John Alfred Spender was born on December 23, 1862, in Bath, Somerset, England.

He was a British journalist, editor, and author. He was educated at Bath College and Balliol College, Oxford. He sought out a career in journalism. In 1886, his uncle William Saunders, the owner of the struggling Hull newspaper Eastern Morning News, offered him the editorship. Spender eagerly accepted and spent a little over four years in the post. In 1893, he returned to London and became an editor of the Liberal evening newspaper Pall Mall Gazette. In 1896, he became editor of the Westminster Gazette, a position he held until 1922. Spencer received the credit for making it the most influential evening newspaper in Britain. He was the author of several books on nonfiction subjects, including histories, travelogues, biographies, and memoirs, e.g., "The State and Pensions in Old Age" (1892), "The Comments of Bagshot" (1908), "The Life of The Right Hon. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman” (2 vols., 1924), "Life of Herbert Henry Asquith, Lord Oxford and Asquith" (2 vols., 1932), and his memoir "Life, Journalism and Politics" (2 vols., 1927). Spender also served on many public commissions and inquiries, and after refusing public honours three previous times, he accepted an appointment as a Companion of Honour.

In 1892, he married Mary Rawlinson (1872–). He died on June 21, 1942, in Bromley, Kent, England.