James Pitman Explained

Sir James Pitman
Honorific Suffix:KBE
Birth Date:14 August 1901
Birth Place:Kensington
Death Place:Kensington
Education:Master of Arts in Modern History
Alma Mater:Summer Fields School, Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford
Known For:initial teaching alphabet
Notable Works:Alphabets & Reading, the Initial Teaching Alphabet
Office:may be used as an alternative when the label is better rendered as "Office" (e.g. public office or appointments) -->
Party:Conservative Party
Spouse:Hon. Margaret Beaufort Lawson-Johnston (Order of Mercy)
Children:Margaret Pitman, Michael Ian Pitman, Peter John Pitman, David Christian Pitman
Mother:Frances Pitman née Butler
Father:Ernest Pitman
Relatives:Siblings: Christian Pitman, Major John Pitman, Honor Isabel Pitman, Diana O. Pitman, Captain Peter Pitman Butler
Grandfather: Sir Isaac Pitman

Sir Isaac James Pitman (known as James), KBE (14 August 1901 – 1 September 1985) was a publisher, senior civil servant, politician, and prominent educationalist with a lifelong passion for etymology, orthography, and pedagogy. He is best known for his attempt to improve children's literacy in the English-speaking world by means of an interim teaching orthography, known as the initial teaching alphabet or i.t.a. He was honoured with a knighthood in 1961 for his life accomplishments.

James Pitman followed his famous grandfather, Isaac Pitman, by exploring and expanding the pedagogical theories on teaching children to read the English language. Pitman obsessively studied English etymology, alphabets and orthography. He then argued that the overarching cause of reading difficulty in children was the phonetic irregularity of the English language. He compiled and published his analysis in his major work, Alphabets and Reading (1965).

Pitman postulated that if children were taught using an interim orthography consisting of an alphabet and spelling system which were phonetically regular, then they would learn to read quickly and easily and so alleviate the problem of poor literacy which plagued the English-speaking world. He relentlessly exploited his position as a leading politician and prominent educationalist along with the resources and connections from his successful global printing and publishing business to develop and launch the initial teaching alphabet (i.t.a.), which was initially a spectacular success with its use expanding to 4,000 schools in the UK and 17,000 schools worldwide.

Early life

Isaac James Pitman was born in Kensington, London, on the 14th of August 1901. His father was Ernest Pitman, and his mother was Frances Isabel Pitman, née Butler. He was the eldest child in the family and had five other siblings, but three were killed in the Second World War:[1]

Pitman's grandfather was the famous Isaac Pitman, who had developed Shorthand Writing known as Pitman Shorthand; in consequence, Isaac James Pitman went by his middle name 'James' to differentiate himself from his grandfather.[7] The innovations made by his grandfather were monetized into the successful family business, Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons Ltd. Due to this fact, James Pitman was born into a wealthy family and received a privileged upbringing, being educated at the elite Summer Fields School,[8] Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford where he graduated with a Master of Arts (MA) in Modern History.[9]

Personal life

In 1927, Pitman married into the British nobility when he wed the Hon. Margaret Beaufort Lawson Johnston, aka 'Beau' who was the daughter of George Lawson Johnston, 1st Baron Luke and Hon. Edith Laura St. John; they had four children together: -[10] [11]

Sports

Pitman was a natural sportsman and excelled in athletics (running), skiing and boxing in which he won the Public Schools middleweight boxing championship of 1919.[16]

Despite this, Pitman's principal sporting passion was rugby union where he played as a running Wing Three-Quarters. Pitman gained his 'blue' at the Oxford University Rugby Football Club (RFC) in 1921, but his main playing career was for Bath Rugby Football Club (RFC) in 61 appearances between 1919 and 1928, he was captain between 1927 & 1928. Pitman later became President of the Bath RFC from 1952 & 1954. His career culminated in his selection to play for the England rugby union team against Scotland in the Calcutta Cup, played on 18 March 1922, but he only ever earned that single international cap.[17]

Military service

During World War II Pitman served as a Squadron Leader in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve under Service Number (79438)[18]

It was during the war years that Pitman tragically lost three of his five siblings.

Corporate career

He joined his father Ernest Pitman and his uncle Alfred Pitman in the family business originally set-up with his grandfather Sir Isaac Pitman. In circa 1932, he became the chairman and managing director of Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons Ltd.[22] Under his stewardship, the business became one of the world's leading educational publishers and training businesses with offices in London, Bath, New York City, Melbourne, Johannesburg, Toronto and Tokyo. The publishing business re-incorporated to Pitman Limited in 1975 then went public in 1983 before being purchased by rival Pearson Plc in 1985.[23] The training business evolved into two separate businesses: Pitman Training Group and JHP Training (which re-branded to Learndirect).

Pitman also served on the board of directors of several large publicly limited companies including Boots the Chemists, Glaxo, Bovril and Equity & Law Life Assurance Society[24]

Educationalist

Pitman became a prominent British educationalist, promoting education from kindergarten children to adult training.

His association with education started in the 1920s, when Pitman served for a time as headmaster of one of the colleges in Maida Vale under the ownership of his family's business interests (Isaac Pitman & Sons Ltd).[25]

Over his career, Pitman became one of the most prominent persons in the British educational establishment through the mid 20th century, attaining leadership positions in many eminent educational institutes: -

Despite the plethora of esteemed positions attained or accolades received, whenever Pitman described himself, such as in his Who's Who listing, he would always place highly his rank & file membership of the National Union of Teachers,[31] this exposed his progressive conservative tendencies over educational matters.

Public service

Pitman had an extensive career as a public servant:

As director of the Bank of England during the war, Pitman was on the board in 1946 which oversaw the nationalisation of the Bank of England by the new Labour administration. During the war, the Board also had to address the Nazi attempt to financially de-stabilise the United Kingdom through the injection into the British economy of bank-notes forged at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, this often overlooked episode in Second World War history was dramatized in the BBC comedy, Private Schulz.[38]

Member of Parliament

At the 1945 general election, Pitman was elected to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom as Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for the Borough of Bath,[39] he was subsequently re-elected four times: - 1950,[40] 1951,[41] 1955,[42] 1959[43] before finally retiring from Parliament just before the 1964 general election. As a member of parliament, he championed many notable causes:-

Nationalisation

Pitman was first elected as a Conservative M.P. in the 1945 Labour party landslide win, after which he was involved in the opposition to the nationalisation programme of Clement Attlee's government.[44] In particular, he debated extensively on the nationalisation of the Bank of England and the Gas Board,[45] [46] and wrote the influential pamphlet "Management efficiency in nationalized undertakings", in which he impartially analysed the issues of consumer rights and efficiency in the different models of nationalised industries tried by the Labour government.[47]

Education

Pitman consistently used his position to petition for improvements to education and training and the funding thereof.[48] As an example, his last contribution as an MP in 1964 was a written question asking for assurances against over-crowding in schools.[49]

Pitman passionately argued in Parliament to make it easier for kindergarten-aged children to learn to read and write through orthographical and spelling reforms to the English Language. Pitman worked with the similarly minded Labour MP, Mont Follick, to table a series of private members' bills to enable the reforms. The parliamentary support for these measures forced the government to allow a trial which led to the launch of the Initial Teaching Alphabet.[50] [51]

World Security

During Pitman's near two decade service as a M.P., there was a large number of wars and coup d'états in various unstable regions of the world including the British Commonwealth, in response ten parliamentarians including Pitman published a paper calling for a World Security Authority which would be a force to impose judgements from a world court to rule over cases of violation of international law.[52] [53]

Honours

In 1961, Pitman was honoured by being appointed as an Ordinary Knights Commander of the Civil Division of the said Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE)[54]

Orthography & Reading

Pitman's main life achievement was in endeavouring to make reading & writing easier for kindergarten children and so improving literacy levels in the general population.

Grandfather's Legacy

Initially, Pitman inherited the ideas formulated by his grandfather, Isaac Pitman, who was a lifelong advocate of spelling reform for the English language and passed this advocacy on to James Pitman. Isaac's major work on spelling reform was the development of the alternative English orthography known as Phonotypy which he published in 1844. Isaac's interest in orthography also led to his development of the most successful form of phonetic shorthand which was known as Pitman shorthand, this eventually became the great source of wealth in the family and led to the formation of Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, established 1886.[55]

Alphabets & Reading

Consequently, Pitman obsessively studied the etymology of English orthography. He bemoaned the post-war government statistics showing that 30% of fifteen year-old who had passed through school education could barely read,[56] and he demonstrated that the irregularity of English phonology was the primary cause of the poor levels of literacy in the English speaking world. In 1969, he published his findings in Alphabets & Reading which was a collaboration with John Robert St. John, a professional writer.

Simplified Spelling Society

In May 1936, Pitman was elected to the committee of the Simplified Spelling Society after a fortuitous meeting on board a steam-ship in the mid Atlantic between Pitman and committee member, Professor Lloyd James, Professor of Phonetics at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University. Pitman re-invigorated the society by bringing both enthusiasm from his grandfather's phonetic legacy and the resources of Pitman and Sons. The first item of business was the publication of the seminal book "New Spelling" which Professor Lloyd James considered as One of the most remarkable statistical investigations into English spelling ever undertaken.', the publication costs were funded by Pitman.[57] Pitman would become treasurer of the Society and was eventually elevated to the President in 1936.

Parliamentary Pressure

In 1949 and 1953, as a member of parliament he used his position to agitate for orthographic reform through backing private members bills. Pitman was part of a parliamentary group led by the Labour MP Dr, Mont Follick, who argued that orthographic reform to the English language was needed to improve levels of literacy and to make it easier for young children to learn to read and write. They succeeded in extracting compromises from the education minister, Florence Horsbrugh, to allow a trial of an orthographic means of teaching children to read.[58]

Initial Teaching Alphabet

Pitman then went on to the crowning achievement of his life, to develop the initial teaching alphabet (i.t.a.), which was first published in 1959 as The Ehrhardt Augmented (40-sound, 42-character) Lower Case Roman Alphabet.[59] It was designed with the sole purpose of simplifying the task of learning to read English.[60] Pitman had to exploit the resources of his printing & publishing businesses and his extensive connections with the educational establishment to deploy his system.

The trial was successful and the use of the i.t.a. spread unchecked through the UK and onwards to the English speaking world including the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.[61] By 1968, the i.t.a. federation of schools calculated 4,000 schools in the U.K. and 17,000 schools worldwide used the i.t.a.[62] During this time, It was heavily studied by researchers and eventually the UK government asked Professor Frank Warburton & Vera Southgate to carry out an independent assessment of all the research, which they published in 1969.[63] As an example of the positive outcome, Southgate polled 90 teachers on their preference for i.t.a. or traditional orthography (t.o.), and only two teachers preferred t.o. and one had come straight out of teacher training college to teach using i.t.a. so had never experienced the difficulty of teaching children conventionally.[64] Due to the technological limitations of the time, printed i.t.a. books were expensive and teachers trained in using the i.t.a. were in short supply consequently the i.t.a. gradually became economically unviable and mainly fell into disuse in the 1980s despite its reported advantages.

George Bernard Shaw and the Shavian Alphabet

Another proponent of orthographic reform during that period was George Bernard Shaw, who, on his death in 1950, bequeathed a considerable portion of his estate, a sum of £8,300, towards the promotion of alphabetic reform. As a leading advocate of such reform, Sir James Pitman was invited to become a public trustee of Shaw's will, where his duties would include the administration and judging of a competition devised by Shaw to design an improved, more economical alphabet. This competition was won by Kingsley Read, who developed the Shavian alphabet with most of Shaw's legacy spent demonstrating the Shavian alphabet through a special phonetic edition of Androcles and the Lion, published in 1962 by Penguin Books.[65]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sir Isaac James Pitman . 2022-04-02 . geni_family_tree . en-US.
  2. Web site: Christian Ernest Pitman . 2022-05-15 . geni_family_tree . en-US.
  3. Web site: Pitman, John . 2022-05-15 . Imperial War Museums . en.
  4. Web site: Pitman Family . 2022-05-15 . Imperial War Museums . en.
  5. Web site: Captain Peter Pitman Butler Christ Church, Oxford University . 2022-05-15 . www.chch.ox.ac.uk.
  6. Web site: Diana O. Pitman . 2022-05-16 . geni_family_tree . en-US.
  7. Web site: Sir Isaac Pitman English educator and inventor Britannica . 2022-05-29 . www.britannica.com . en.
  8. Book: Usborne, Richard . A Century of Summer Fields . . 1964 . London . 84 . 66058305 . 6007174M.
  9. Web site: PITMAN, (Sir) (Isaac) James Encyclopedia.com . 2022-05-16 . www.encyclopedia.com.
  10. Web site: Who married Margaret Beaufort Lawson Johnston? WhoMarried.com . 2022-05-29 . www.whomarried.com.
  11. Web site: Miss Margaret Beaufort (Beau) Lawson Johnston, second daughter of the Hon Lady Lawson Johnston of Pavenham Bury, Beds, c.1927 . 2022-06-04 . Bath In Time . en.
  12. Web site: Peter John Pitman . 2022-05-29 . geni_family_tree . en-US.
  13. Web site: David Christian Pitman . 2022-05-29 . geni_family_tree . en-US.
  14. Web site: Margaret Miller . 2022-05-29 . geni_family_tree . en-US.
  15. Web site: Michael Pitman . 2022-06-04 . geni_family_tree . en-US.
  16. Web site: PITMAN, Sir Isaac James, 1901-1985, Knight, politician - Archives Hub . 2022-06-04 . archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk.
  17. Web site: Pillinger . Geoff . Pitman Isaac James . 2022-04-02 . Bath Rugby Heritage . en.
  18. Web site: Isaac James Pitman c.1940s . 2022-06-04 . Bath In Time . en.
  19. Web site: Page 3523 Issue 34870, 11 June 1940 London Gazette The Gazette . 2022-03-26 . www.thegazette.co.uk.
  20. Web site: Page 1530 Issue 35106, 14 March 1941 London Gazette The Gazette . 2022-03-26 . www.thegazette.co.uk.
  21. Web site: Page 3836 Issue 35208, 4 July 1941 London Gazette The Gazette . 2022-03-26 . www.thegazette.co.uk.
  22. Web site: PITMAN, (Sir) (Isaac) James Encyclopedia.com . 2022-06-04 . www.encyclopedia.com.
  23. Web site: Pitman Ltd Science Museum Group Collection . 2022-06-04 . collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk . en.
  24. Web site: PITMAN, Sir Isaac James, 1901-1985, Knight, politician - Archives Hub . 2022-06-04 . archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk.
  25. Web site: PITMAN, (Sir) (Isaac) James Encyclopedia.com . 2022-04-02 . www.encyclopedia.com.
  26. Book: Teachers' Registration Council: Minutes . 1902–1950 . Teachers Registration Council . English.
  27. Web site: PITMAN, Sir Isaac James, 1901-1985, Knight, politician - Archives Hub . 2022-05-31 . archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk.
  28. Web site: British Association for Commercial Education (BACE) and the British Association for Commercial and Industrial Education (BACIE) . 2022-05-31 . mrc-catalogue.warwick.ac.uk . en-gb.
  29. Upward . Chris . 1986 . OBITUARIES . The Simplified Spelling Society - the Newsletter . Journal 3 . 1986 (Summer Issue) . 2 . The Simplified Spelling Society.
  30. Web site: Honorary Graduates 1966 to 1988 | University of Bath . Bath.ac.uk . 23 February 2012 . 25 May 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160525041553/http://www.bath.ac.uk/ceremonies/hongrads/older.html . dead .
  31. Web site: Search Results for Sir James Pitman . 2022-06-02 . WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO . en.
  32. Web site: Page 1711 Issue 35114, 21 March 1941 London Gazette The Gazette . 2022-03-26 . www.thegazette.co.uk.
  33. Web site: Page 1540 Issue 35511, 3 April 1942 London Gazette The Gazette . 2022-03-26 . www.thegazette.co.uk.
  34. Web site: Page 1454 Issue 35956, 26 March 1943 London Gazette The Gazette . 2022-03-26 . www.thegazette.co.uk.
  35. Web site: Page 1638 Issue 36460, 7 April 1944 London Gazette The Gazette . 2022-03-26 . www.thegazette.co.uk.
  36. Web site: Page 1752 Issue 37009, 30 March 1945 London Gazette The Gazette . 2022-03-26 . www.thegazette.co.uk.
  37. Pitman . I. J . 1948 . Organisation and Methods: An Important Select Committee Report . PADM Public Administration . English . 26 . 1 . 1–9 . 10.1111/j.1467-9299.1948.tb02629.x . 0033-3298 . 5154212648.
  38. News: 2012-02-17 . Nazi forged bank notes hit sterling confidence, MI5 files show . en-GB . BBC News . 2022-06-04.
  39. Web site: Page 4289 Issue 37238, 24 August 1945 London Gazette The Gazette . 2022-03-26 . www.thegazette.co.uk.
  40. Web site: Page 1040 Issue 38851, 28 February 1950 London Gazette The Gazette . 2022-03-26 . www.thegazette.co.uk.
  41. Web site: Page 5664 Issue 39372, 30 October 1951 London Gazette The Gazette . 2022-03-26 . www.thegazette.co.uk.
  42. Web site: Page 3156 Issue 40493, 31 May 1955 London Gazette The Gazette . 2022-03-26 . www.thegazette.co.uk.
  43. Web site: Page 6434 Issue 41842, 13 October 1959 London Gazette The Gazette . 2022-03-26 . www.thegazette.co.uk.
  44. Web site: History of Clement Attlee - GOV.UK . 2022-06-03 . www.gov.uk . en.
  45. Pitman . James . 1945-10-29 . Bank of England Bill . Hansard . 415 . cc43-167 .
  46. Pitman . James . 1950-03-06 . GAs Industry (Information) . Hansard . 472 . cc121-36 . Handard.
  47. Book: Pitman . I. J . Management efficiency in nationalized undertakings. . British Institute of Management . 1951 . British Institute of Management . London . English . 5513031.
  48. Web site: Sir Isaac Pitman (Hansard) . 2022-06-03 . api.parliament.uk.
  49. Web site: Standards for School Premises Regulations, 1959 (Hansard, 28 July 1964) . 2022-06-03 . api.parliament.uk.
  50. Pitman . James . 1949-03-11 . Spelling Reform Bill . Hansard . 462 . cc1599-687 .
  51. Pitman . James . 1952-03-06 . Simplified English Spelling . Hansard . 497 . cc777-870 .
  52. Book: Conservative Political Centre . A world security authority? . Black . C. Wilson . Dodds-Parker . A. D. . Foster . J. G. . Harris . R. Reader . Hay . John . Hughes-Hallett . John . Maddan . Martin . Pitman . I. J. . 1958 . London . C.P.C..
  53. Pitman . James . 1950-07-28 . Parliamentary Debate on World Government . Hansard . 478 . Columns 930 - 943 .
  54. Web site: Page 4153 Supplement 42370, 2 June 1961 London Gazette The Gazette . 2022-03-26 . www.thegazette.co.uk.
  55. Harrison . Maurice . 1986 . A History of the Simplified Spelling Society up to 1970 . The Simplified Spelling Society . Journal 3 . 22–24 . spelling society.
  56. Book: Pitman . James . Alphabets and Reading . St. John . John Robert . . 1969 . 9780273433439 . London . 3–12 .
  57. Book: Ripman . Walter . NEW SPELLING . Archer . William . SIR ISAAC PITMAN & SONS . 1948 . London.
  58. Harrison . Maurice . 1986 . A History of the Society up to 1970 . The Simplified Spelling Society - Newsletter . Journal 3 - 1986 (Summer) . 34–35 . The Simplified Spelling Society.
  59. Book: Pitman . I. J. . The Ehrhardt Augmented (40-sound, 42-character) Lower Case Roman Alphabet: The Reasons and Intentions Underlying Its Design Together with a Specimen . Pitman . Sir James . 1959 . en.
  60. Book: Pitman, James . Alphabets and Reading . Pitman . 1969 . 9780273433439 . First . Bristol . 117.
  61. Book: Downing, John . Evaluating the Initial Teaching Alphabet . Cassell . 1967 . First . London . 127–128.
  62. Harrison . MAurice . 1968 . The History of the Society up to 1970 . Newsletter - 1986 (Summer) . Journal 3 . 35 . The Simplified Spelling Society.
  63. Book: Warburton, Professor Frank . i.t.a. - an independent evaluation . Murray and Chambers . 1969 . First . London.
  64. Book: Warburton, Professor Frank . i.t.a. an independent evaluation for the schools council . Murray Chambers . 1969 . First . London . 36–37.
  65. Web site: Philp . Leo . 2022-01-18 . Shavian (3/3): typographic implementation . 2022-05-29 . Medium . en.