Ross McWhirter
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Ross McWhirter | |
---|---|
Born | Alan Ross McWhirter 12 August 1925 Winchmore Hill, Middlesex, England |
Died | 27 November 1975 Enfield, London, England | (aged 50)
Cause of death | Gunshot |
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 | Norris McWhirter (twin brother) |
Alan Ross McWhirter (12 August 1925 – 27 November 1975) was, with his
Early life
McWhirter was the youngest son of William McWhirter, editor of the
Between 1943 and 1946, Ross served as a
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, endeavouring "to supply facts and figures to newspapers, yearbooks, encyclopaedias and advertisers."
While building their business, they both worked as sports journalists. They knew and covered runner
In 1958, long after the legend of
In 1965, Ross and Norris were guests on the American panel game show I've Got a Secret, where they exhibited their memorisation of the Guinness Book of Records.[7]
Politics
In the early 1960s, McWhirter was a Conservative Party activist and unsuccessfully fought 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).
His views have been described as "right-wing".[8]
Controversy
Ireland
McWhirter advocated and lobbied
Capital punishment
McWhirter advocated capital punishment for terrorism offences. During a press conference on 4 November 1975, he proposed that terrorism be classified as treason and as a result carry the death penalty.[11]
Alleged links to British intelligence
In his 1981 book, former counterterrorism operative Gordon Winter of the South African Bureau of State Security recalled a briefing with his London-based handler Alf Bouwer warning him to be wary of McWhirter, who he claimed was a British intelligence operative and member of the right-wing, anti-immigration Society for Individual Freedom, which he described as a "front" for "disseminating Establishment-type propaganda."[12]
Assassination
On 27 November 1975 at 6:45 p.m., McWhirter was shot and killed by
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) OCLC 3540709
- Ross Was Right – The McWhirter File (Covenant Pub., 29 September 2014) OCLC 911093351
See also
References
- ^ General Registrar's Office, register of marriages
- ^ a b "1975: TV presenter Ross McWhirter shot dead". BBC News. 27 November 1975. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
- ^ Ayrshire Notes – Norris McWhirter Archived 2 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine 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". Archived from the original on 23 July 2008. Retrieved 16 December 2008.
- ^ Lusher, Adam (20 November 2004). "Crunch time in my attempt at Guinness World Records glory". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
- ^ "Record Breakers' McWhirter dies". BBC. 20 April 2004. Archived from the original on 12 July 2006. Retrieved 16 December 2008.
- ^ a b "Almanac: The Guinness Book of Records". CBS News. CBS Broadcast Center: Paramount Global. 12 August 2018. Archived from the original on 26 July 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
- ^ ISBN 9781785906671. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7890-2913-3), pages 116 to 117
- ^ John Gouriet Archived 21 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine, The Daily Telegraph, 13 September 2010
- ISBN 9781844135325. Archivedfrom the original on 2 October 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
- ISBN 978-0140057515. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
- ^ a b "1975: TV presenter Ross McWhirter shot dead". BBC News. 27 November 1975. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2006.
- ^ McHardy, Anne, McWhirter's killer is known bomber, The Guardian, 3 December 1975
- ^ "1975: Balcombe Street siege ends". BBC On This Day. BBC News. 12 December 1975. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
External links
- TV presenter Ross McWhirter shot dead @ BBC News, On This Day, 27 November 1975.