George Henry Vallins (29 May 1897 – 30 October 1956), who wrote as G H Vallins, was an English schoolmaster, grammarian and author. His best-known books are ''Good English'' (1951) and ''Better English'' (1953).

Life and career

Vallins was born in

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...

, Kent. He was educated at Beckenham County School and

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

."Mr. G. H. Vallins – Style in English", ''The Times'', 2 November 1956, p. 11 He served in the army towards the end of the First World War, after which he became a schoolmaster, first at Wreights School,

Faversham Faversham () is a market town in Kent, England, from Sittingbourne, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2 road (Great ...

, and then for many years at

Selhurst High School Selhurst High School for Boys was a name that has been given to two separate schools in England that existed at different times, but occupied the same site. The former school had been a grammar school that closed in 1988, the latter was the relau ...

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

. He published a volume of poems, and co-edited several anthologies for the use of English teachers. In 1936, together with H A Treble, he published ''An ABC of English Usage'', described by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' as "an admirable if sometimes controversial little work." After the Second World War he published ''The Making and Meaning of Words'', and then, according to ''The Times'', "his best and wittiest handbooks", ''Good English'' (1951) and ''Better English'' (1953). The paper commented, "Both are delightful reading not merely for the soundness of the doctrine but for the combative tone of the writing." Vallins was a contributor to '' Punch'' and ''

The Times Educational Supplement ''TES'', formerly known as the ''Times Educational Supplement'', is a British weekly trade magazine aimed at education professionals. It was first published in 1910 as a pull-out supplement in ''The Times'' newspaper. Such was its popularity th ...

''. He died in hospital near his home in

Banstead Banstead is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It is south of Sutton, London, Sutton, south-west of Croydon, north of Reigate, south-east of Kingston-upon-Thames, and south of Central London. On the North Dow ...

, Surrey, aged 59. The obituarist in ''The Times'' described him as "a valiant champion for the purity of the English language".

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vallins, George Henry 1897 births 1956 deaths Alumni of King's College London Schoolteachers from Kent People from Sevenoaks English writers