Norris McWhirter

Norris Dewar McWhirter
Norris McWhirter holding a copy of the largest diamond in the world (1977)
Born	(1925-08-12)12 August 1925 Winchmore Hill, London, England
Died	19 April 2004(2004-04-19) (aged 78) Kington Langley, Wiltshire, England
Education	Marlborough College Trinity College, Oxford
Occupation	Writer, political activist, television presenter
Notable credit(s)	The Guinness World Records, co-founder of the National Association for Freedom, Record Breakers
Spouse(s)	Carole Eckert (1957–1987, her death) Tessa von Weichardt (1990–2004, his death)
Relatives	Ross McWhirter
Family	William McWhirter, father; Margaret Williamson, mother

Norris Dewar McWhirter, CBE (12 August 1925 – 19 April 2004) was a British writer, political activist, co-founder of The Freedom Association, and a television presenter. He and his twin brother, Ross, were known internationally for the founding of Guinness World Records, a book they wrote and annually updated together between 1955 and 1975. After Ross's assassination by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), Norris carried on alone as editor.

Norris and Ross were the twin sons of William McWhirter, the editor of the Sunday Pictorial, and Margaret Williamson. In 1929, as William was working on the founding of the Northcliffe Newspapers chain of provincial newspapers, the family moved to "Aberfoyle", in Broad Walk, Winchmore Hill. Like their elder brother, Kennedy (born 1923), Norris and Ross were educated at Marlborough College and Trinity College, Oxford. Norris chose to complete his law degree in two years rather than the usual three. Between 1943 and 1946, Norris served as a sub-lieutenant with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve on escort duty in Atlantic and on board a minesweeper in the Pacific.

McWhirter was an all-round athlete and represented Scotland at running during the 1950s. He and his brother became sports journalists in 1950. In 1951, they published Get to Your Marks and that year they founded an agency to provide facts and figures to Fleet Street, setting out, in Norris McWhirter's words: "to supply facts and figures to newspapers, yearbooks, encyclopedias, and advertisers". At the same time, he became a founding member of the Association of Track and Field Statisticians.