Ernest Gowers

Sir Ernest Arthur Gowers GCB GBE (2 June 1880 – 16 April 1966) is best remembered for his book Plain Words, first published in 1948, and for his revision of Fowler's Modern English Usage. Before making his name as an author he had a long career in the British civil service, which he entered in 1903. His final full-time appointment was as Senior Regional Commissioner for Civil Defence, London Region (1940–45). After the Second World War, he was appointed chairman of numerous government inquiries, including the 1949 Royal Commission into Capital Punishment. He was also chairman of the Harlow New Town Development Corporation.

Gowers was born in London, the younger son of the neurologist Sir William Gowers and his wife Mary (daughter of Frederick Baines, one of the proprietors of the Leeds Mercury). The family lived in Queen Anne Street, W1. Ernest followed his elder brother, William Frederick Gowers (1875–1954) to Rugby School, where he shone academically and as a sportsman. At Rugby, Ernest was also noted as an outstanding organist, an accomplishment that became a lifelong hobby. Both boys won scholarships to read Classics at Cambridge (William to Trinity College and Ernest to Clare). Their sisters, Edith and Evelyn, mainly schooled at home, both lost their sight after developing Retinitis pigmentosa in early adult life.

In 1905 Gowers married Constance Greer, daughter of Thomas Macgregor Greer (member of the North of Ireland Senate, and a Deputy-Lieutenant for Co. Antrim). They had two daughters and one son. Gowers's elder brother went to Africa; he joined the colonial civil service and rose to become Governor of Uganda (1925–32) and Senior Crown Agent for the Colonies (1932–38).

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