Spencer was born in
Hunston, West Sussex, the third son of Cornelius Cosens, farmer, and his wife Ellen. In 1892, he emigrated with his brother Arthur to
British Columbia, Canada, with the gold rush. He did a variety of jobs then in 1894 formed a pastoral services company with his brother Sidney at
Fairview and
Camp McKinney. and Sydney.
Australia The Spencers returned to Sydney in 1905. He opened his
American Theatrescope or '''Spencer's Theatrescope''' at the
Lyceum Theatre in
Pitt Street, Sydney, showing newsreel shorts with a 3,000 candle-power carbon-arc projector, accompanied by a "full orchestra" and sound effects, Spencer himself giving a commentary as required. He showed scenes from
Wilson Barrett's drama,
The Sign of the Cross in July, From September to November 1905, while having the Lyceum upgraded, he took the Theatrescope to the newly opened
Queen's Hall, Perth, Western Australia, which proved highly profitable, and was back at the Lyceum in December. In February–March 1906 his Theatrescope showed the latest films at the
Theatre Royal, Adelaide and the Town Hall,
Port Adelaide, followed by Albany and Perth Town Halls in March (a few nights at each), then Broken Hill in March, then to Queensland August to October: first Cairns, then Rockhampton, Maryborough, Gympie, and finally Brisbane at
Her Majesty's Theatre, Brisbane, before returning to the Sydney Lyceum in December. When making these tours they carried their own alternator (to avoid the vagaries of local supplies) and around 30,000 feet of film. He made a diversion to Broken Hill in May 1907, before signing a long lease on the Lyceum, then embarked on a purchasing trip to France, Great Britain, and America while having the Lyceum renovated. On their return to Australia he recruited and trained a second projection unit, which operated at the
Palace Theatre, Melbourne, from February to March 1908, the
Tivoli Theatre, Adelaide from May to July 1909, and
Wirth's Olympia from January 1910 to October 1913. Spencer's Theatrescope reopened at the
Palace Theatre, Sydney in February 1908, but returned to the Lyceum in April. and continued to February 1913.
Some imported films • A 1,200-ft film
A Trip to the Sun, in August 1905. • ''The Blind Man's Child'' •
Olympic Games in October 1906 • A comedy ''The Blacksmith's Daughter'' in 1906. •
The Wedding of Sandy McNab with
Harry Lauder •
Not Guilty in December 1910
Production Now a wealthy man, he moved into production, establishing a permanent production unit under
Ernest Higgins in 1908, initially producing documentary shorts and newsreels. In 1908, he produced a documentary
The Burns-Johnson Fight for
H. D. McIntosh of the World Heavyweight Championship boxing match between Tommy Burns and Jack Johnson that was groundbreaking for its time, focusing on the preparation for the fight as well as the highlights of the actual fight itself and then reflections from those involved afterwards. Spencer made significant profits from the production and distribution of the documentary in Australia and across the world. He then moved into funding dramatic feature films, starting with
The Life and Adventures of John Vane, the Notorious Australian Bushranger, released in March 1910. Spencer was an early supporter of director
Raymond Longford who directed
The Fatal Wedding (1911) for him. The movie cost £360 to produce, but netted over £18,000. Its success enabled him to set up a £10,000
studio complex in Rushcutter's Bay, Sydney, where Longford made his next couple of features. He also purchased
Nugal Hall. Spencer is credited with establishing productions in Australia with sound and colour, turning Sydney into one of the world's leading movie centres at the time.
Fox Studios Australia bears a commemoration plaque memorializing Spencer's role as a pioneer in the movie world. but was also responsible for a handful of local productions. Several of his films were released in the US by Sawyers Pictures with new titles, such as
The Convict Hero, ''The Bushranger's Bride
, Nell Gwynne
, The Bandit Terrors of Australia,
and The Queen of the Smugglers''.
Restructure In September 1911 Spencer floated Spencer's Pictures Ltd, with a nominal capital of £150,000, to take over the assets and goodwill of his moving picture business. Spencer, who was appointed managing director, undertook not to engage in competition for the next ten years. Critically, Senora Spencer did not sign the agreement. In September 1912, Spencer's Pictures merged with
Amalgamated Pictures and
West's Ltd to create the General Film Company of Australasia Ltd, with capital of £250,000 in £1 shares. The following year this company combined with the Greater J. D. Williams Amusement Co, a large exhibition and film supply outfit, to create two new entities, General Film Company and the Greater Williams Company, each with an exhibiting branch and a film hiring branch. The Spencers, who were on a 12-month overseas visit, were not part of the negotiations. In 1914 Spencer's Pictures released
The Shepherd of the Southern Cross, much of which was filmed around
Bathurst. It was well received but apparently insufficiently profitable for the consortium, which actively discouraged further Australian productions. As a consequence, Spencer reportedly retired from the boards of all four companies — Australasian Films Ltd, Union Theatres Ltd, General Films Company of Australasia, Ltd, and Spencer's Pictures, Ltd, however in March 1917 Spencer resigned as a director of Spencer's Pictures Ltd after the board refused to grant him the power of veto over matters of policy. In September 1917 the Spencers, who were still shareholders, were sued by
Australasian Films Ltd and
Union Theatres Ltd for breaking conditions under which their company was taken into the conglomerate. Specifically, they alluded to non-competitive clauses in the formation of Spencer's Pictures Ltd, and the fact that Senora Spencer, who had a joint bank account with Spencer and therefore a financial partner, had been hiring films and operating projection equipment at the
Lyceum Theatre, Sydney and had purchased land for a cinema in Brisbane. and left Australia. ==Death==