Series 1 - Martin Wainwright's records

4 boxes

The series comprises the records of Martin Wainwright during his time as Diary editor (1979-1982).

The series includes correspondence with readers, rewards for those readers contributing stories to the Diary or winning competitions and diary budgets. It also comprises some mixed material collected by Wainwright during his time in the London office, which covered the period 1976-1987.

Administrative/Biographical history: Maintin Wainwright contributed to the Guardian Diary during Peter Hilmore's tenure as editor, becoming the permanent editor in October 1979 and holding the post until January 1982 when he became features writer. In 1987 Wainwright relocated to Leeds to become northern correspondent.

In a letter to a reader written in November 1980, Wainwright described the purpose of the Diary under his editorship as being to "entertain and amuse and provide a light-hearted alternative to the generally serious content of the paper." Under Wainwright the column included political gossip, social commentary, irreverent humour and also reflected his own interests in natural history as evidenced by his well documented loofah growing exploits. He ran a number of obscure competitions and maintained a voluminous correspondence with readers who contributed to the Diary, although many letters went without a reply. Wainwright also introduced the 'banana badge' as a prize for contributors.

Creator: Guardian Newspapers Limited

Arranged as follows during cataloguing:
GUA/6/4/2/1/1 - Correspondence
GUA/6/4/2/1/2 - Reader competitions
GUA/6/4/2/1/3 - Diary budgets
GUA/6/4/2/1/4 - London office records

Some records may be closed in line with the Data Protection Act.

Files relating to Martin Wainwright's time as northern correspondent/northern editor catalogued as GUA/6/2/4/1.