Former Honorary Secretaries

Louisa Puller (-)
Served as Hon. Secretary: 1921-1925

Alice Hindson (-)
Served as Hon. Secretary: 1928-1931

Alfred J Fairbank (1896-1982)
Served as Hon. Secretary: 1931-1934

Civil servant, CBE (1955), distinguished calligrapher and pioneer of handwriting reform. In 1920 he studied lettering and illuminating under Graily Hewitt: under the patronage of St John Hornby he wrote the superb manuscripts of Ecclesiasticus, Horace and Virgil. He was a founder member of the SSI, serving variously as President, Hon Sec and Treasurer. At the instance of Stanley Morison, he designed in 1928 the elegant compact typeface known as Narrow Bembo, a title he detested. He was closely associated with Edward Johnston and worked on a phonetic alphabet with Robert Bridges. During this time he anticpated the crisis in handwriting that was to hit classrooms after the war. Starting from a study of 16th-century writing masters (Tagliente and Lucas), he evolved a simple modern Italic, which was adopted in numerous schools. His Dryad Writing Cards, Handwriting Cards and Beacon Writing Books are now classics. In cooperation with manufacturer George Hughes, he devised the first italic pen nib. He founded the SIH in 1952. In 1976 his 70th birthday was celebrated with a festschrift Calligraphy and Paleography. (from Obituary The Scribe 25, A. S. Osley)

Margaret Alexander (1902-)
Served as Hon. Secretary: 1934-1936

Margaret Alexander was born in Hampstead, England, in 1902. She studied at the Slade School of Fine Art and taught calligraphy and illuminating there, 1928-1957. She was also a calligrapher to the House of Lords, 1926-1963. She has executed addresses to a long list of distinguished persons, including four British sovereigns. Her commissioned works have been exhibited internationally, and are to be found in many of the great institutions in Britain, continental Europe and the United States, as well as in the finest private collections.

H J Manwaring (-)
Served as Hon. Secretary: 1936-1937

Vera Law (1900-1985)
Served as Hon. Secretary: 1937-1942

Founder member of SSI. Fine gilding. Metropolitan Police Rolls of Honour, Westminster Abbey.

Claire Evans (-)
Served as Hon. Secretary: 1942-1946

Margaret Hodgson (-)
Served as Hon. Secretary: 1946-1947

Th Fisher (-1982)
Served as Hon. Secretary: 1947-1950

After an academic education she joined the Central School of Art to study calligraphy under Graily Hewitt whose work she admired. Here she became acquainted with Alfred Fairbank who became a lifelong friend. She contributed an article on Ink to The Calligrapher's Handbook, published 1956. She was modest and secretive about her private life. However it is known that her work at InterService Topographical Department, Naval Intelligence at the Admiralty during the Second World War involved her in the preparation of maps for use in the invasion. She had strong ties with France between the wars and for her post-war work involving the survivors and refugees of Dachau concentration camp she received a decoration from the French authorities. (obituary by Vera Ibbett, The Scribe 25)

Dorothy Hutton (-)
Served as Hon. Secretary: 1949-1950

Deputised as Hon Sec for Th

Heather Child (-)
Served as Hon. Secretary: 1950-1953 and from 1958-1958

First Chairman of the SSI in 1963. As well as the formal period as Hon Sec, 1950-53, in 1958 Heather Child took a year's additional responsibility as Hon Sec.Editor of some major works, including Formal Penmanship and Other Papers, written by Edward Johnston, The Calligrapher's Handbook, Lessons in Formal Writing and two editions of Calligraphy Today. She was a major contributor to More than Fine Writing, an examination of the work of Irene Wellington, along with Heather Collins, Ann Hechle and Donald Jackson. Received an MBE in 1974, for services to calligraphy and the crafts. Since 1997 she has been a trustee of the Crafts Study Centre in Bath (later re-established in Farnham, Surrey), notable for its growing collection of twentieth-century lettering and calligraphy. She is a freelance calligrapher, book illustrator and writer. (contrib. S. Gunn)

Mrs R West (-)
Served as Hon. Secretary: 1953-1954

Ursula Cammiade (-)
Served as Hon. Secretary: 1954-1958

John Cackett (-)
Served as Hon. Secretary: 1958-1967 and from 1971-1975

Anne Blessley (-)
Served as Hon. Secretary: 1967-1971

G K Jacklin (-)
Served as Hon. Secretary: 1975-1977

Membership Secretary for many years

Sue Cavendish (-)
Served as Hon. Secretary: 1977-1994

Margaret Kershaw (-)
Served as Hon. Secretary: 1994-1994

Clare Turvey (-)
Served as Hon. Secretary: 1994-1999

Gillian Hazeldine (1944-)
Served as Hon. Secretary: 1999-

She was initially self-taught but received formal training on the Roehampton Correspondence Course with Gaynor Goffe as her tutor, and on the SSI Associate Scheme (now the Advanced Training Scheme). Teaching the variety of students from adult education to ATS and Roehampton Correspondence students. Her work appears in several SSI journals, and the SSI exhibition catalogue for Fine Words, Fine Books. (details S. Gunn)