John Byrom (writer)

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John Byrom

John Byrom , also John Byrom of Kersal or John Byrom of Manchester (born February 29, 1692 in Manchester , † September 26, 1763 ibid) was an English writer and the reformer of English shorthand . He was a member of the Royal Society .

Life

Born the second son of a wealthy canvas dealer in Manchester, he attended Trinity College Cambridge. In 1717 he traveled to France and began studying medicine in Montpellier , which he left in 1718 without a degree. In 1721 he married his cousin Elizabeth Byrom, with whom he had several children, including his favorite daughter Dorothy. He earned his living initially from private tuition from Cambridge students, to whom he taught his self-developed shorthand system, as well as by publishing poems in English daily newspapers.

In 1740 he inherited the family fortune and in future could devote himself to his artistic interests without material worries. Because of his friendship with Charles Wesley , he came to the Methodist faith and wrote a number of Christian poems with or for Wesley.

Work as a poet and writer

He wrote the song Christians awake, salute the happy morn - particularly well known in the Anglican world to this day - as a Christmas present for his daughter Dorothy. It was first published by Harrop's Manchester Mercury in 1746. Another publication followed posthumously in 1773 in "Byrom's posthumous Miscellaneous Poems". In his lifetime, however, Colin to Phoebe was the most successful poem that The Spectator printed on October 6, 1714, for which he also worked under the pseudonym John Shadow . Enthusiasm: A poetical essay Byrom published in 1752 .

Reformation of English shorthand

Byrom is also considered to be a reformer of English shorthand, who with his improved system established the principles still valid today for the distribution of characters on the sounds (according to the principle of iteration and combination of sounds). He only referred to the consonants and used the vowels as points in various positions in the consonant framework (the so-called punctuating vocalization ). His system was not published posthumously by the British Stenographers' Society until 1767.

Byrom shorthand consonants.png

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christian's Awake Salute The Happy Morn. In: hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com. Retrieved January 3, 2015 .
  2. ^ Psalter Hymnal (Gray) 350. Christians, awake, salute the happy morn. In: hymnary.org. Retrieved January 3, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Michael Cox (Ed.): The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature , Oxford University Press , Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-860634-6 .
  4. ↑ Julius W. Zeibig: History and literature of the Geschwindschreibkunst. Dietze, 1863, p. 171. limited preview in Google book search

literature

  • Richard Parkinson: The private Journal and literary remains of John Byrom.
  • Johann Samuelersch among other things: General Encyclopedia of the Sciences and Arts. Verlag FA Brockhaus, 1824. P. 240.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Byrom, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Byrom of Kersal, John; Byrom of Manchester, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English writer and the reformer of English shorthand
DATE OF BIRTH February 29, 1692
PLACE OF BIRTH Manchester
DATE OF DEATH September 26, 1763
Place of death Manchester