Ian Glynn Fitchett

Ian Glynn Fitchett (11 September 1908 – 10 October 1988) was an Australian journalist who specialised in political reporting and also worked as a war correspondent during the Second World War.

Early life and education Fitchett was born in Terang, Victoria, on 11 September 1908, the third child in a family of four. His father, Alfred Shaw Fitchett, was a solicitor, and his mother, Nellie (née Delany), came from an Irish Catholic family. His paternal grandfather, William Henry Fitchett was a Methodist clergyman and writer. He was taught initially by private tutors, later attending the local Convent of Mercy school and Xavier College in Melbourne.

He undertook legal training under his uncle, Frank Fitchett, and qualified as a barrister and solicitor in March 1935. After a short period as associate to Justice Sir Hayden Starke, he left the legal profession to pursue journalism.

In 1960, he moved to The Sydney Morning Herald, where he spent ten years covering national politics before focusing on defence and diplomatic issues.

Personal life On 24 January 1959, Fitchett married Florence Myrtle Edlington (née Clutton) at St Aloysius' Catholic Church in Cronulla, New South Wales. She died in 1974. In his later years, he conducted research on Australian military history for the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

Death Fitchett died in Canberra on 10 October 1988 at the age of 80.

Honours and awards