John Wade was born in London to working class parents. He worked for more than a decade as a journeyman wool sorter, then he ‘wrote his way out of obscurity’ (Harling, 2004). He was encouraged by Francis Place to engage in journalism: his first venture was a penny newspaper, The Gorgon, published in 1818–19 on money lent by Bentham and Henry Bickersteth (later Baron Langdale). Wade's articles are reputed to be well informed and detailed, so that The Gorgon's influence surpassed its limited circulation. It attempted to find a junction point between, on the one hand, radical reformers and trade unionists, to which group Wade belonged, and, on the other hand, moderate reformers, with particular reference to the possible use of utilitarian doctrines to improve the condition of the labouring classes.