Gavin Weightman

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Gavin Weightman (4 March 1945 – 18 December 2022) was a British journalist and documentary filmmaker who studied and wrote about the social history of London and Britain from the 18th century. His books include The Making of Modern London (co-authored with Steve Humphries, 1983; reissued 2007), The Frozen Water Trade (2003), Signor Marconi's Magic Box (2003), and The Industrial Revolutionaries (2007). He also wrote many articles for New Society magazine in the 1970s.

Early life
Weightman was born in Gosforth, Northumberland, to Doreen Wade and John Weightman. The family lived in West Hampstead and spent summers in Northumberland. He won a scholarship to Haberdashers' Boys' School but left at 17 to pursue journalism. In 1967 he began a sociology degree at Bedford College, London.

Career
He started his journalism career at the Brighton and Evening Argus and the Richmond and Twickenham Times. In 1974 he began working for New Society magazine. From 1978 to 1982 he was a reporter and presenter for The London Programme. For London Weekend Television, he produced and directed The Making of Modern London (1815–1914), The River Thames, Bright Lights Big City, Brave New Wilderness, and City Safari, among other series.

Personal life
Weightman’s first marriage was to Myra Wilkins; they had two children and later divorced. In 2009 he married Clare Beaton, a children's author and illustrator, and they had one son. He lived in north London and later focused on writing social history books.

Death
Weightman died on 18 December 2022 at the Royal London Hospital in London, aged 77.