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- Did you know...that the English journalist Norman Cresswell was a bodyguard for the future King Hussein of Jordan?
- Did you know...that the Catholic newspaper editor Norman Cresswell was mistakenly arrested for gun-running?
- Did you know...that the Catholic journalist Norman Cresswell wrote his own obituary, describing himself as a bigot, a miser and a grump?
Norman Cresswell | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2 September 1928 Rock Ferry, Cheshire |
| Died | 13 August 2001 (aged 72) Little Crosby, Merseyside |
| Nationality | United Kingdom |
| Occupation(s) | Editor, Newspaper Proprietor |
| Spouse |
Mary Rooney (m. 1965–2001) |
| Children | 4 |
Norman William Cresswell (2 September 1928 – 13 August 2001) was a journalist, editor and newspaper proprietor. He founded several newspapers including the Weekly Pictorial, a number of editions of the Catholic Pictorial and the Catholic Times.
Early life[edit]
Cresswell was born in Rock Ferry, Cheshire in 1928. His father was a GP who operated three practices in Liverpool. His mother, Anne (née Walschmidt), was later to write a weekly column for Cresswell's paper the Catholic Pictorial.[1] Cresswell attended Belmont Abbey School.[2] Lying about his age, he enlisted in the Palestine Police Force when he was 17 years old.[2] He was posted to Haifa where, amongst other duties, he acted as a bodyguard for Hussein bin Talal, who would later become King of Jordan.[2] On one occasion he received a bullet wound to his leg during a riot.[2] On another he was stabbed in the back with a six inch knife, a fact of which he remained unaware until it was noticed at the end of his duty period.[2] After leaving the police he had a number of jobs including welfare officer, teacher, private detective and owner of a travelling theatre.[1]
Journalism[edit]
He began his journalistic career at BBC Birmingham[3] in the 1950s.[1] Through his career Cresswell would start a number of newspapers. The first of these was the Weekly Pictorial. Started in Birmingham it was aimed at an Anglican readership.[2] He followed this success by launching the Birmingham Catholic Pictorial, aimed, as all his subsequent newspapers would be, at a Roman Catholic readership. Encouraged by the Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool, John Carmel Heenan, Cresswell then started a Liverpool edition of the Catholic Pictorial. This proved strong competition for rival paper the Catholic Times. Sales were hit and the 103 year old paper was eventually forced to close.[2]
In the 1970s Cresswell covered the famine in Ethiopia. Readers were moved by the pieces and sent in donations which enabled the purchase of a number of ambulances for the country.[1] It was these vehicles which were partly responsible for his mistaken arrest in 1982 for gun-running.[4] Cresswell and his friend Father John Shearburn had driven two Land-Rovers which had been converted into mobile clinics from Mombasa to Addis Ababa as a gift for the Bishop of Magneto, Armido Gasparini. The Bishop welcomed their arrival by providing the group with whiskey. Their guard, having consumed too much alcohol, neglected to take his weapons, which were stored under his bed, with him when he left.[4] Cresswell and Shearburn were released by the authorities three days later[2] following extensive negotiations carried out on their behalf by the Canadian embassy.[4]
Cresswell retired for the first time in either 1990[1] or 1991.[3] In 1993 he returned to work, taking up the offer to become the first editor of the new version of Catholic Times.[1] The paper was started with very few resources. Cresswell's office was small and located in the advertising sales department of the publishers, Gabriel Communications Ltd, in order to minimise contact with fellow publication The Universe, whose staff viewed Cresswell's paper as a threat. His second and final retirement came in 1996, although Creswell continued to write a column, the "View from the Pew", until shortly before his death.[3]
In 2000 he published a book of meditations entitled Through the Year with the Catholic Faith, much of which had been written whilst sitting on the beach near Blundellsands.[1]
Personal life[edit]
Cresswell married Mary Rooney, a fellow journalist, in 1965.[1] They had four children; Lucy,[1] Mark,[5] Nicholas[5] and Simon.[1] Both Lucy and Simon died in infancy.[1]
Just before his death Cresswell wrote his own obituary, describing himself as "a bigot, miser and grump."[3] Writing in The Guardian, however, Nick Baty preferred the term "raconteur", commenting that Cresswell "told stories with such a twinkle in his eye that it's a wonder he managed a lifetime in journalism without provoking a libel case".[1]
Cresswell was buried, accompanied by his pipe, in the habit of the Franciscan order.[3]
Bibliography[edit]
- Through The Year With The Catholic Faith (2000)
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Nick Baty (31 August 2001). "Norman Cresswell". Guardian. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Obituaries:Norman Cresswell". Daily Telegraph. 29 August 2001. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
- ^ a b c d e Paulinus Barnes (5 September 2001). "Norman Cresswell". The Independent. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
- ^ a b c Peter Hebblethwaite (20 December 1993). "Obituary: Fr John Shearburn". The Independent. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
- ^ a b "Norman Cresswell". Press Gazette. 24 August 2001. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
External links[edit]
Category:English newspaper editors Category:Roman Catholic writers Category:People from Cheshire (before 1974) Category:English Roman Catholics Category:1928 births Category:2001 deaths