Thomas Batchelor (writer) facts for kids
Thomas Batchelor (1775–1838) was an English farmer, writer, and poet. He was known for his books about farming and for studying how people spoke in different parts of England.
His Early Life and Writing
Thomas Batchelor was born in a village called Marston Moretaine in Bedfordshire, England. His family were farmers. From 1792, they rented and worked on a farm at Boughton End.
His family didn't have a lot of money. So, even though Thomas didn't go to a fancy school, he tried to earn money by writing. At first, he wrote poems. Some of his poems were printed in a magazine called The Monthly Mirror in 1801. He also published a book of poems called Village Scenes in 1804. Later, he wrote articles about farming. He used the name "Bedfordshire" for these articles.
How People Spoke: His Language Studies
Thomas Batchelor was very interested in how people pronounced words. This is called orthoepy. He studied how the sounds of English words changed over many years. This big change is known as the Great Vowel Shift.
A language expert named Arne Zettersten praised Thomas for thinking for himself. Thomas also learned some things from another writer, John Walker. Thomas focused on the way people spoke in his home area, the Bedfordshire dialect. In 1807, he published two books about how words were pronounced, with one focusing on the local dialect.
Thomas was also a great-nephew of Thomas Gurney, who was famous for shorthand. Thomas Batchelor used shorthand to write down conversations. He even created his own special alphabet for writing down how words sounded!
Helping Farmers with Surveys
Thomas Batchelor also worked for a group called the Board of Agriculture. This group helped farmers and studied farming methods. He wrote a book called General View of the Agriculture of the County of Bedford in 1808. This book was part of a series of surveys about farming in different counties.
He also worked on a survey for Dorset county. Another writer, William Stevenson, helped to edit and publish that survey in 1814.
