Donald Trelford

Donald Gilchrist Trelford (9 November 1937 – 27 January 2023) was a British journalist and academic who was editor of The Observer newspaper from 1975 to 1993. He was also a director of The Observer from 1975 to 1993 and chief executive from 1992 to 1993.^[1]

Donald Trelford
Born	9 November 1937 (1937-11-09) Coventry, England
Died	27 January 2023(2023-01-27) (aged 85) Mallorca, Spain
Education	Bablake School
Alma mater	Selwyn College, Cambridge
Occupation	Journalist
Title	Editor of The Observer
Term	1975–1993
Spouses	Jan Ingram ​ (divorced)​ Katherine Mark ​ (divorced)​ Claire Bishop ​ (m. 2001)​
Children	6

Early life

Trelford was born in Coventry.^[2] He was educated at Bablake School, Coventry,^[3] where he was school captain from 1955 to 1956. He completed his degree at Selwyn College, Cambridge.^[4][2]

Career

In 1994, he was appointed professor of Journalism Studies at the University of Sheffield,^[5] and became a visiting professor in 2004 and emeritus professor in 2007.

Trelford was a member of the Council of the Advertising Standards Authority until 2008^[6] and chairman of the London Press Club. He was also a member of the Newspaper Panel of the Competition Commission from 2001 to 2007.

Trelford was a regular broadcaster and published books on snooker and cricket and co-authored (with Daniel King) a book on the 1993 Times World Chess Championship in London between Nigel Short and Garry Kasparov.^[7]

Trelford was interviewed by National Life Stories (C467/12) in 2007 for the 'Oral History of the British Press' collection held by the British Library.^[8]

Personal life and death

Trelford had three marriages and six children. He had three children from his first marriage, to Jan Ingram, whom he married in or around 1963.^[2] He had another child from his second marriage, to Katherine Mark. In 2001, he married former television presenter Claire Bishop, and they had children in 2011 and 2014, when Trelford was 73 and 76.^[1][9] He lived in England and Mallorca.^[10]

Trelford died from cancer in Mallorca, on 27 January 2023, at the age of 85.^[2][11]

References

1. Greenslade, Roy. "'I'm Britain's oldest new father', boasts former Observer editor". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
2. "Donald Trelford obituary". The Times. 27 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
3. "s Coventry man Donald Trelford Britain's oldest new dad?". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
4. "Inside story: Introducing the Press Gang". independent.co.uk. 22 September 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
5. "Donald Trelford on journalism's state of health". University of Sheffield. 18 November 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
6. . ASA. 1 April 2008. Archived from the original on 19 November 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
7. King, Daniel; Trelford, Donald (1993). World chess championship : Kasparov v Short. London: Cadogan Chess. ISBN 1857440668.
8. National Life Stories, 'Trelford, Dennis (1 of 4) National Life Stories Collection: 'Oral History of the British Press', The British Library Board, 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
9. . The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
10. . The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015.
11. "Former Observer editor Donald Trelford dies aged 85". The Guardian. 27 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.

Media offices
Preceded by Michael Davie	Deputy Editor of The Observer 1969–1975	Succeeded by John Cole
Preceded by David Astor	Editor of The Observer 1975–1993	Succeeded by Jonathan Fenby