Sir Isaac Pitman (January 4 1813-1897), knighted in 1894, developed the most widely used system of shorthand. He first proposed this in Stenographic Soundhand in 1837. Pitman was a qualified teacher and taught at a private school he founded in Wotton-under-Edge. He was the vice-president of the Vegetarian Society. He was born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire in England.
Isaac Pitman is the grandfather of Sir James Pitman, famous for developing the Initial Teaching Alphabet.