David English (editor)

Sir David English (26 May 1931 – 10 June 1998) was a British journalist and newspaper editor, best known for his two-decade editorship of the Daily Mail.

Early life

English was born in Oxford, and educated at Bournemouth School.^[1] Aged 16, he joined the local Christchurch Times and then had a brief period with the News at Portsmouth, moving to London before he was 20.

Career

English began his newspaper career in 1951 at the Daily Mirror before moving to the Daily Sketch, firstly as Features Editor and then Editor. In 1971, he took up the editorship of the Mail, a post which he held until 1992 when he became Chairman and Editor-in-chief of Associated Newspapers, the Mail's parent company. At a Daily Mail summer party at Hampton Court, Vere Harmsworth, 3rd Viscount Rothermere described English in a speech as the creator of the modern Daily Mail - much to the discomfort of English's successor, Paul Dacre, who was sitting beside him. This fact was reported in The Times obituary of Sir David English.

A prominent supporter of the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher, English was knighted in 1982. He was appointed a life peer in 1998 but died a few days before the official ceremony.^[2]

Personal life

English married Irene Mainwood in 1954, and they had three children. He died in London.

References

1. Lancaster, Terence (12 June 1998). "Obituary: Sir David English". The Independent. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
2. Ibrahim, Youssef M. (12 June 1998). "Sir David English, a Top Editor On Fleet Street, Is Dead at 67". New York Times. Retrieved 1 August 2015.

• "Newspaper chief English dies". BBC NEWS. 1998-06-10. Retrieved 2007-03-06.