Ross McWhirter
This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2017) |
Ross McWhirter | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | Alan Ross McWhirter 12 August 1925 Winchmore Hill, Middlesex, England |
Died | 27 November 1975 Gordon Hill, Greater London, England | (aged 50)
Cause of death | Gunshot wounds |
Education | Marlborough College Trinity College, Oxford |
Occupations |
|
Notable credit(s) | The Guinness Book of Records, Record Breakers |
Spouse | Rosemary J. Hamilton-Grice[1][2] |
Relatives | Kennedy G. McWhirter (brother) Norris McWhirter (twin brother) |
Family | William McWhirter, father; Margaret Williamson, mother |
Alan Ross McWhirter (12 August 1925 – 27 November 1975) was, with his twin brother, Norris, the co-founder in 1955 of Guinness Book of Records (known since 2000 as Guinness World Records) and a contributor to the television programme Record Breakers. He was assassinated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in 1975.[3]
Early life
McWhirter was the youngest son of William McWhirter, editor of the Sunday Pictorial, and Margaret "Bunty" Williamson. He was born at "Giffnock" (after Giffnock Church in Glasgow, where the McWhirters were married), 10 Branscombe Gardens, Winchmore Hill, London, N21. In 1929, as William was working on the founding of the Northcliffe Newspapers Group chain of provincial newspapers, the family moved to "Aberfoyle", in Broad Walk, Winchmore Hill.[4] Like his two brothers [citation needed], Ross McWhirter was educated at Chesterton School, Seaford, Marlborough College and Trinity College, Oxford. Between 1943 and 1946, Ross served as a sub-lieutenant with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve on board a minesweeper in the Mediterranean.[5]
Career
Ross and Norris both became sports journalists in 1950. In 1951, they published Get to Your Marks, and earlier that year they had founded an agency to provide facts and figures to Fleet Street, setting out, in Norris McWhirter's words "to supply facts and figures to newspapers, yearbooks, encyclopaedias and advertisers".
While building up their business, they both worked as sports journalists. One of the athletes they knew and covered was runner Christopher Chataway, an employee at Guinness who recommended them to Hugh Beaver. After an interview in 1954 in which the Guinness directors enjoyed testing the twins' knowledge of records and unusual facts, the brothers agreed to start work on the book that would become The Guinness Book of Records. In August 1955, the first slim green volume – 198 pages long – was at the bookstalls, and in four more months it was the UK's number one non-fiction best-seller.[6] Both brothers were regulars on the BBC show Record Breakers. They were noted for their encyclopedic memories, enabling them to provide detailed answers to questions from the audience about entries in The Guinness Book of Records. Norris continued to appear on the programme after Ross's death.[7]
In 1958, long after the legend of William Webb Ellis as the originator of rugby had become engrained in rugby culture, Ross managed to rediscover his grave in le cimetière du vieux château at Menton in Alpes Maritimes (it has since been renovated by the French Rugby Federation).
Political activity
In the early 1960s, he was a Conservative Party activist and sought, unsuccessfully, the seat of Edmonton in the 1964 general election. Following his killing, his brother and others founded the National Association for Freedom (later The Freedom Association).
Views on Ireland
McWhirter advocated various restrictions on the freedom of the Irish community in Britain, such as making it compulsory for all of them to register with the local police and to provide signed photographs of themselves when renting flats or booking into hotels and hostels.[8] In addition, McWhirter offered a £50,000 reward for information leading to a conviction for several recent high-profile bombings in England that were publicly claimed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). In doing so, McWhirter recognised that he could then be a target himself.[8] This was described as a bounty by McWhirter, and considered a bounty by the IRA Army Council, a view that led directly to the events that followed, although the idea was not originally his, but that of John Gouriet.[9]
Assassination
On 27 November 1975 at 6.45 p.m., McWhirter was shot and killed by two IRA volunteers, Harry Duggan and Hugh Doherty, both of whom were members of what became known as the Balcombe Street Gang,[10] the group for whose capture McWhirter had offered the reward. McWhirter was shot at close range in the head and chest with a .357 Magnum revolver outside his home in Village Road, Bush Hill Park.[11] He was taken to Chase Farm Hospital, but died soon after being admitted. Duggan and Doherty were apprehended following the Balcombe Street siege and charged with murdering McWhirter, in addition to nine other victims.[10] They were sentenced to life imprisonment, but released in 1999 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.[12]
Selected bibliography
Sports and general encyclopædia
- Get To Your Marks (1951, with Norris McWhirter) OCLC 963645353
- The Guinness Book of Records (1955–1975, with Norris McWhirter)
- Ross: The Story of a Shared Life (Norris McWhirter) ISBN 0-902782-23-1, OCLC 3540709
- Ross Was Right – The McWhirter File (Covenant Pub., 29 September 2014) ISBN 978-085205-118-4, OCLC 911093351
See also
References
- ^ General Registrar's Office, register of marriages
- ^ "1975: TV presenter Ross McWhirter shot dead". BBC News. 27 November 1975. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
- ^ Bernstein, Adam (21 April 2004). "Norris McWhirter Dies; 'Guinness Book' Co-Founder". The Washington Post. Retrieved 16 December 2008.
- ^ Ayrshire Notes – Norris McWhirter Ref used to confirm only that "Aberfoyle" is house name in Winchmore Hill, rather than town name in Scotland or Ireland
- ^ Norris McWhirter – A Short Biography
- ^ Lusher, Adam (20 November 2004). "Crunch time in my attempt at Guinness World Records glory". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
- ^ "Record Breakers' McWhirter dies". BBC. 20 April 2004. Retrieved 16 December 2008.
- ^ a b The Road To Balcombe Street: The IRA Reign of Terror in London by Steven Moysey (ISBN 978-0-7890-2913-3), pages 116 to 117
- ^ John Gouriet, The Daily Telegraph, 13 September 2010
- ^ a b "1975: TV presenter Ross McWhirter shot dead". BBC News. 27 November 1975.
- ^ McHardy, Anne, McWhirter's killer is known bomber, The Guardian, 3 December 1975
- ^ "1975: Balcombe Street siege ends". BBC On This Day. BBC News. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
External links
- The McWhirter Foundation The McWhirter Foundation
- TV presenter Ross McWhirter shot dead @ BBC News, On This Day, 27 November 1975.
- 1925 births
- 1975 deaths
- 1975 murders in the United Kingdom
- Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford
- Assassinated British journalists
- English male journalists
- Deaths by firearm in England
- English people of Scottish descent
- Identical twins
- People educated at Marlborough College
- People from Enfield Town
- People killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army
- People murdered in London
- Royal Navy officers of World War II
- Rugby union journalists
- Twin people from England
- Burials at New Southgate Cemetery
- Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II
- Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates