Henry Watson Fowler taught Latin, Greek and English at Sedbergh School (then in Yorkshire, now in Cumbria) in the 1880s and 90s. He resigned in 1899 rather than take up a post of housemaster, which would have involved preparing boys for confirmation in the Anglican Church. (Although the son of a clergyman, Fowler was an atheist.)
After leaving Sedbergh he moved to London and became a freelance writer and journalist. A Dictionary of Modern English Usage is his best–known work, but he also contributed to the Concise and Shorter Oxford dictionaries. He was described by The Times as "a lexicographical genius". He died on 26 December 1933, aged 75.
© Haydn Thompson 2021