Martin Wainwright MBE is a British journalist and author. He left ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' after 37 years at the end of March 2013.Martin Wainwrigh
"The Northerner - into 2013"
''The Guardian'' (blog), 31 December 2012

Early life

He 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 ...

, and educated at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into ...

and

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

. His father Richard Wainwright was the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

MP for

Colne Valley The Colne Valley is a steep sided valley on the east flank of the Pennine Hills in the English county of West Yorkshire. It takes its name from the River Colne which rises above the town of Marsden and flows eastward towards Huddersfield. ...

(1966–70, February 1974–87) after a career in accountancy.

Career

Wainwright was ''

'''s Northern Editor for seventeen years until the end of 2012, when he was succeeded by

Helen Pidd Helen Pidd (born 1981) is a British journalist who is a news writer for ''The Guardian'', succeeding Martin Wainwright as the paper's Northern Editor, based in Manchester, in Spring 2013. Early life and education Pidd was born in Hest Bank i ...

. His contributions to the newspaper have mostly reflected this emphasis but not exclusively. He has written several books on northern or countryside topics, including a biography of the unrelated

Alfred Wainwright Alfred Wainwright MBE (17 January 1907 – 20 January 1991), who preferred to be known as A. Wainwright or A.W., was a British fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume '' Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells'', publis ...

and a guide to the Coast to Coast Walk. Other books are on the

Morris Minor The Morris Minor is a British economy family car that made its debut at the Earls Court Motor Show, London, in October 1948. Designed under the leadership of Alec Issigonis, more than 1.6 million were manufactured between 1948 and 1972 in ...

and

Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

cars. He writes a blog about another interest,

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

s. Wainwright was awarded an MBE in the

2000 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2000 for the United Kingdom and New Zealand were announced on 31 December 1999, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2000. The ''Honours list'' is a list of people who have been awarded one of the various ...

, "For services to the National Lottery Charities Board in Yorkshire and Humberside." He was awarded an honorary degree by the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

in 2013.

Personal life

He is chair of the trustees of the Scurrah Wainwright Charity, named after his grandfather Henry Scurrah Wainwright OBE (1877-1968), a Leeds chartered accountant with interests in social reform and

delphinium ''Delphinium'' is a genus of about 300 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa. The genus was erected by Carl Linn ...

s, and a trustee of the Andrew Wainwright Reform Trust, named for his brother who died in 1974. One of Martin Wainwright's two sisters, Hilary, is the radical academic who has long been associated with the '' Red Pepper'' magazine. His two sons are both journalists – Oliver is the Guardian's architecture and design critic and Tom is the ''

Economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

s Mexico City bureau chief.Tom Wainwright at economist.com
/ref>

Selected publications

*''Wainwright: the Man Who Loved the Lakes'', 2007,

BBC Books BBC Books (also formerly known as BBC Publishing) is an imprint majority-owned and managed by Penguin Random House through its Ebury Publishing division. The minority shareholder is BBC Studios, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasti ...

, *''Guardian Book of the Countryside'' (By Ruth Petrie & Martin Wainwright), 2008, Cornerstone, *''A Mini Adventure: 50 years of the iconic small car'', 2009, Aurum Press, *''True North'' 2009, Guardian Books, *''Morris Minor; the Biography: sixty years of Britain's favourite car'' 2010, Aurum Press, *''The Coast to Coast Walk'' (Recreational Path Guides), 2010 (revised ed), Aurum Press, *''Wild City: Encounters with Urban Wildlife'', 25 May 2011, Aurum Press,

References

External links

* Listing of published articles English newspaper editors English male journalists English non-fiction writers Living people Writers from Leeds Year of birth missing (living people) People educated at Shrewsbury School English male non-fiction writers {{UK-writer-stub