Edith Parnell (1913 – 13 November 1938), known to friends as Bunny, was a Welsh swimmer and journalist. In 1929 she became the youngest known person to swim across the Bristol Channel.
Edith Parnell | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1913 Penarth |
| Died | 13 November 1938 (aged 24–25) London |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Known for | Youngest person to swim across the Bristol Channel (1929) |
Early life and the Bristol Channel edit
Edith Gertrude Parnell was the daughter of Mr and Mrs F. R. Parnell of Penarth.[1]
In 1928, Parnell was already known as a distance swimmer, supporting other young women on attempts to cross the Bristol Channel.[2] On 15 August 1929, at age 16, she became the second person to swim the Bristol Channel, swimming from Penarth to Weston-super-Mare in 10 hours, 15 minutes.[3] She remains the youngest person ever to have made the crossing.[4]
Journalism and advertising edit
She later became the first woman reporter for the Reuters News Agency in Paris and London, and the first woman editor of a Sunday newspaper. She was later editorial manager of Higham's advertising agency.[5] She handled publicity for Higham clients, including Coty, Imperial Chemical Industries, and the "Bread for Energy" campaign.[6] She attended a convention of the Advertising Federation in Boston in 1936, and was the only woman delegate at the convention,[7] representing the London-based Regent Advertising Club.[8] She also spoke to the Rotary Club of Montreal in 1936, on the topic "Public Relations from a Woman's Standpoint."[7]
Personal life edit
Parnell married the Welsh journalist Hugh Cudlipp in April 1936,[9] though the marriage was not a success. She was simultaneously in love with Tom Darlow, editor of John Bull, and kept up an affair with him.[10] She died on 13 November 1938,[11] aged 25 years, after complications from a Caesarean section in a Harley Street clinic.[10]
Parnell's story partly inspired the novel Wonder Girls (2012) by Catherine Jones.[12][13]
References edit
- ^ Western Mail, 14 November 1938, p.12
- ^ "Swimming in 20Ft. Waves; 'Splendid Failure'". The Guardian. 11 September 1928. p. 11. Retrieved 29 July 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Bristol Channel Swum by Girl". The Guardian. 16 August 1929. p. 5. Retrieved 29 July 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ The Bristol Channel, Outdoors Swimming Society. Accessed 4 August 2019.
- ^ Penarth Women's Trail: A trail featuring 15 famous Penarth women. Accessed 4 August 2019.
- ^ "British Ad Linage Rises". The New York Times. 26 June 1936. p. 37 – via ProQuest.
- ^ a b "Advertising News". The New York Times. 8 July 1936. p. 26 – via ProQuest.
- ^ "London Woman Here for Ad Men's Sessions". The Boston Globe. 27 June 1936. p. 1. Retrieved 29 July 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ 'Journalists Married', Western Mail, 9 April 1936, p.15
- ^ a b Ruth Dudley Edwards (2013). Newspapermen: Hugh Cudlipp, Cecil Harmsworth King and the Glory Days of Fleet Street. Random House. pp. 131–2. ISBN 978-1-4464-8563-7.
- ^ 'Deaths', Western Mail, 14 November 1938.
- ^ Jones, Catherine. (2012). Wonder girls. London: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-84983-882-5. OCLC 778327556.
- ^ "Diving into the deep end of history". WalesOnline. 8 June 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
External links edit
- Schoolgirl Swims Bristol Channel, Reuters Newsreel, 1929