Frederick Knight Hunt (1814–1854) was an English journalist and author, known for The Fourth Estate, a history of journalism.
At the time of his father's death, around 1830, Hunt was a night boy in a printer's office; to support his family, he took on a day job as a clerk to a barrister, who gave him an introduction to a morning newspaper.
[2] After a year Hunt returned to London, continuing to practise medicine, and working briefly for the Anti-Corn Law League.
[2] Hunt wrote for Household Words, edited by Charles Dickens, contributing in particular on anatomical exhibitions.
[6] Other recruits were Edwin Lawrence Godkin, sent to the Ottoman Empire, and Harriet Martineau as a leader writer, who became a prolific contributor.