History
The Queen's English Society was founded in 1972 by Joe Clifton, an Oxford graduate and schoolteacher. The Society's meetings were held in Arundel, and members wrote to newspapers and broadcasters, pointing out perceived linguistic errors and instances of ambiguous spoken English.
The Society claims to be concerned about the education of children. It believes that teachers should be trained to spot certain errors in English usage. In 1988, the Society delivered a petition to the then Secretary of State for Education and Science, Kenneth Baker, urging him "to introduce the compulsory study of formal grammar, including parsing and sentence analysis, into the school curriculum".
The objectives of the Society, as expressed in its constitution, are "to promote the maintenance, knowledge, understanding, development and appreciation of the English language as used both colloquially and in literature; to educate the public in its correct and elegant usage; and to discourage the intrusion of anything detrimental to clarity or euphony”.
On 4 June 2012, after a general meeting of the society attracted no nominations to replace retiring officers of the Society, chairman Rhea Williams announced that the society would cease to exist, but after new committee members volunteered, the Society was able to continue.
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