William Christopher Leng, known as W. C. Leng (25 January 1825 - 20 February 1902) was a newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

 publisher in Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

.

Leng was born and educated in Hull

Kingston upon Hull

Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...

, before being apprenticed as a pharmacist

Pharmacist

Pharmacists are allied health professionals who practice in pharmacy, the field of health sciences focusing on safe and effective medication use...

 and setting up his own business. During this period, he contributed anonymously to the Hull Free Press, calling for reforms such as slum clearance and ship safety. He is believed to have inspired Samuel Plimsoll

Samuel Plimsoll

Samuel Plimsoll was a British politician and social reformer, now best remembered for having devised the Plimsoll line .-Early life:Plimsoll was born in Bristol and soon moved to Whiteley Wood...

 to take up this second cause.

Leng's family was Methodist and aligned with the Liberal Party

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 cause. His brother John Leng

John Leng

Sir John Leng was a Liberal Party politician in Scotland.Leng was born in Hull, the brother of W. C. Leng. In the 1850s, he purchased the Dundee Advertiser....

 retained these beliefs, but William joined the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 and became a supporter of the Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

. Despite this, after John became the proprietor of the Dundee Advertiser, William was a regular contributor, and in 1859, he moved to the city. He was a prominent supporter of the north in the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, when most Scottish journalists supported the South.

In 1864, Leng became managing editor and joint proprietor of the Sheffield Daily Telegraph with Frederick Clifford. He moved to the city and relocated the firm to new premises on Aldine Court. Under him, the newspaper became one of the first to adopt linotype printing.

Shortly after Leng arrived in Sheffield, the city was struck by the Great Sheffield Flood

Great Sheffield Flood

Not to be confused with the floods in Sheffield in 2007.The Great Sheffield Flood was a flood that devastated parts of Sheffield, England, on 11 March 1864, when the Dale Dyke Dam broke.- Collapse of Dale Dyke Dam :...

. Following this disaster, he campaigned for the municipalisation of the city's water supply. His reputation established by this activity, he was able to publicise and investigate the Sheffield Outrages

Sheffield Outrages

Sheffield's early success in steel production had involved long working hours, in desperately unpleasant conditions which offered little or no safety protection. quotes a local doctor, Dr. Knight, regarding the so-called "Grinder's Asthma" suffered by the Sheffield cutlery workers in the mid 19th...

 in 1867.

Leng never took political office, but became the leading figure in Sheffield Conservatism. During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the Conservatives became the dominant group on Sheffield Town Council, while the Daily Telegraph was supplemented by the Weekly Telegraph, the Sunday Telegraph and the Evening Telegraph and Star. Politically, he was a supporter of imperial preference

Imperial Preference

Imperial Preference was a proposed system of reciprocally-levelled tariffs or free trade agreements between the dominions and colonies within the British Empire...

 and established Conservative Clubs and electoral organisations on a constituency basis throughout Sheffield. He was the Vice-Chairman and later the Chairman of the Sheffield Conservative and Constitutional Association, the Vice President of the Sheffield Association for Promoting Sanitary Reform and the Better Housing of the Poor, and the President of the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce

Chamber of commerce

A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...

 in 1895 - 96. He generally supported municipalisation, while Liberals in the city opposed, until the positions were reversed over the question of the tram

Tram

A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

ways in 1895.

Leng was knighted in 1887 on the recommendation of Lord Salisbury. He continued writing for the Telegraph until his last days.