Jenny McMorris
Jenny McMorris was an English archivist born in 1946, known for her work on the Oxford English Dictionary. During her career, she accessed the letters and papers of H.W. Fowler, noted for his influential work, *Dictionary of Modern English Usage*. Drawing from this correspondence, McMorris authored the first comprehensive biography of Fowler titled *The Warden of English: The Life of H.W. Fowler*, which explores significant aspects of his personal and professional life. The biography emphasizes Fowler's relationships, especially with his wife, Jessie, and his publisher, revealing insights into his character through personal letters. Notably, it discusses Fowler’s idiosyncrasies, such as his unusual business practices. The book was published to mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of Fowler's dictionary but was overshadowed by McMorris’s untimely death from a brain tumor shortly after its release in 2002. Her work remains a significant contribution to understanding the life and legacy of H.W. Fowler.
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Jenny McMorris
Biographer
- Born: 1946
- Birthplace: England
- Died: November 5, 2002
Biography
Jenny McMorris was born in England in 1946. As an adult, she was an archivist for the Oxford English Dictionary. As such, she had access to the letters and papers of Henry Watson Fowler, the author of the Dictionary of Modern English Usage. This correspondence was stored in her office where it had lain untouched for many years. McMorris used the letters that Fowler wrote to his family, his publisher, and the Oxford University Press to create a biography of this modern lexicographer.
In particular, McMorris’s biography focuses on two key relationships in Fowler’s life: his relationship with his wife, Jessie, and with his publisher. From his letters to his wife, whom Fowler married very late in life, McMorris was able to infer much about his personal life. The letters to his publisher that McMorris highlights in her biography of him reveal some of Fowler’s business eccentricities, such as his refusal to accept Christmas bonuses, and his decision to never write for the Spectator after they once paid him for an article that they never published.
McMorris’s biography of Fowler, The Warden of English: The Life of H. W. Fowler, is the first comprehensive biography written about the man. It was published in time to coincide with the seventy-fifth anniversary of the publication of Fowler’s dictionary. Unfortunately, McMorris died from a brain tumor in shortly after her book was published in 2002.