The Pedants' Society

Struck Off

The Society maintains, in addition to its Roll of Fellows, a separate page listing those Fellows who have been struck from the Register. The Society holds that the cautionary effect of admission is inseparable from the visibility of its withdrawal.

No. Name Struck Reason
00007 Miss Constance Drewry November 1882 consistent use of "alright" in private correspondence subsequently published
00015 Col. Arthur Martin January 1880 use of 'less' where 'fewer' was appropriate, in correspondence
00022 Mr Cyril Marchbanks August 1871 publication of a letter in The Daily Telegraph signed "C. Marchbanks, FPS" prior to his admission's having been minuted, the minutes having been delayed by a procedural objection raised by Marchbanks himself
00030 Mr Edwin Quigley June 1885 consistent failure to use an em-dash where required
00031 Maj. Magnus Brady August 1872 repeated assertion that Einstein failed mathematics at school
00045 Mr Phineas Galloway December 1886 the use of "data" as a singular noun, in the minutes of a meeting he was chairing
00047 Lady Georgiana Hawkshaw October 1895 addressing the Society Secretary by first name, in writing
00054 Dr Robert Mitchell December 1891 use of 'could care less' in a letter to The Times
00058 Prof. Charles Partington June 1892 use of 'less' where 'fewer' was appropriate, in correspondence
00063 Mortimer Honeyfield July 1886 publication of an article using 'comprised of'
00065 Mrs Eustacia Trenholm May 1881 chronic dangling modifiers
00066 Dr Cornelius Pemble July 1910 publication of a paper containing the construction 'amount of people'
00071 Maj. Cyril Whistle September 1884 supporting the losing motion to admit 'gotten' to the Society's lexicon, 1986
00072 Prof. Herbert Allen December 1896 capitalisation of 'The' in proper nouns where it did not belong
00081 Mrs Gertrude Harris March 1906 departure to the Society for Pedantry (Dublin)
00093 Cedric Quibb October 1895 use of the Society's post-nominals before formal admission
00094 Mr Bertram Hunt August 1896 insistence that the Great Wall of China is visible from space
00095 Mr Cyril Kettlewell December 1896 appearance on daytime television
00096 Mr Edwin Colquhoun July 1894 persistent use of 'decimate' to mean 'to destroy most of'
00098 Dr Arthur Baker December 1916 misuse of 'literally' in his own resignation letter
00099 Brig. Charles MacDonald October 1884 insufficient seriousness at the 1981 Symposium on Usage
00109 Capt. Basil Plumtree June 1910 supporting the losing motion to admit 'gotten' to the Society's lexicon, 1986
00116 Mr Bertram Whicker July 1894 the description, in the Society's own newsletter, of a meeting as having been "very productive", the Curator noting that the meeting in question had been adjourned without reaching the third item on the agenda
00118 Rev. Dr Bartholomew Nesbit June 1892 repeated offences; matter now considered closed
00121 George Galbraith April 1909 use of 'less' where 'fewer' was appropriate, in correspondence
00125 Lt-Col. Reginald Pugh April 1903 use of "enormity" to mean "large size"
00131 Lt-Col. Theobald Haversham August 1896 use of 'could care less' in a letter to The Times
00132 Prof. Algernon Frost February 1916 the publication of a popular pamphlet under his Fellowship name, the pamphlet's title containing a hyphen the Society could not endorse
00138 Prof. Wilfred Macpherson July 1921 misuse of the semicolon in the 1967 Annual Report
00142 Mr Theodore Whicker October 1898 persistent confusion of "imply" and "infer" over the course of a single luncheon
00145 Mr Mortimer Cholmondeley January 1909 excessive seriousness at the 1983 Symposium on Usage
00157 Frederick Powell July 1928 use of a ballpoint pen in the Society's Visitors' Book
00163 Mr Clement Morris November 1928 joining the breakaway Society of Pedants in 1872
00165 Mr Cassius Wrenfield September 1928 attendance at the AGM in a soft collar, contrary to standing custom
00168 Brig. Eustace Sopwith October 1922 conduct unbecoming at the 1974 Annual Dinner
00204 Prof. Lilian Jones September 1922 addressing the Society Secretary by first name, in writing
00212 Mr Wilfred Standing January 1933 the use of "could of" in a private letter, the letter having been read aloud at his daughter's wedding by another Fellow
00216 Dr Ernest Prout January 1917 failure to acknowledge receipt of the Society's Annual Statement, 1978
00224 Mr Geoffrey Dewhurst March 1919 introduction of an apostrophe in "its" as a possessive, in correspondence with the Lord Chancellor
00232 Mr Bernard O'Brien August 1947 admission that the Oxford comma 'doesn't really matter'
00235 Mrs Florence Stourton December 1927 publication of an opinion piece in favour of the singular 'they', 2014
00247 Mr Henry Colquhoun July 1939 non-payment of dues, and subsequent unapologetic rejoinder
00248 Mr Lionel Faraday November 1948 the description, in a Society publication, of a meeting as "lively"
00254 Miss Marjorie Bailey April 1938 insufficient seriousness at the 1981 Symposium on Usage
00268 Rev. Dr Caspar Threlfall July 1959 the publication, in a parish newsletter, of a sermon containing the phrase "at the end of the day"
00270 Dr Algernon Tipping November 1943 misuse of 'literally' in his own resignation letter
00273 Miss Betty Reid August 1956 joining the schismatic Antipodean Chapter without prior resignation
00274 Dame Annie Murray December 1941 departure to the Society for Pedantry (Dublin)
00275 Miss Shanti Mukherjee July 1937 repeated assertion that Einstein failed mathematics at school
00287 Miss Muriel Williams November 1970 insufficient seriousness at the 1981 Symposium on Usage
00293 Mr James Collins June 1965 departure to the Pedantry Club of Bayswater
00294 Miss Honoria Lacey February 1968 the use, in a published article, of "decimate" in its modern sense, with reference to the 1962 Vote on the Vocative
00297 George Feverstone March 1961 non-payment of dues, and subsequent unapologetic rejoinder
00311 Mr Cyril Bodkin July 1957 confusion of "i.e." with "e.g." in a published obituary
00316 Mrs Mary Ashworth August 1961 capitalisation of 'The' in proper nouns where it did not belong
00337 Mr Jasper Wedderburn August 1981 insufficient seriousness at the 1981 Symposium on Usage, specifically a smile during a paper on the misuse of "literally"
00338 Prof. Susan Lewis November 1984 use of an en-dash where an em-dash was proper
00341 Jeremy Pembroke March 1960 correspondence containing the phrase 'at this moment in time'
00344 Brig. Michael Collins April 1959 contribution to a popular newspaper without Society approval
00359 Amit Dasgupta March 1983 use of 'literally' in its figurative sense, in print
00361 Mr Neil Buchanan March 1963 use of the phrase 'going forward' in a letter of apology
00364 Mr Cosmo Larking July 1985 the use of "between you and I" in a televised interview; the Society notes that the broadcast was watched by no Fellow personally, but that the Curator was sent a transcript by an Associate
00367 Mr Terence Verney April 1989 omission of the Oxford comma in the Society's anniversary statement
00373 Roger Pritchard November 1965 incorrect pronunciation of 'scone' (rhyming with 'bone')
00377 Rev. Barry Brady June 1987 publication of an opinion piece in favour of the singular 'they', 2014
00380 Col. Vijay Iyer September 1995 admission that the Oxford comma 'doesn't really matter'
00390 Lance Bethers April 1973 failure to write the date on a letter to the Society Secretary
00392 The Hon. Derek Ogilvy September 1974 use of 'alright'
00411 Prof. Rosemary James October 1975 conduct unbecoming at the 1974 Annual Dinner
00415 Dr Geoffrey Bramble December 1982 incorrect pronunciation of 'scone' (rhyming with 'gone')
00416 Mr Kenneth Ashworth May 1993 publication of a memoir containing the phrase 'at the end of the day'
00419 Mr Cornelius Pegg April 1999 the description, in a charity newsletter, of a Society meeting as "fun"
00438 The Hon. Caroline Price April 1984 incorrect pronunciation of 'scone' (rhyming with 'bone')
00444 Mr Reginald Stoat December 1989 unrepentant use of "irregardless" in the Christmas address
00445 Dr Peregrine Crowhurst February 2003 the use, in a Christmas card to the Secretary, of the word "fun"
00447 Maj. Rakesh Mukherjee June 1989 departure to the Association of Pedants (Edinburgh)
00452 Miss Helen Abercrombie July 1993 siding with the losing party in the Apostrophe Debate of 1998
00458 Miss Tamsin Russell April 1993 incorrect pronunciation of 'scone'
00462 Miss Cordelia Tristram August 2009 the use of "literally" as an intensifier in conversation overheard at the AGM by another Fellow
00486 Mr Andrew Turner October 2018 supporting the losing side in the 1962 Vote on the Vocative
00487 Mrs Tamsin Gwynn January 1997 departure to the Society for Pedantry (Dublin)
00494 David Daly September 2004 resignation upon formation of the Antipodean Chapter
00498 Mrs Felicia Kettering May 2014 the publication of a memoir containing the phrase "at the end of the day", and a subsequent unapologetic rejoinder
00519 Mr Hew Crampton January 2017 the use of "could of" in a draft email subsequently sent in error to the Society Secretary
00533 Mrs Tamsin Gray November 2020 publication of an opinion piece in favour of the singular 'they', 2014
00536 Mrs Philippa Colquhoun April 2020 persistent use of 'decimate' to mean 'to destroy most of'
00545 Rev. Michael Jervoise June 2023 admission that the Oxford comma 'doesn't really matter'
00547 Miss Evangeline Whitlock November 2021 the use, in a Society podcast, of the verb "to gift"; the Society notes that the podcast was the Society's first, and that it has not since attempted a second
00558 Mr Simon Vaughan September 2019 publication of a letter to The Times containing three misplaced semicolons
00564 Mr Mungo Lavelle February 2025 the publication of a press release using "comprised of"; the Society notes that the press release was the Society's own, but that Mr Lavelle had drafted it