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Julia Mary Fownes Somerville, (born 14 July 1947) is an English

television news News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or telev ...

reader and reporter who has worked for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

and ITN.

Early life and education

Somerville was born in Wells, Somerset, the granddaughter of Admiral of the Fleet Sir

James Fownes Somerville Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Fownes Somerville, (17 July 1882 – 19 March 1949) was a Royal Navy officer. He served in the First World War as fleet wireless officer for the Mediterranean Fleet where he was involved in providing naval suppo ...

(1882–1949) of

Dinder House Dinder House, is a Somerset estate with a small country house Grade II Regency listed building in the village of Dinder, in the civil parish of St Cuthbert Out in Somerset. Dinder House was formerly a manor house dating back to the 12th century ...

in Somerset. She was educated at Airthrie Preparatory School in Cheltenham and

Headington School Headington School is an independent girls' school in Headington, Oxford, England, founded by a group of evangelical Christians in 1915. The ''Good Schools Guide'' called Headington "A delightful school, hichnurtures and entertains its pupils wh ...

in Oxford, graduating (1969) from the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

(BA English Literature).

Career

After graduation, Somerville joined publisher IPC, working on ''Homes and Gardens'' magazine, a Women's Journal, the PR section of ''

Woman's Own ''Woman's Own'' is a British lifestyle magazine aimed at women. Publication ''Woman's Own'' was first published in 1932 by Newnes. In its early years it placed women's rights and social problems firmly in the foreground. Its first "agony aunt" was ...

.'' Then for two years she was editor of a computer group's house magazine. Somerville joined the BBC in 1972 as a sub-editor in the radio newsroom, and then became a reporter in 1978. In 1981, she became Labour Affairs correspondent and joined BBC Television News in 1983, co-presenting the ''

BBC Nine O'Clock News The ''BBC Nine O'Clock News'' was the flagship BBC News programme. It was launched on 14 September 1970 and ran until 13 October 2000, when it was replaced by the ''BBC Ten O'Clock News''. History The ''Nine O'Clock News'' was the BBC's flags ...

.'' Somerville moved to ITN in 1987, where she co-presented the Lunchtime News and also deputised as presenter of '' News at Ten.'' In addition she presented ''3D'', a weekly ITV current affairs programme. She was diagnosed with a brain tumour in August 1992 and after

neurosurgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and pe ...

recovered well and was a member of the '' News at Ten'' team until the programme ended a 32-year run in 1999. She remained at ITN until October 2001, presenting the ''

ITV Lunchtime News The ''ITV Lunchtime News'' is the afternoon news programme produced by ITN on the British television network ITV. It airs Monday to Friday from 1:30pm, covering British national and international news stories and is presented by Nina Hossain. ...

'' with

John Suchet John Aleck Suchet ( ; born 29 March 1944) is an English author, television news journalist, and presenter of classical music on Classic FM. Suchet has two brothers, one of whom is the actor Sir David Suchet. Early life Suchet was born in Lon ...

and was the launch anchor for the

ITN News Channel The ITV News Channel was a 24-hour television news channel in the United Kingdom which broadcast from 1 August 2000 to 23 December 2005. It was available on Sky, NTL:Telewest, ITV Digital (until 2002), Freeview (latterly only between 6:00 am ...

. Between 1999 and 2001, Somerville presented the daily

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadca ...

radio show ''London Life'', a two-hour programme devoted to interviews with diverse artists. Somerville has a lifelong interest in

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

and in 2001 was a member of the judging panel for the National Portrait Gallery's '' BP Portrait of the Year''; she has also served as a judge for several years on the

RIBA The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

Annual Architecture Award Panels. On 18 September 2003, Somerville was appointed Chair of the Advisory Committee of the Government Art Collection, for a period of four years. As part of ITN's "Famous Five" with

Gordon Honeycombe Ronald Gordon Honeycombe (27 September 1936 – 9 October 2015), known professionally as Gordon Honeycombe, was a British newscaster, author, playwright and stage actor. Honeycombe was born in Karachi, in the British Raj. He was educated at th ...

Martyn Lewis Sir Martyn John Dudley Lewis (born 7 April 1945) is a Welsh television news presenter and journalist. He was a presenter for BBC News television programmes between 1986 and 1999 and was known for his involvement in the coverage of the death o ...

Selina Scott Selina Mary Scott (born 13 May 1951) is an English television presenter who co-hosted the first dedicated breakfast television programme in the UK before crossing the Atlantic to join '' West 57th'', a prime-time current-affairs show broadcast f ...

and

Anna Ford Anna Ford (born 2 October 1943) is an English former journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She first worked as a researcher, news reporter and later newsreader for Granada Television, ITN, and the BBC. Ford helped launch the British ...

, Somerville was brought back to the screen for one week in September 2005 for ITN's 50th anniversary. In 2010, Somerville returned to television news as a presenter on

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

. She also occasionally presented BBC Breakfast. In January 2011, Somerville started as an occasional relief presenter of the ''

BBC Weekend News ''BBC Weekend News'' is the BBC's national news programme on BBC One at the weekend and bank holidays, although it is often referred to on guides simply as ''BBC News''. It is called ''BBC Weekend News'' on all bulletins, apart from the late bu ...

'' on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

. Also in 2010, Somerville took the lead in an experimental film ''Facade'' by artist and filmmaker

Phil Coy Philip Coy (born 1971) is an English artist and experimental filmmaker known for his public works and films exploring architectures and language. He works across a range of media including sculpture, film, video installation, sound installation, ...

. Her distinctive vocal delivery articulated the deconstruction of London's glass architecture and was screened nationally and internationally at The Whitstable Biennale, The

South London Gallery The South London Gallery, founded 1891, is a public-funded gallery of contemporary art in Camberwell, London. Until 1992, it was known as the South London Art Gallery, and nowadays the acronym SLG is often used. Margot Heller became its direc ...

, The

Whitechapel Gallery The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The original building, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, opened in 1901 as one of the fir ...

and New York Armoury Show. Somerville joined '' Rip Off Britain'' when the show returned in Autumn 2011 for its third series. She replaced

Jennie Bond Jennifer Bond (born 19 August 1950) is an English journalist and television presenter. Bond worked for fourteen years as the BBC's royal correspondent. She has most recently hosted ''Cash in the Attic'' and narrated the programme ''Great Briti ...

to host along with

Angela Rippon Angela May Rippon (born 12 October 1944)"Angela Rippon," ''Contemporary Authors Online'', Detroit: Gale, (2008) ''Gale Biography In Context'' is an English television journalist, newsreader, writer and presenter. Rippon presented radio and tele ...

and

Gloria Hunniford Mary Winifred Gloria Hunniford, OBE (born 10 April 1940) is a Northern Irish television and radio presenter, broadcaster and singer. She is known for presenting programmes on the BBC and ITV, such as '' Rip Off Britain'', and her regular appea ...

. Together, they also presented ''Charlie's Consumer Angels''. On 15 June 2013, it was announced that Somerville was to receive an OBE for services to art as part of the Queen's Birthday Honours. Somerville received this award in recognition for her work chairing the Advisory Committee on the Government Art Collection. In September 2017 Somerville was a contestant on Celebrity Masterchef on BBC One.

Personal life

Somerville has been married three times: *Stephen Band (1970–1975) *Ray Gowdridge (1984–1992) * Sir Jeremy Dixon (Architect) Somerville has two children with Gowdridge: Joseph (born 1983) and Rachael (born 1988). Somerville suffered a brain tumour in 1992, for which she successfully underwent

. As a result, she agreed to become a patron of the Different Strokes charity.

Allegations

In 1995, Julia Somerville and Jeremy Dixon were arrested by the Metropolitan Police after sending photos to be printed at a branch of the pharmacy Boots in London. One photograph involved Somerville's 7-year-old daughter naked in a bathtub. When Dixon arrived at Boots to collect the prints the police were waiting and later his and Somerville's house was searched but nothing was seized. Both suspects were placed on police bail pending further enquiries; later the allegations were dropped.

Stalkers

In August 2001, 47-year-old David Hughes of north London was convicted of harassment after sending 390 obscene letters and specifically moving close to Somerville over a 12-year period. Hughes was found guilty of one charge under Section Two of the Harassment Act, and the judge made a hospital order under the

Mental Health Act 1983 The Mental Health Act 1983 (c.20) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It covers the reception, care and treatment of mentally disordered people, the management of their property and other related matters, forming part of the men ...

. Deputy District Judge Javaid Azam subsequently issued an indefinite restraining order banning Hughes from ever contacting the journalist again. It also became known that, in 1995, Somerville took out a court injunction to stop sound engineer Geoffrey Brewis contacting her. She said he had visited her home, followed her and made nuisance phone calls.

References

External links

*
Article on conviction of David Hughes

* ttp://www.differentstrokes.co.uk Different Strokes charity
Julia Somerville defends 'innocent family photos'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Somerville, Julia 1947 births Living people People from Wells, Somerset People educated at Headington School Alumni of the University of Sussex British television newsreaders and news presenters English reporters and correspondents English television journalists English women journalists BBC newsreaders and journalists ITN newsreaders and journalists ITV regional newsreaders and journalists Officers of the Order of the British Empire British women television journalists British women radio presenters