Charles Arthur Brittenden (23 October 1924 – 25 April 2015) was a British

newspaper editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

. A career journalist, he worked for ''

Yorkshire Post ''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds in Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by ...

'', '' Daily Express'' and '' Daily Mail'', before joining News International, where he helped bring ''

The Sun (United Kingdom) ''The Sun'' is a British tabloid newspaper, published by the News Group Newspapers division of News UK, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. It was founded as a broadsheet in 1964 as a successor to the '' Daily Heral ...

'' up to the UK's top selling daily newspaper.

Biography

Brittenden was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

on 23 October 1924. His father Tom Edwin Brittenden was a cashier at a

wool mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

and his mother was Caroline Margaret Scrivener. His father would die when Brittenden was two, and the following year his mother married engineer William Esam. Brittenden attended Leeds grammar school until the age of 16, where he joined the ''

'' where he remained for ten years, with a break for

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

. Brittenden married three times, first to Sylvia Penelope Cadman in 1953, then in 1966 to Ann Patricia Kenny, the royal correspondent for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

''. His third marriage was on 24 October 1975, to Valerie Arnison, who he remained with until she died in 2002. Brittenden himself died on 25 April 2015 at the age of 90.

Career

Upon leaving the ''Post'', Brittenden spent six years at ''

News Chronicle The ''News Chronicle'' was a British daily newspaper. Formed by the merger of '' The Daily News'' and the ''Daily Chronicle'' in 1930, it ceased publication on 17 October 1960,''Liberal Democrat News'' 15 October 2010, accessed 15 October 2010 be ...

'' before joining '' Sunday Express'', rising first to chief reporter then foreign editor in 1959. Three years later, in the early 1960s, he become Assistant Editor for the north of the '' Daily Express''. In 1966, he moved to become Editor of the '' Daily Mail''. He held the post until 1971, when the paper merged with the '' Daily Sketch'', and he was replaced by ''Sketch'' editor David English. Brittenden later moved to News International, and from 1981 to 1987, he served as its Director of Corporate Relations."Birthdays"
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', 23 October 2007 He worked with

Larry Lamb Lawrence Douglas Lamb (born 1 October 1947) is an English actor and radio presenter. He played Archie Mitchell in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', Mick Shipman in the BBC comedy series '' Gavin & Stacey'' and Ted Case in the final series ...

and

Bernard Shrimsley Bernard Shrimsley (13 January 1931 – 9 June 2016) was a British journalist and newspaper editor. Early life and career The son of John, a tailor’s pattern cutter, and his wife Alice, a homemaker, Shrimsley (previously Shremski) was born in ...

on bringing '' The Sun'' to the UK's highest circulating daily newspaper.

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

, owner of ''The Sun'', would put Brittenden in charge of corporate relations for News International during the

Wapping dispute The Wapping dispute was a lengthy failed strike by print workers in London in 1986. Print unions tried to block distribution of ''The Sunday Times'', along with other newspapers in Rupert Murdoch's News International group, after production wa ...

in 1981, before moving him to editorial manager for

Times Newspapers News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media conglomerate News Corp. It is the current publisher of ' ...

until his retirement in 1987. After leaving the print industry, he went on to serve as a public relations consultant to Bell Pottinger.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brittenden, Arthur 1924 births 2015 deaths British newspaper editors British newspaper executives Daily Express people Daily Mail journalists British male journalists