Alan Ross Mayfield McWhirter (12 August 1925 – 27 November 1975), known as Ross McWhirter, was, with his twin brother,
Norris McWhirterNorris Dewar McWhirter, CBE was a writer, political activist, co-founder of the Freedom Association, and a television presenter. He and his twin brother, Ross, were known internationally for the Guinness Book of Records, a book they wrote and annually updated together between 1955 and 1975...
, co-founder of the
Guinness Book of Records and a contributor to
Record BreakersRecord Breakers was a British children's TV show, themed around world records and produced by the BBC and originally presented by Roy Castle with twin brothers Norris McWhirter and Ross McWhirter. It was broadcast on BBC1 from 15 December 1972 to 21 December 2001...
. He was assassinated by the
Provisional Irish Republican ArmyThe Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
(IRA).
Early life
McWhirter was the son of William McWhirter, editor of the
Sunday Pictorial newspaper, and Margaret 'Bunty' Williamson. He was born at "Giffnock" (after Giffnock Church in
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, where the McWhirters were married), 10 Branscombe Gardens,
Winchmore HillWinchmore Hill is a district in the Borough of Enfield, North London, in the N21 postal district.- Location :With the Winchmore Hill conservation area as a focal point, Winchmore Hill is a ward of Enfield borough, bounded on the east by Green Lanes , Barrowell Green, Firs Lane and Fords Grove, and...
,
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, N21. In 1929, as William was working on the founding of the Northcliffe Newspapers chain of provincial newspapers, the family moved to "Aberfoyle", in Broad Walk, Winchmore Hill. Like his brothers, Ross McWhirter was educated at
Marlborough CollegeMarlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...
and
Trinity College, OxfordThe College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It stands on Broad Street, next door to Balliol College and Blackwells bookshop,...
. Between 1943 and 1946 Ross served with the
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
on board a
minesweeperA minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
in the Mediterranean.
Career
Ross and Norris both became
sports journalistsSports journalism is a form of journalism that reports on sports topics and events.While the sports department within some newspapers has been mockingly called the toy department, because sports journalists do not concern themselves with the 'serious' topics covered by the news desk, sports...
in 1950. In 1951, they published
Get to Your Marks, and later in 1951 they founded an agency to provide facts and figures to
Fleet StreetFleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
, setting out, in Norris McWhirter's words: "to supply facts and figures to newspapers, yearbooks, encyclopaedias and advertisers."
While building up their accounts, they both worked as sports journalists. One of the athletes they knew and covered was runner
Christopher ChatawaySir Christopher John Chataway is a British former middle- and long-distance runner, television news broadcaster, and a Conservative politician...
, the employee at
GuinnessGuinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is directly descended from the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost...
who recommended them to
Sir Hugh BeaverSir Hugh Eyre Campbell Beaver, KBE, was a British engineer, industrialist, and founder of the Guinness Book of Records.-Biography:...
. 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.
Both brothers were regulars on the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
show
Record BreakersRecord Breakers was a British children's TV show, themed around world records and produced by the BBC and originally presented by Roy Castle with twin brothers Norris McWhirter and Ross McWhirter. It was broadcast on BBC1 from 15 December 1972 to 21 December 2001...
. They were noted for their photographic memory, enabling them to provide detailed answers to any questions from the audience about entries in the
Guinness Book of Records. Norris continued on the programme after Ross's death.
In 1958, long after the legend of
William Webb EllisRev. William Webb Ellis was an Anglican clergyman who is famous for allegedly being the inventor of Rugby football whilst a pupil at Rugby School....
had become engrained in rugby culture, Ross McWhirter managed to rediscover his grave in "le cimetière du vieux château" at
MentonMenton is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.Situated on the French Riviera, along the Franco-Italian border, it is nicknamed la perle de la France ....
in Alpes Maritimes (it has since been renovated by the French Rugby Federation).
Political activity
In the early 1960s, he was a
Conservative PartyThe Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
activist and sought, unsuccessfully, the seat of
EdmontonEdmonton is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-History:...
in the 1964 general election. In 1975, McWhirter co-founded the National Association for Freedom (now
The Freedom AssociationThe Freedom Association is a pressure group in the United Kingdom that describes itself as non-partisan, centre-right and libertarian, which has links to the Conservative Party. TFA was founded in 1975 as the National Association for Freedom and gained public prominence through its anti-trade...
). The organisation initiated legal challenges against the trade union movement in the United Kingdom, the
Campaign for Nuclear DisarmamentThe Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is an anti-nuclear organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...
(CND), and the
EECThe European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
in
BrusselsThe Court can sit in plenary session, as a Grand Chamber of 13 judges, or in chambers of three or five judges. Plenary sitting are now very rare, and the court mostly sits in chambers of three or five judges...
.
Views on Ireland
McWhirter advocated restrictions on the
Irish community in BritainIrish people in Great Britain are members of the Irish diaspora who reside in Great Britain, the largest island and principal territory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland....
such as making it compulsory for all Irish people in Great Britain to register with the local police and to provide signed photographs of themselves when renting flats or booking into hotels and hostels. In doing so, McWhirter recognised that he could then be a target himself. 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 ArmyThe Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
(IRA).
Assassination
On 27 November 1975, McWhirter was assassinated by two IRA
volunteersVolunteer, often abbreviated Vol., is a term used by a number of Irish republican paramilitary organisations to describe their members. Among these have been the various forms of the Irish Republican Army and the Irish National Liberation Army...
, both of whom were members of what became known as the
Balcombe Street GangThe Balcombe Street Siege was an incident involving members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and the Metropolitan Police Service of London, England lasting from 6 December to 12 December 1975. The siege ended with the surrender of the four IRA volunteers and the release of their two hostages...
, the group for whose capture McWhirter had offered the reward. He was shot at close range in the head and chest outside his home in North London and was taken to
Chase Farm HospitalChase Farm Hospital is a hospital in Enfield, north London, run by Barnet and Chase Farm NHS Hospitals Trust as part of the British National Health Service.The oldest part of the hospital was formerly part of a children's home...
, but died soon after being admitted. His killers were captured and "charged with 10 murders and 20 bombings". They were sentenced to life imprisonment but freed in 1998 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
Selected bibliography
Sports and general encyclopædia
- Get To Your Marks (1951, with Norris McWhirter)
- Guinness Book of Records (1955–1975, with Norris McWhirter)
- Ross: The Story of a Shared Life (Norris McWhirter) ISBN 0-902782-23-1
External links
- The McWhirter Foundation The McWhirter Foundation
- TV presenter Ross McWhirter shot dead @ BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, On This Day, 27 November 1975.