CUDLIPP
,
PERCY
(
1905
-
1962
),
journalist
;
b.
1905
, son of
William
Cudlipp
, a well known
commercial traveller
in
south Wales
, and
Bessie
his wife, of
Lisvane Street
,
Cardiff
. He was one of three eminent Welsh
journalist
brothers (
Reginald
became
editor
of
The News of the World
,
1953-59
; and
Hugh
,
editor
of
The Sunday Pictorial
,
1937-40
and
1946-49
, and
chairman
of
Odhams Press
,
1960
).
Percy
was educated, as were the others, at
Gladstone school
and
Howard Gardens High School
,
Cardiff
. He entered
journalism
on
The South Wales Echo
at 14 as
messenger
and
copy boy
, and two years later became a
reporter
. Subsequently he worked on the
The Evening Chronicle
,
Manchester
, during which time he contributed articles and light verse to
London
newspapers which attracted much attention in
Fleet Street
. His career in journalism spanned 34 years, from
junior reporter
to
editor
and he created a particular niche in his first appointment as
editor
in his encouragement of specialist correspondents in an extended field of news and specialist coverage, a format which was adopted by most national and regional newspapers. He was
drama critic
and
humorous columnist
of
The Sunday News
,
London
,
1925-29
, and
special writer
and
film critic
of
The Evening Standard
,
London
,
1929-31
. In
1931
he was promoted
assistant editor
and became
editor
in
1933
. His move to daily national newspapers came with
his appointment as
editorial manager
of
The Daily Herald
in
1938
, and then
editor
in
1940
(when he succeeded
Francis
Williams
who became
Prime Minister
Attlee
's
press secretary
at
Downing Street
in
1946
) until
1953
. His sojourn on
The Daily Herald
often subjected him to tense editorial restrictions which he resented and fought, but the paper, then the mouthpiece of the
Socialist
left, was obliged generally to support policies approved by the
Trades Union Congress
and the
Labour Party
. Under such strains he moved to the
Liberal
News Chronicle
where he was a
columnist
,
1954-56
. He again moved to be
editor
of
New Scientist
from its foundation in
1956
.
Fleet Street
, the hub of
British
journalism, knew him as an accurate writer and a
conversational wit
whose instinctive
mimicry of the famous
was greatly appreciated.
He became a frequent
broadcaster
both on radio and television and his love of verse from his earliest days was reflected in his book,
Bouverie Ballads
(
1955
). He m.,
1927
,
Gwendoline
James
and they had one son. He d.
5 Nov. 1962
.
Sources:
-
Who was who?
;
-
The Times
,
6 Nov. 1962
.
Author:
David Glanville Rosser, M.B.E., (1915-2001), Caernarfon
