History of British Sign Language (BSL)?

[Trevor Jenkins]

> Trevor,
>
> Formal BSL was first used in Braidwood's Academy in Edinburgh - im not
> sure re: the date but its deffo in the 1700s.

Shane has a better grasp of BSL than I do. (He's had the real misfortune
to try to understand me.) Not sure that the literature backs him up on the
dates though. And in reading that literature there seems to be some
suggestion that Braidwood put up with the use of signing rather than
actively encouraged it. Thomas Tillsye signing at his own marriage is
clearly documented (Sutton-Spence and Woll). There is also Lord Downing's
servant in 1666. Downing recommended that Samuel Pepys learning some
simple signs and the latter mentions this in his famous diary. Jonathan
Rée mentions this in his book "I See a Voice" (HarperCollins, 1999, p121).

Having recently read Melvin Bragg's "The Adventure of English" I wonder
perhaps whether the Tillsye and Pepys accounts describe a sort of Middle
BSL rather than Modern BSL. That way both Shane and I can be right. ;-)

Regards, Trevor

<>< Re: deemed!