Nathaniel Gubbins (1893–1976), born Norman Gubbins, was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

journalist and humorist. As a boy he worked in the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

'' archives; after he fought in World War I he was rehired as a reporter, but later was laid off. He worked as a freelancer and for the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

''. From 1930 onwards he wrote a highly popular column in the Beaverbrook-owned ''

Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...

'' called ''Sitting on the Fence''. The column was particularly successful during the Second World War, and is associated with London's spirit during the Blitz by many. According to ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'': "Once a week Nat Gubbins speaks for the British man-in-the-street better than the British man-in-the-street can speak for himself...Dry-eyed sentimentalist, sly humorist, casual reformer, recorder of mutton-headed remarks, he has become the most widely read of British columnists. He has no U.S. parallel." Nat Gubbins

, Monday, 8 March 1943. Nathaniel aka Norman Gubbins is not to be confused with an earlier writer known as Nathaniel Gubbins, Edward Spencer Mott (1844–1910), author of ''Cakes and Ale, A Mingled Yarn, Pink Papers, Bits of Turf'' and ''The Flowing Bowl.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gubbins, Nathaniel British humorists 1893 births 1976 deaths