37 Facts About Robert Dougall

Robert Neill Dougall was an English broadcaster and ornithologist, mainly known as a newsreader and announcer.

Robert Dougall started his career in the BBC's accounts department before moving on to become a radio announcer for the BBC Empire Service in 1934.

Robert Dougall returned to the BBC after demobilization, first for the Far Eastern Service in Singapore and then for the BBC Light Programme in London.

Robert Dougall started his career in television as a newsreader in the 1950s and retired in December 1973.

Robert Dougall served as president of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds for five years, from 1970 to 1975, during which time the charity's membership increased from 50,000 to 250,000.

Robert Dougall was appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in the 1965 Birthday Honours.

Robert Dougall was born on 27 December 1913 in South Croydon, Surrey.

Robert Dougall was the son of a City of London worker from Glasgow, Scotland.

Robert Dougall had two older sisters, and moved frequently in his childhood before settling in the seaside town of Brighton because he had asthma.

Robert Dougall left Whitgift School at the age of 16 when work became scarce during the Great Depression.

Robert Dougall discovered that accounting was not for him, so he joined the BBC's Accounts Departments after a friend recommended it to him while he was conducting an audit.

Robert Dougall worked for the BBC European Service, where he conducted a number of interviews that were broadcast across Europe.

Robert Dougall worked six days on and three days off before transitioning to outside broadcasts with a focus on the London scene.

Robert Dougall had broadcast a message as a "anonymous" Englishman, pleading with Germany to withdraw its forces and avert the impending war.

Robert Dougall was "indefinitely reserved" for duty as a radio war correspondent and commentator for outside events by the BBC during the early years of the Second world war.

In 1942, Robert Dougall resigned from the BBC following the corporation's recruitment of Irish playwright Douglas Johnston as its Middle East air correspondent.

Robert Dougall signed up to train with the Royal Naval Volunteer Service that same year.

Robert Dougall took a short course in Russian in Harwich, where he completed his basic training, after learning that volunteers were needed for special duties at a Northern Russia base.

Robert Dougall sailed with convoys carrying supplies from Britain and the United States between Murmansk, at the end of the Russian portion of the Arctic convoy route, and the United Kingdom.

In 1947, Robert Dougall was appointed Programme Manager of the BBC's Far Eastern Service by the Foreign Office, a position which required him to move to Singapore.

Robert Dougall was responsible for relaying Russian broadcasts to London until the Far Eastern Service became redundant soon after and went on to become a presenter of the BBC Light Programme shows Serenade for Sleep, Music for Midnight and Family Favourites.

Robert Dougall began working as a television newsreader in 1954, and is thought to have been the only person from the BBC's early radio service who had an enduring career in television.

Robert Dougall announced the fall of Nikita Khrushchev and the results of the 1964 United Kingdom general election.

Robert Dougall was selected to present News Review for the Hard of Hearing when BBC2 was launched in 1964, and worked as a news reading training adviser for radio and television personnel of the Voice of Kenya in late 1968.

Robert Dougall was the first person to present the long-running BBC Nine O'Clock News in 1970, continuing in this role until his retirement from the newsroom on 31 December 1973.

Robert Dougall was the subject of This is Your Life on 2 January 1974.

Robert Dougall was the narrator of two of RSPB's wildlife films and raised money for the Royal National Institute for Deaf People through television appeals.

Robert Dougall appeared on television programmes and films such as The Generation Game, Russell Harty Show, Celebrity Squares, Nationwide, Going for a Song, Yes Minister, Danger Tomorrow and The End of Arthur's Marriage.

Robert Dougall appeared in an advertising campaign for the jewellers Prestons of Bolton in the 1980s.

Robert Dougall was a member of the Royal Society of Literature between 1975 and 1983 as well as the Garrick Club.

Robert Dougall presented seven series of Channel 4's over-60s programme Years Ahead over four years and two series of the ITV programme Stars on Sunday in the mid-1970s.

In mid-1995, Robert Dougall was removed as president of the Association of Retired Persons Over 50, a role he had held since the anti-ageist association was founded seven years earlier.

Robert Dougall was a contributor to newspapers and magazines such as The Sunday Telegraph Magazine, the Daily Mail, The Spectator and High Life.

Robert Dougall wrote the books Now for the Good News, A Celebration of Birds, The Ladybird Book Of British Birds, Basil Ede's Birds and Birdwatch Round Britain.

Robert Dougall married BBC studio manager Nan Bryam on 7 June 1947.

Robert Dougall was appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in the 1965 Birthday Honours.

Robert Dougall died in his sleep in Southwold, Suffolk on 18 December 1999.