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{{Short description|British journalist}}{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}}{{Use British English|date=September 2016}}

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| birth_place = Thurnscoe, West Riding of Yorkshire, Englanddf=y919292}}| death_place = Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England| nationality = British| known_for = ITV News (ITN)| years_active = c.1953–1993News presenter>Newsreader}}Leonard Parkin (2 June 1929 – 20 September 1993) was an English television journalist and newsreader for the BBC and ITN. He began his career as a reporter for local newspapers in Yorkshire before moving to London to work for BBC Radio Newsreel and TV News. Parkin became the BBC’s Canadian correspondent in 1960, and three years later was promoted to Washington correspondent. In 1965, he was a reporter on the BBC’s current affairs programme Panorama, leaving in 1966 when he was injured in a car accident. In 1967, he joined ITN and became a newsreader on its half-hour News at Ten bulletin. Parkin took over as the main presenter of ITN’s First Report lunchtime current affairs programme and was a regular newsreader on News at One from 1978 to 1987. Between 1978 and 1982, he read the news on the (ITV Evening News|News at 5:45) bulletin. Parkin took early retirement from ITN in July 1987 and went on to create a series of documentaries for Yorkshire Television.

Early life

Parkin was born on 2 June 1929 in Thurnscoe, West Riding of Yorkshire. His father was a coal miner near Pontefract and asked his son not to work in coal mining.NEWS, Bryant, Bob, 6 February 1971, Newscaster’s ‘retreat’ to 17th century, 7, Lincolnshire Echo,www.newspapers.com/clip/122005392/leonard-parkin-profile-6-february/, 31 March 2023, Newspapers.com {{open access, |archive-date=1 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401052118www.newspapers.com/clip/122005392/leonard-parkin-profile-6-february/ |url-status=live }} Parkin was educated at Hemsworth Grammar School in Yorkshire,NEWS, Jebb, Louis, 21 September 1993, Leonard Parkin, 24, The Independent,www.newspapers.com/clip/122022908/leonard-parkin-obituary-the/, 31 March 2023, Newspapers.com {{open access, |archive-date=1 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401052125www.newspapers.com/clip/122022908/leonard-parkin-obituary-the/ |url-status=live }} and got his start in journalism by writing a regular gossip column for the local paper.

Career

After leaving school, he began his journalistic career as a reporter at the Wakefield Express weekly newspaper.NEWS, 21 September 1993, Leonard Parkin, 19, The Times, 64754,link.gale.com/apps/doc/IF0500624373/TTDA?u=Pseudopedia&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=d0d81b06, subscription, 31 March 2023, The Times Digital Archive, 1 April 2023,web.archive.org/web/20230401052126/https://Pseudopedialibrary.wmflabs.org/?next_url=/ezproxy/r/ezp.2aHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLmdhbGUuY29tL2FwcHMvZG9jL0lGMDUwMDYyNDM3My9UVERBP3U9d2lraXBlZGlhJnNpZD1ib29rbWFyay1UVERBJnhpZD1kMGQ4MWIwNg--, live, NEWS, 21 September 1993, Obituary: Leonard Parkin, 21, The Daily Telegraph,www.newspapers.com/clip/122009247/leonard-parkin-obituary-the-daily/, 31 March 2023, Newspapers.com {{open access, |archive-date=1 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401052132www.newspapers.com/clip/122009247/leonard-parkin-obituary-the-daily/ |url-status=live }} During his apprenticeship, Parkin worked at the weekly Yorkshire Observer newspaper as a reporter and feature writer,BOOK,archive.org/details/debrettsdistingu0000unse/, Debrett’s Distinguished People of Today, Debrett’s Peerage Limited, 1989, Ellis, Patricia, London, England, 1199, Parkin, Leonard, 9781870520027, Williamson, David, registration, Internet Archive, before moving on to the Bradford Telegraph & Argus from 1951 to 1954. Later, he worked as a sub-editor and reporter for the Yorkshire Evening News. He moved to London in 1954 and began working for the BBC as a reporter for the BBC Radio Newsreel and TV News after BBC Television expressed interest in recruiting him when television news was in its infancy. Parkin covered events in Algeria, Australia, France and the Congo.He became the BBC’s Canadian correspondent in 1960, before moving on to become the corporation’s Washington correspondent three years later. Parkin covered the John F. Kennedy 1960 presidential campaign,NEWS, Nicholas, David, 21 September 1993, A journalist and a gentleman – Obituary – Leonard Parkin, 21 September 1993, The Guardian,www.newspapers.com/clip/122009293/leonard-parkin-obituary-the-guardian/, 31 March 2023, Newspapers.com {{open access, |archive-date=1 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401052134www.newspapers.com/clip/122009293/leonard-parkin-obituary-the-guardian/ |url-status=live }} and was one of the first journalists to break the news of Assassination of John F. Kennedy in the United Kingdom on 22 November 1963. He spent a long time in Dallas covering the trial of Jack Ruby, who shot Kennedy’s assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. In 1965, Parkin returned to the United Kingdom from Washington and began working as a reporter for the BBC’s current affairs programme Panorama.NEWS, 21 September 1993, Newsreader Parkin loses his fight against cancer, 7, The Journal (Newcastle upon Tyne newspaper), The Journal,www.newspapers.com/clip/122020934/leonard-parkin-obituary-the-journal/, 31 March 2023, Newspapers.com {{open access, |archive-date=1 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401052117www.newspapers.com/clip/122020934/leonard-parkin-obituary-the-journal/ |url-status=live }} His time at Panorama was cut short by a car accident in Ireland the following year (while reporting on the 1966 Irish presidential election), which left him with a permanent limp in his right leg and severe facial injuries that took six months to heal. Parkin spent his final year at the BBC working on the current affairs programme 24 Hours before leaving the corporation in 1967.BOOK,archive.org/details/whoswhoontelevis0000unse_y5h1/, Who’s Who on Television, Independent Television Books, 1988, 0-907965-49-0, Pepper, Eddie, Fourth, London, England, 150, Parkin, Leonard, registration, Internet Archive, He was invited to join ITN in 1967 and was one of the original newsreaders for the News at Ten bulletin, which debuted the same year,BOOK, Montgomery, Andrew,archive.org/details/itn50yearsofnews0000unse/, ITN 50 Years of News: Reporting the Events That Shape Our Lives, ESP Publishing, 2005, 0-9550356-0-0, Long Hanborough, Oxfordshire, 87, 112, registration, Internet Archive, beginning as the primary support for newsreaders Alastair Burnet and Andrew Gardner in September of that year. Parkin took over as the main presenter of ITN’s First Report lunchtime current affairs programme from Robert Kee on 2 February 1976, after deputising for Kee on Fridays.NEWS, 19 January 1976, Snap, snap, 12, London Evening Standard,www.newspapers.com/clip/122004109/leonard-parkin-itn-evening-standard/, 31 March 2023, Newspapers.com {{open access, |archive-date=1 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401052119www.newspapers.com/clip/122004109/leonard-parkin-itn-evening-standard/ |url-status=live }}NEWS, 22 January 1976, Leonard Parkin, 13, The Stage,www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001180/19760122/109/0013, subscription, 31 March 2023, British Newspaper Archive, In April 1978, he and Peter Sissons took over as main presenters of ITN’s News at One bulletin, replacing Burnet.NEWS, 16 March 1978, Newsreaders on the move, 9, Liverpool Daily Post,www.newspapers.com/clip/122004329/itn-moves-16-march-1978-liverpool/, 31 March 2023, Newspapers.com {{open access, |archive-date=1 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401052117www.newspapers.com/clip/122004329/itn-moves-16-march-1978-liverpool/ |url-status=live }} Parkin worked as a newsreader for the (ITV Lunchtime News|News at 5:45) bulletin from 1978 to 1982. He was the first ITN newsreader to appear on ITV after the network’s strike ended on 24 October 1979. At ITN, Parkin covered the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. He reported from India and the Middle East and covered major political events such as the 1972 United States presidential election and the 1981 French presidential election. Parkin was also a political interviewer, reported on elections for ITN and anchored special programmes such as the Brighton hotel bombing. He was reporting from Clarence House for ITN’s coverage of the Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in July 1981.NEWS, 28 July 1981, Wedding day TV and Radio, 3, Evening Chronicle,www.newspapers.com/clip/122017899/1981-royal-wedding-tv-and-route/, 31 March 2023, Newspapers.com {{open access, |archive-date=1 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401052118www.newspapers.com/clip/122017899/1981-royal-wedding-tv-and-route/ |url-status=live }} Parkin read bulletins filled with intentional errors for the ITV children’s quiz show What’s Happening in 1982.NEWS, 16 July 1982, New quiz for kids, 19, Walsall Observer,www.newspapers.com/clip/122018967/whats-happening-itv-walsall-observer/, 31 March 2023, Newspapers.com {{open access, }}He took early retirement from ITN in July 1987 after ITV moved the News at One bulletin up by half an hour in an attempt to attract more viewers.NEWS, 9 July 1987, Leonard Parkin to quit ITN, 2, The Daily Telegraph,www.newspapers.com/clip/122002950/leonard-parkin-retires-from-itn-the/, 31 March 2023, Newspapers.com {{open access, |archive-date=1 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401052310www.newspapers.com/clip/122002950/leonard-parkin-retires-from-itn-the/ |url-status=live }} Parkin returned to Yorkshire, where he produced a series of annual documentaries about the county for Yorkshire Television, titled Pieces of Parkin, which was broadcast on Mondays.NEWS, Robertson, Malcolm, 2 November 1992, Time for old times, 8, Huddersfield Daily Examiner,www.newspapers.com/clip/122006131/pieces-of-parkin-1992-huddersfield/, 31 March 2023, Newspapers.com {{open access, |archive-date=1 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401052138www.newspapers.com/clip/122006131/pieces-of-parkin-1992-huddersfield/ |url-status=live }} Parkin was elected chair of the Welwyn Society in 1967, an organisation that encouraged young people in Welwyn to look beyond the village.NEWS, 12 May 1967, Society chairman, 6, Hertfordshire Mercury,www.newspapers.com/clip/122003280/leonard-parkin-welwyn-society-chair/, 31 March 2023, Newspapers.com {{open access, |archive-date=1 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401052129www.newspapers.com/clip/122003280/leonard-parkin-welwyn-society-chair/ |url-status=live }} He was a member of the Welwyn Film Record Society, the Marylebone Cricket Club, the Lord’s Taverners and was president of both the Herts Fly Dressers’ Guild and The Lytton Players Stevenage. Parkin was a contributor to sporting magazines.

Personal life

He was a Freemason.NEWS, 17 July 1993, Kindred Spirits: Freemasons, 8, The Daily Telegraph,www.newspapers.com/clip/122019899/freemasons-the-daily-telegraph/, 31 March 2023, Newspapers.com {{open access, |archive-date=1 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401052103www.newspapers.com/clip/122019899/freemasons-the-daily-telegraph/ |url-status=live }} Parkin married his wife Barbara Anne Rowley on 4 June 1955; the couple separated in 1987.NEWS, Glass, Suzanne, 27 October 1993, Can’t live with you, and can’t live without you, 15, The Times, 64785,link.gale.com/apps/doc/IF0503369895/TTDA?u=Pseudopedia&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=80f36434, subscription, 31 March 2023, The Times Digital Archive, 1 April 2023,web.archive.org/web/20230401052128/https://Pseudopedialibrary.wmflabs.org/?next_url=/ezproxy/r/ezp.2aHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLmdhbGUuY29tL2FwcHMvZG9jL0lGMDUwMzM2OTg5NS9UVERBP3U9d2lraXBlZGlhJnNpZD1ib29rbWFyay1UVERBJnhpZD04MGYzNjQzNA--, live, They had one child. In late 1992, Parkin was diagnosed with spine cancer and underwent chemotherapy while being cared for by his wife.NEWS, 13 January 1993, Cancer-stricken TV man ‘cheery’, 11, The Press and Journal,www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000578/19930113/091/0010, subscription, 31 March 2023, British Newspaper Archive, He died from the disease in Scarborough on 20 September 1993.WEB, Leonard Parkin,ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/86315,ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/86315," title="web.archive.org/web/20070527232237ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/86315,">web.archive.org/web/20070527232237ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/86315, 27 May 2007, 1 April 2023, British Film Institute, Parkin was cremated privately after his funeral service at St Peter and St Paul’s Church, Pickering on the afternoon of 24 September.NEWS, 22 September 1993, Deaths; Parkin, 20, The Daily Telegraph,www.newspapers.com/clip/122021668/obituary-for-leonard-parkin/, 31 March 2023, Newspapers.com {{open access, |archive-date=1 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401052138www.newspapers.com/clip/122021668/obituary-for-leonard-parkin/ |url-status=live }} On 8 December, a memorial service was held for him at St Bride’s Church in Fleet Street.NEWS, 6 December 1993, Mr Leonard Parkin, 16, The Times, 64819,link.gale.com/apps/doc/IF0500645274/TTDA?u=Pseudopedia&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=bce2c9ca, subscription, 31 March 2023, The Times Digital Archive, 1 April 2023,web.archive.org/web/20230401052125/https://Pseudopedialibrary.wmflabs.org/?next_url=/ezproxy/r/ezp.2aHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLmdhbGUuY29tL2FwcHMvZG9jL0lGMDUwMDY0NTI3NC9UVERBP3U9d2lraXBlZGlhJnNpZD1ib29rbWFyay1UVERBJnhpZD1iY2UyYzljYQ--, live,

Legacy

The Barnsley Archive and Local Studies Department holds a collection of Parkin’s papers in its archives.WEB, Parkin, Leonard, (b 1929), Television Broadcaster,discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F45372, 31 March 2023, The National Archives (United Kingdom), The National Archives, 1 April 2023,web.archive.org/web/20230401052150/https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F45372, live,

References

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