Burnett, Richard George
1898-1960

Journalist, author and local preacher, born at Plymouth. After working on the Western Herald in Plymouth and the Sheffield Evening Mail, he became assistant editor of the Methodist Times in 1932 editor of the Local Preachers Magazine from 1939, and managing editor of the Methodist Recorder from 1952 to 1960. He actively supported the LPMAA, was co-author of its centenary history, A Goodly Fellowship (1949) and became its president in 1953. A class leader in the Finsbury Park circuit, he had close links with the East End Mission, writing about its work in These My Brethren (1946) and serving as its circuit steward. He was a founder member and director of Religious Films Ltd and wrote a biography of Joseph Rank, Through the Mill (1945). He died on 20 March 1960.

His son, Hugh Burnett, was a producer for BBC TV, remembered for his 'Face to Face' series in which John Freeman interviewed a variety of celebrities.

Sources
  • Methodist Recorder, 31 March and 7 April 1960