David English (editor)

David English (editor)

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

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Early life

English was born in Oxford, and educated at Bournemouth School, where the sports centre is now named after him. 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. 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. He was appointed a life peer in June 1998 but died before taking his seat in the House of Lords.

He was also a pioneer of the launderette as a profitable sideline.

Personal life

English married Irene Mainwood in 1954, and they had three children: Nikki Smith, Amanda Christmas and Neil English. He died in London.

Sources

Media offices
Preceded by
Howard French
Editor of the Daily Sketch
1969–1971
Succeeded by
Louis Kirby
Preceded by
Arthur Brittenden
Editor of the Daily Mail
1971–1992
Succeeded by
Paul Dacre
Preceded by
Bernard Shrimsley
Editor of the Mail on Sunday
1982
Succeeded by
Stewart Steven