History of BSL

The first written evidence of deaf people signing was created by hearing people in the 16th century. However scholars believe that the community has been signing way before this time given that deaf people couldn't be taught to read or write in these times. 

It is thought that the first forms of modern BSL developed sometime in the 18th century and that its development was closely related with the growth of cities and used as a standard. With a larger number of people being concentrated on a smaller area, deaf individuals came into contact with a larger number of other deaf people. Eventually, they formed communities that developed a more standardised form of sign language although the language itself continued to develop and change, just like spoken language

Thomas Braidwood’s ‘Braidwood’s Academy for Deaf and Dumb’ that opened in 1760 is considered the first school in Britain to include sign language in education. He introduced the so-called combined system, a form of sign language that set the standards of BSL as we know it today. Braidwood’s school, however, was intended only for children of wealthier parents. But it was Braidwood’s kinsman Joseph Watson who opened the first public school for the deaf in Britain (the London Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb in Bermondsey) in the late 18th century after completing training under Braidwood.  

There has been a major progress in the development and establishment of BSL as a language in the 19th century but most deaf individuals learned the sign language unofficially rather than in schools. In addition, the early 20th century saw the rise of opposition to the sign language that persisted all the way to the 1970s. Deaf children were discouraged and even punished for signing and forced to learn finger spelling and lip-reading. It was not until 2003 that BSL was recognised as a language in Britain.