John Reith

Sir John Charles Walsham Reith (born July 20, 1889 – June 16, 1971). Scottish broadcasting executive, the first general manager and later director-general of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) from 1922 to 1938.

Life before BBC.

John Reith, the youngest son of Reverend Dr. George Reith's (a minister of the Free Church of Scotland) seven children, was born in Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, Scotland. Reith's parents met in 1868 and got married in 1970. During their marriage, they had six children, two girls and four boys, and almost ten years later John Reith was born. He first went to a girls' school nearby, where he won a prize for his singing, as there were such classes as sewing and singing in the school. Later, in 1986 Reith moved to Glasgow Academy, where he showed his personality: he was an intelligent young man, who went through all the classes without any efforts, but who, however, was impatient and intolerant. In 1904 Reith became a student in a boarding school in Norfolk. His father and he had a different view on John's future: while John wanted to go to University, his father insisted on studying trade and engineering. After a five-year engineering apprenticeship, Reith decided to go to London despite the fact that his father was against it. John Reith was an ambitious man, who had a goal to earn a lot of money working as a sub-agent in an engineering company. However, after finding out that sub-agents did not earn as much as he wanted, he knew that he had to change his life.

Reith was a soldier from 1914 to 1917. Starting in the Territorial Army, Reith later joined the Royal Engineers. His active service lasted until 1915, when a German sniper hit his left cheek, while Reith was inspecting damage in a mine crater. After he recovered, John Reith moved to the USA and worked there at the Remington Arms Company, where he was running a team of more than 1500 experts and inspectors. This experience helped him to become a public figure. His career at the Remington Arms Company lasted until 1917 and he returned to the UK. In 1918 Reith worked at the Royal Marine Engineers in Sussex. Later left the army and worked in a civil sphere.

BBC.

1922 is a crucial day in the history of John Reith's life. He saw a job advertisement for a general manager position for the British Broadcasting Company and applied for it.