Chapman Pincher
| Henry Chapman Pincher | |
|---|---|
| Born |
29 March 1914 Ambala, Punjab, India |
| Died | 5 August 2014 (aged 100) Kintbury, England, United Kingdom |
| Occupation | Journalist, historian, and novelist |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | King's College London |
| Subject | Espionage |
| Children | 2 |
Henry Chapman Pincher (29 March 1914 – 5 August 2014) was an English journalist, historian, and novelist whose writing mainly focused on espionage and related matters, after some early books on scientific subjects.
Pincher was born in Ambala, Punjab, to English parents. His father, Richard Chapman Pincher, was a major in the British army, and his mother Helen (née Foster), was an actress. They had married in 1913 in Pontefract. His father's family was from north Yorkshire and his father was serving in the Northumberland Fusiliers in India when Chapman was born.
The family returned home to Pontefract when Pincher was aged 3 and he attended 13 different schools before the family settled in Darlington, where his father would later own a sweet shop and a pub on the River Tees. Aged 10 he won a scholarship to Darlington Grammar School and then studied at King's College London.
His first teaching job as a physics master was at the Liverpool Institute High School for Boys, between 1938 and 1940, before he joined the army, where he became a technical officer in the Rocket Division, Ministry of Supply, 1943–1945. He joined the Daily Express in 1946 as a science and defence correspondent.
At the Daily Express, Pincher developed his own style of investigative journalism, actively seeking out high-level contacts to obtain secret information. He regular provided exclusives that other journalists had missed, which led to his employers calling him "the lone wolf of Fleet Street". He made both "friends and enemies in high places". In 1959 Prime Minister Harold Macmillan wrote to his minister of defence: "Can nothing be done to suppress or get rid of Chapman Pincher?"
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