author
George Edward Dartnell
1852–1908
Best remembered for helping preserve the rich local speech of Wiltshire, this late Victorian writer and researcher turned everyday regional words into a lasting record. His work still offers a vivid glimpse of how people in Wiltshire actually spoke.
1 Audiobook
A Glossary of Words used in the Country of Wiltshire
by George Edward Dartnell, E. H. (Edward Hungerford) Goddard
About the author
George Edward Dartnell was an English writer and researcher best known for A Glossary of Words Used in the County of Wiltshire (1893), compiled with Rev. Edward Hungerford Goddard. The book grew out of material first gathered for the English Dialect Dictionary and from earlier installments published in the Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine.
Catalog and bibliographic records linked to his work place his life in 1852–1908. Surviving references also show that his interests went beyond dialect study: records for Poems and Translations point to literary work published shortly after his death.
Dartnell's reputation rests on his careful attention to local language. By recording regional vocabulary that might otherwise have disappeared, he helped preserve a small but valuable piece of everyday English life in Wiltshire.