Editor of Bexhill-on-Sea Observer and Author.
Leonard Bartley was born in St Leonards-on-Sea in July 1910. His father was a chief mechanic to a dental practice. After being educated in Kent, he started his career in journalism in 1927 in Northamptonshire. During the Second World War he served in the Royal Engineers and the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. After the war he became editor of the Kings Lynn News And Advertiser in 1946.
In 1954 he accepted the editorship of the Bexhill-on-Sea Observer, a paper established in 1896, and retained this post until his retirement in 1973. Mr Bartley will chiefly be remembered for his research into the area’s local history, writing many articles on various topics and culminating in the publication The Story of Bexhill in 1971. This book still remains the standard work on the subject. He was a member of the Council of Social Service, Rotary Club, Friends of the Elderly and the Hadrian Lodge of Freemasons. In 1968 he was elected a Freeman of the City of London.