Peter Pendleton Eckersley

Peter Pendleton Eckersley, (1892-1963) British pioneer broadcaster who worked for the BBC in its early years. Eckersley was sacked from the BBC because he had an extra-marital affair. His brilliant career was ruined.

Early life

1892 Born on 6 January in Puebla, Mexico, the third son of (William) Alfred Eckersley, a railway engineer, and his wife, Rachel.

Educated at Bedales School, he was apprenticed to Mather and Platt before entering Manchester Municipal College of Technology where he gained a certificate of electrical engineering in 1915.

During World War I he served with the Royal Flying Corps as a wireless equipment officer, mainly in Egypt and at Salonika; he was then sent to the Wireless Experimental Station at Biggin Hill where he conducted experimental work on duplex telephony for aircraft. He was always known thereafter as "Captain Eckersley". In 1917, during the war, he married Stella Grove.

In 1919 Eckersley joined Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Co as the Head of the Experimental Section, Air­craft Department at Writtle, near Chelmsford. During his time in this role, he designed the Croydon Airport ground station transmitter. In 1921 on the merger of the Aircraft Department and the Field station department, he became head of the Design department.

In 1922 starting on 14 February, Capt. Eckersley and his team conducted the first regular broad­casts in the United Kingdom from the experimental station 2MT at Writtle.

Career at BBC

The following year, 1923, he was hired personally by John Reith as chief engineer of the recently formed British Broadcasting Company (BBC). Eckersley was in charge of "spreading service", and of implementing his regional plan for radio transmission.

He played a prominent part in the first international meetings on wavelength allocation, and in the preparations for Empire broadcasting.

In 1924 he was elected a Member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers. In 1929 he took part in the opening of the first dual transmitter high-power station in Brookmans Park, north of London. However, at the height of his professional success, he attracted the displeasure of Reith by conducting an extra-marital affair with Frances Dorothy "Dolly" Clark, a married woman, which led to his divorce. Reith consulted the other governors of the BBC and they compelled him to resign on moral grounds. The following year he married Mrs Clark.

Career After BBC

After leaving the BBC, Eckersley worked as a consultant to various companies. He was one of the founders of Rediffusion in 1931; he suggested the company name.

World War II

1939 When war was declared Dorothy and the son of her first marriage remained in Germany, where they earned a living broadcasting in English on German radio. British Intelligence kept a file on Peter, who, the same year, declared himself bankrupt.

Eckersley died 8 March 1963.

Books

Captain Eckersley Explains. A Reply to his Numerous Correspondents (1924). All About Your Wireless Set (1925). The Power behind the Microphone (1941).