Settlement provided accommodation for some university educated residents and a relatively large number of autodidacts such as James Keir Hardie.
Stead worked with Frederick Rogers for a decade, writing pamphlets and books, lobbying parliament and religious leaders, and travelling the length of the country to speak for the cause.