Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Dicey, Edward James Stephen
DICEY, EDWARD JAMES STEPHEN (1832–1911), author and journalist, born on 15 May 1832 at Claybrook near Lutterworth, Leicestershire, was second son of Thomas Edward Dicey, of an old Leicestershire family, who was senior wrangler in 1811, was a pioneer of the Midland Railway, and owned the 'Northampton Mercury.' His mother Anne Mary, sister of Sir James Stephen [q. v.], was aunt of Sir James Fitzjames Stephen [q. v.] and Sir Leslie Stephen [q. v. Suppl. II]. His younger brother is Professor Albert Venn Dicey.
Educated at home and, for about two years, at King's College, London, Edward went up to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1850, was president of the Cambridge Union, and graduated B.A. in 1854 with a third class in the classical tripos, and as a senior optime in mathematics. After leaving Cambridge he went for a short time into business without success, and then took to writing, for which he had inherited from his mother and her family a singular facility. He travelled abroad and interested himself in foreign politics. In 1861 he published both 'Rome in 1860' and 'Cavour a Memoir,' thereby establishing his position as a writer on public matters (Graves's Life and Letters of Alexander Macmillan, p. 180). In 1862 Dicey visited America, and wrote on the American civil war in 'Macmillan's Magazine' and the 'Spectator' with 'admirable honesty of style and thought,' and in a 'quiet judicial tone' (ibid.). There followed in 1863 'Six Months in the Federal States,' which 'met with a somewhat lukewarm reception,' on account of the northern sympathies of the author (ibid.).
In 1861 Dicey became connected with the 'Daily Telegraph,' and his style and knowledge of foreign questions led to his being made a permanent member of the staff in 1862. Among his colleagues were Sir Edwin Arnold [q. v. Suppl. II], an old school friend, Francis Lawley [q. v. Suppl. II], and George Augustus Sala [q. v.]. He was a leader-writer for the paper, and also acted as special correspondent in the Schleswig-Holstein war of 1864, and the Seven Weeks' war of 1866. He embodied these experiences in the volumes 'The Schleswig- Holstein War' (1864), and 'The Battle-fields of 1866' (1866). He afterwards described other foreign excursions in 'A Month in Russia during the Marriage of the Czarevitch' (1867), and in 'The Morning Land, being Sketches of Turkey, the Holy Land, and Egypt' (1870), the result of three months' tour in the East.
While in the East in 1869 he accepted an offer of the editorship of the 'Daily News,' and held this post for three months in 1870. On leaving it he at once became editor of the 'Observer,' and filled that office for nineteen years (1870–89), continuing to write for the paper for some time after he ceased to edit it.
Subsequently he was a constant contributor to the 'Nineteenth Century,' the 'Empire Review,' and other periodicals. His interest in foreign politics remained keen, especially in the affairs of Eastern Europe. He was a frequent visitor to Egypt, and formed at first hand well-defined views of England's position there, at one time advocating the annexation of the country by Great Britain. He was a strong supporter of friendly relations between England and Germany, and closely studied South African matters in later years.
His latest books, which indicate the range of his interest, were: 1. 'England and Egypt,' mainly papers republished from the 'Nineteenth Century,' 1881. 2. 'Victor Emmanuel' in the 'New Plutarch' series, 1882. 3. 'The Peasant State, an Account of Bulgaria in 1894,' 1894. 4. 'The Story of the Khedivate,' 1902. 5. 'The Egypt of the Future,' 1907.
Dicey had entered at Gray's Inn as a student in 1865, and was called to the bar in 1875, but did not practise. During his later life he made his home in chambers in the Inn, of which he became a bencher in 1896, and treasurer in 1903 and 1904. In 1886 he was made a C.B. He was a familiar figure at the Athenæum and Garrick clubs. He died at his chambers in Gray's Inn on 7 July 1911, and was buried in the Brompton cemetery, the first part of the funeral service taking place in Gray's Inn Chapel. He married in 1867 Anne Greene Chapman of Weymouth, Massachusetts; she died in 1878. He had one son, who died in his father's lifetime. A portrait of him by a French artist, M. Laugee, is in the possession of his cousin, Godfrey Clark, Talygarn Pontyclun, Glamorganshire.
Dicey was by nature a singularly good observer; he had a great store of knowledge, much dry humour, a cool judgment, and a sound and vivid style. Though in a sense reserved and indifferent to outward appearances, he associated easily and genially with men around him, especially with foreigners, while he possessed a rare capacity for easy and clear description of scenes and events which were passing before his eyes. Being neither didactic nor controversial, nor in the ordinary sense professional, he exercised by his writings alike in books and newspapers considerable influence on public opinion.
[Authorities cited; The Times, 8 July 1911; Daily Telegraph, 8 July 1911; Observer, 9 July 1911; Men of the Time, 1899; Who's Who; Life of Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, by Sir Leslie Stephen, 1895; Life and Letters of Alexander Macmillan, by Charles L. Graves, 1910; Letters of Alexander Macmillan, edited by his son, George A. Macmillan, and printed for private circulation, 1908; private sources.]