WRITE ON TIME

Angeline Wilcox traces the history and influence of Pitman shorthand

- Angeline Wilcox

Over the centuries, a vital tool of the trade for secretaries, journalists, clerks and court reporters has been shorthand.

Although technology has brought us Dictaphones and smartphones with built-in voice recorders, shorthand is still taught in various forms today. To the uninitiated, it appears a bewildering mass of indecipherable squiggles, but to many of us it has provided a passport to jobs and careers. It has also played a crucial role in the development of the media, communications, trade, law, and education.

When you consider the average speed for adults writing in longhand is 10-20 words per minute, and contrast that with shorthand speeds of anywhere between 50-150 wpm, you begin to realise what an impact it can have in terms of quickly recording information, particularly the spoken word. But where did it begin?

The origins of shorthand can be traced back to ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman civilisations. British interest in what was known as “short-writing” started in the late 16th century, with Timothy Bright's Characterie; An Arte of Shorte, Swifte and Secrete Writing by Character. Other systems followed, among them Thomas Shelton’s, which was used by notable figures including Samuel Pepys and Isaac Newton. In the 18th century, John Byrom’s New Universal Shorthand was taught at Oxford and Cambridge universities.

However, in 1837, a schoolteacher by the name of Isaac Pitman (1813-1897) launched his revolutionary method of shorthand, with the publication of a booklet entitled Stenographic Sound-Hand. This heralded a landmark in written communications and would become the best-known shorthand in the world.