1. Alan Ross McWhirter was, with his twin brother, Norris, the cofounder of the 1955 Guinness Book of Records and a contributor to the television programme Record Breakers.
11 Facts About Ross McWhirter
1. 2.
Ross McWhirter was assassinated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in 1975.
3.
Ross McWhirter was born at 10 Branscombe Gardens, Winchmore Hill, in London.
4.
Ross McWhirter was educated at Chesterton School, Seaford, Marlborough College and Trinity College, Oxford.
5.
Between 1943 and 1946, Ross McWhirter served as a sub-lieutenant with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve aboard a minesweeper in the Mediterranean.
6.
Ross McWhirter maintained his home and Guinness Publishing business in the Middlesex area as it became the Municipal Borough of Edmonton, then London Borough of Enfield, and finally as part of Greater London in 1965.
7.
In 1958, long after the legend of William Webb Ellis as the originator of rugby had become engrained in rugby culture, Ross McWhirter managed to rediscover Ellis's grave in a cemetery in Menton in Alpes Maritimes.
8.
Ross McWhirter's views were on the right-wing of the political spectrum.
9.
Ross McWhirter advocated and lobbied for various restrictions on the freedom of the Irish community in Britain, such as compulsory registration with the local police and a requirement for signed photographs when renting flats or booking hotel rooms.
10.
In doing so, Ross McWhirter recognised that he could then be a target himself.
11.
Ross McWhirter was taken to Chase Farm Hospital but died soon after being admitted.