# Silvester Bolam

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British newspaper editor (1905–1953)

**Silvester Bolam** (23 October 1905 – 27 April 1953) was a [British](/source/British_people) [newspaper editor](/source/Newspaper_editor).

Born in [Tynemouth](/source/Tynemouth), [Northumberland](/source/Northumberland), Bolam studied at the [University of Durham](/source/University_of_Durham)'s [Armstrong College](/source/Colleges_of_Durham_University#Colleges_in_Newcastle_(Armstrong_College_and_King's_College)) before joining the *[Newcastle Journal](/source/The_Journal_(Newcastle_upon_Tyne_newspaper))*. He then moved to work for the *[News Chronicle](/source/News_Chronicle)*, and in 1936 became a sub-editor on the *[Daily Mirror](/source/Daily_Mirror)*. Although he left in 1938 to rejoin the *News Chronicle*, he returned ten months later, and in 1948 became the newspaper's editor.[1]

As editor, Bolam focused on a strategy of [sensationalism](/source/Sensationalism), and was able to make the *Mirror* Britain's best-selling daily newspaper. In March 1949, after publishing material which might have prejudiced the trial of [John George Haigh](/source/John_George_Haigh) (later convicted of murder), he was jailed for three months for contempt of court.[2][3] The *Daily Mirror* also fined £10,000.[4]

By 1953, he had fallen out with the paper's editorial director and resigned. He died a few months later.[1]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-odnb_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-odnb_1-1) "[Bolam, Silvester](http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/articleHL/56737)", *[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Oxford_Dictionary_of_National_Biography)*

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Roy Greenslade](/source/Roy_Greenslade) (2004). *Press gang: how newspapers make profits from propaganda*. [Pan Macmillan](/source/Pan_Macmillan). p. 40. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-330-39376-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-330-39376-6).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** *[Daily Herald](/source/Daily_Herald_(UK_newspaper))*, 26 March 1949, p.3

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Times, Benjamin Wellesspecial To the New York (26 March 1949). ["London Editor Is Jailed for Murder Story; Largest-Selling Daily Paper Fined $40,000"](https://www.nytimes.com/1949/03/26/archives/london-editor-is-jailed-for-murder-story-largestselling-daily-paper.html). *The New York Times*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0362-4331](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 25 May 2025.

Media offices Preceded by Cecil Thomas Editor of the Daily Mirror 1949–1953 Succeeded by Jack Nener

v t e Editors of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday Pictorial Daily Mirror 1903: Mary Howarth 1904: Hamilton Fyfe 1907: Alexander Kenealy 1915: Ed Flynn 1916: Alexander Campbell 1931: Leigh Brownlee 1934: Cecil Thomas 1948: Silvester Bolam 1953: Jack Nener 1961: Lee Howard 1971: Tony Miles 1974: Michael Christiansen 1975: Mike Molloy 1985: Richard Stott 1990: Roy Greenslade 1991: Richard Stott 1992: David Banks 1994: Colin Myler 1995: Piers Morgan 2004: Richard Wallace 2012: Peter Willis 2018: Alison Phillips 2024: Caroline Waterston 2025 to date: Chloe Hubbard Sunday Pictorial 1915: F. R. Sanderson 1921: William McWhirter 1924: David Grant 1928: William McWhirter 1929: David Grant 1938: Hugh Cudlipp 1940: Stuart Campbell 1946: Hugh Cudlipp 1949: Philip Zec 1952: Hugh Cudlipp 1953: Colin Valdar 1959: Lee Howard 1961: Reg Payne Sunday Mirror 1963: Michael Christiansen 1972: Bob Edwards 1984: Peter Thompson 1986: Mike Molloy 1988: Eve Pollard 1991: Bridget Rowe 1992: Colin Myler 1994: Paul Connew 1995: Tessa Hilton 1996: Amanda Platell 1997: Bridget Rowe 1998: Brendon Parsons 1998: Colin Myler 2001: Tina Weaver 2012: Alison Phillips 2016: Gary Jones 2018: Peter Willis 2020: Paul Henderson 2021: Gemma Aldridge 2024: Caroline Waterston 2025 to date: Chloe Hubbard

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