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Origins of the Institute
General
We started with the illustrious name of "The Institute of Shorthand writers Practising in the High Court of Justice", later "in the Supreme Court of Judicature" and through gradual metamorphoses now find ourselves "The British Institute of Verbatim Reporters". In the early days shorthandwriting was all about working in the High Courts and no one could have foreseen the technological world that would bring with it speech-to-text sub-titling or digital tape-recording. Charles Dickens wrote one of the very first forms of shorthand, and thereafter followed Gregg and Pitman before machine shorthand in the form of Grandjean, Palantype and Stenograph made its debut. The profession was completely male-dominated, pen writing experts whose notes were for the most part transcribed by "readers" (also known as "assistants"). It says much for the accuracy of the notetaker’s outlines that this was at all possible. It also says much for the more leisurely tempo of life in those days. With today’s frenetic pace and desire to outdo everyone else in the speed of delivery, one wonders whether the outlines would have been quite so well formed in those circumstances.
Origins
In the early 1800s a petition to Parliament by Shorthand Writers Practising in the courts of law was prepared in which the petitioners "with almost seraphic fervour", prayed for the institution of an inquiry into the practice of the art of shorthand writing with a view to its recognition and regulation as a profession by imposing upon it regulations similar to "those imposed upon the practice of liberal professions, for securing competency in regard to character, general acquirements and professional skill, which while they deter the incompetent, are found to offer additional attraction to men of respectability, talent and education."
Unfortunately, the ear of Parliament was not receptive to the demands of a small minority – then as now being more attentive "to the voice of importunity or the demands of the multitude".
Even before that research reveals that in 1530 Sir James Dyer (later Chief Justice) recorded in shorthand arguments and judgments "in all cases of importance", and in 1571 it is revealed that Thomas Norton recorded the trial of the Duke of Norfolk for high treason.
However, it is not until 1849 that any attempts were made to form an association of shorthand writers when The Society of Practising Shorthand Writers appears briefly on the scene, with its constitution being adopted in 1850. One of the objects of this body is stated to be "The maintenance of the respectability and the promotion of the interests of the profession, and the establishment of a fund for the relief of sick or distressed members, their widows or orphans". It appears that of the 33 known shorthand writers at the time, 25 pledged themselves to conform to the rules of the Society. Unfortunately, the Society appears to have collapsed in about November 1851, so very short lived indeed.
Fourteen years later a group of twenty shorthand writers assembled in preliminary meeting and unanimously resolved "That it is expedient to form an Association of Shorthand Writers, the objects of which shall be to secure the efficiency and improve the status of its members, and to adopt measures for promoting the interests of the profession generally." A resolution in favour of forming an association to be called The Institute of Shorthand Writers was adopted in October 1865, and a constitution was adopted. Membership was offered immediately to every person, above the age of 25, who had been in actual and exclusive practice on his own account before 1 January 1865 and who could "within a month satisfy a majority of the first members that he possessed ‘such qualifications of respectability, intelligence and professional skill as afforded a reasonable guarantee for his accuracy and fidelity’." It appears that subsequent to that, however, every applicant for membership had to satisfy the Committee that he was well skilled in the art of shorthand writing in addition to the fact that he was a fit person to be admitted. It appears that in the first year of its existence there were 28 members (although records reveal that there were in fact 44 practising shorthand writers).
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Unfortunately, after much in-fighting the Institute was dissolved by resolution of the members in November 1867 and it was not until 4 March 1882 that the next attempt to form an association of shorthand writers was made. On that date a general meeting of shorthand writers, attended by 58 members of the profession, unanimously resolved: "That it is desirable that a Society or Institute of Shorthand Writers practising in the High Court of Justice be formed". It was also resolved that this be done by reviving the 1865 Institute (with such modifications as were deemed necessary at the time). A special committee was appointed to draw up a constitution and was also empowered to elect as first members of the Institute all applicants for membership who were in bona fide practice as shorthand writers in the High Court of Justice. On 17 April 1882 the first General Meeting of the Institute of Shorthand Writers Practising in the High Court of Justice, the constitution adopted and "the foundations (were laid) of an institution that has steadily progressed…..". Amongst the objects of the Institute at the time were "To promote the more efficient practice of the art of Shorthand Writing in connection with legal proceedings, and to raise the qualifications and status of the members". Anyone who applied for membership after that date had to satisfy the Council that he had served as an articled pupil in the office of a member or members for not less than five years, and passed such examinations as required under rules.
Memoranda on the reverse
We have nothing to show the form of any examination in the early days of the Institute, merely that in about 1850 an Institute of some form did exist but the invidious task of deciding upon applications for membership was not imposed on the Committee (Council as it is now known) but was decided by the Annual General Meeting -- always held on the first day after the Hilary Term. The rules stipulating suitability for membership read as follows:
This effectively precluded the assistants to the shorthand writers, the readers who undertook the difficult task of transcribing someone else’s shorthand notes. Also, when the first application for membership was made by a woman in 1952, Elizabeth Crook (later Elizabeth Boyarsky), she was refused because she had not been a pupil or assistant in the office of a member for five years – never mind her ability to write competent shorthand and read it back. However, by April 1954 she managed to comply with that requirement and was "welcomed as a new member to the Institute". (see later under "Women in the Institute") Fortunately, it was only four years before another woman was admitted into membership, Mary Rice in April 1958. There does not appear to have been an application form for membership, merely an individual application followed by some sort of supervised practical examination. Our researches show an application by Mr C.D. Snell on 17 January 1917 which says: "I beg to apply for admission to the Institute of Shorthand Writers"." He then refers to an extract from a letter written to him by his grandfather, Mr G.B. Snell, which states:
It appears that on leaving his grandfather’s office, Mr Snell joined the office of Messrs Harry Counsell & Co.
Therefore it looks as if there were two practical exams, but both in the same environment. (Wouldn’t be allowed these days!) The names of all these gentlemen – Snell, Harry Counsell, Walsh and Law – of course are engraved in the annals of the Institute since its very earlier days right up until the present day.
The written examination was always based on a series of lectures that would-be members were required to attend on various facets of reporting in the courts of law as then constituted, and certainly many current reporters would struggle with the papers because they were very law-orientated. The first of these lectures was delivered on 24 June 1946, in the presence of The Hon. Mr Justice Atkinson, and was delivered by Mr P.A. Edmunds, President of the Institute at the time, who continued to write shorthand in the Court of Appeal until a very great age. One interesting paragraph in the transcript of his address reads as follows:
"..I remember that on one occasion I reported a speaker who had died many years before, or at least, that is what they told me; but even death had not stopped his flow of speech, and he had a great deal to say. He used a medium in order to express his views, and when I produced the transcript in court, I was cross-examined about the nature of the next world." The mind boggles!
The world of reporting has changed dramatically since those early days and therefore current written papers tend to include questions on general knowledge, punctuation (this would not have been necessary in the early days, schooling at that time ensured that EVERYONE knew how to punctuate), spelling – increasingly a problem with greater reliance on texting – and how to cope with certain difficulties that might arise during one’s reporting life. Knowledge of basic law is not usually tested in today's modern examinations. I think our forefathers would have been somewhat horrified.
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J G Hodges Snr
We have to wait until the 1970s before a woman appears on the Council, Helen Tennyson, to be followed a year later by Elisabeth (Betty) Willett who became the first woman President of the Institute in 1975.
Mrs Elisabeth (Betty) Willett
The first woman to become a member of the Institute was Elizabeth Boyarsky, a Pitman writer, who was admitted in 1954, approximately 70 years after the Institute’s registration. Early photographic records reveal a bevy of distinguished gentlemen, many of whom are dressed in frock coats, even more with a very full beard, but not a lady amongst them. They were kept firmly in the home!
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Bognor, Circa 1933
Higman, Balment, Hiscoke, Brewin, Canova, Smeeton, Marchant, Cross, Stammers, Howards, Hill, Bispham, Lock, Cannon, Hunter and Sugden
(Note that Mr Bill Brewin passed away in August 2010 aged 94)
Sadly these big events faded out through lack of support, but there has been the odd dinner when members have met together for a chat, and also Council members have usually had an annual social gathering, mostly in the home of the current President but occasionally in a London restaurant.
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Helen Tennyson, Brian Hammond, Betty Willett, Bill Frensham, Bert Newman, June Swann and Paul Sanders
1976 at Wimbledon Park, home of the Willett family.
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Mr and Mrs Harry Jones (Circa 1970)
But the photographs below give two very markedly different assignments at different times in the Institute’s history. The first is a murder trial at Lewes Crown Court, where the shorthand writer is from the firm of Hibbit & Sanders;
George A Birnie. taken near Bulawayo, S Rhodesia 1938
A collage of two photos showing the late Heather Jackson and STTR Lisa Cordaro at Danbury Park in September 2001
Research material taken from the archives of BIVR
In 2010 Claire Hill passed the BIVR's Qualified Realtime Reporting (QRR) examination with 100% accuracy.
Claire with her medal.