| Discrete Collections | Politics, economics and social science collections |
| Title | Hetherington; Hector Alastair (1919-1999); journalist |
| Ref No | HETHERINGTON |
| Level | Collection |
| Date | 1958-1975 |
| Extent | 6 boxes |
| Admin Biographical History | Hector Alastair Hetherington, 1919-1999, was educated at Gresham's School, Holt and Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He spent the second world war in the Royal Armoured Corps and in 1946 joined the editorial staff of the 'Glasgow Herald'. He left in 1950 to join the 'Manchester Guardian' where he was assistant editor and foreign editor 1953-1956 and editor 1956-1975. After he left the 'Guardian', he went into television, becoming controller of BBC Scotland 1975-1978 and manager of BBC Highland 1979-1980. |
| Custodial History | Alastair Hetherington deposited his papers at BLPES in December 1990. |
| Description | This collection consists predominantly of a series of notes of interviews with political figures from Britain and overseas kept between November 1958 and July 1975. Rough notes were made after the interviews which were later sent for typing; where a lengthy delay intervened prior to typing this is indicated. Frequent accounts are given of meetings with Labour leaders from Hugh Gaitskell to James Callaghan and there were regular meetings with Jo Grimond, leader of the Liberal Party, in the early years. Regional development and the Scottish government are frequent themes throughout the British interviews and there are discussions of the spy scandals of the early 1970s and the industrial disputes of the early 1970s. Foreign affairs figure strongly including Rhodesia's declaration of UDI, the independence of African states, Vietnam and the pursuit of a settlement in the Middle East. Britain's negotiations towards entry into the EEC can be traced.
The section 'Additional Papers' contains notes on an attempted merger of the 'Times' and the 'Guardian' in 1967. |
| Access Status | Open |
| Access Conditions | Most of the collection is open for research but a few confidential files will be closed |
| Copyright Type | Copyright is held by the Library |