Sir Stephen George Tallents (20 October 1884, London - 11 September 1958, London) was a British civil servant and public relations expert.
Educated at Harrow and Balliol, he served as an officer in the Irish Guards in World War I until severely wounded at Festubert. He then worked at the Ministry of Munitions, transferring in 1916 to the Ministry of Food. In 1918 he became chief delegate for the Supply of Relief to Poland. In 1919 he was appointed British Commissioner for the Baltic Provinces and helped draw up the treaty that established Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. He was secretary to the last Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord FitzAlan.
He is best known for his work as the secretary of the Empire Marketing Board (EMB) between 1926 and 1933. There he employed the British documentary film-maker John Grierson and commissioned artists including: Clive Gardiner, E. McKnight Kauffer, and Frank Newbould to produce a series of large posters, promoting British and Empire produce. Following the demise of the EMB in 1933 Tallents moved to the GPO, transferring the EMB's film unit with him which led to the production of classic documentaries such as Night Mail. Tallents would go on to work for the BBC as its first Controller of Public Relations and Deputy Director General under Lord Reith.
In World War II his experience was employed at the Ministry of Information. Tallents gave St John's Jerusalem to the nation in 1943.[1] In 1948 he became founder President of the Institute of Public Relations.
Stephen Tallents was knighted in 1932.