Harold Orton was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 university lecturer and dialectologist, best remembered as co-founder of the Survey of English Dialects

Survey of English Dialects

The Survey of English Dialects was undertaken between 1950 and 1961 under the direction of Professor Harold Orton of the English department of the University of Leeds. It aimed to collect the full range of speech in England and Wales before local differences were to disappear...

(SED). Orton developed the questionnaire for the survey together with Eugen Dieth

Eugen Dieth

Eugen Dieth was a Swiss linguist, phonetician and dialectologist. He is well-known for his work in English and German phonetics, and for co-initiating the Survey of English Dialects....

. His pupil David Parry

David Parry (dialectologist)

David Parry is a British dialectologist. He received his education from the University of Sheffield and the University of Leeds; working at the latter school for the renowned dialectologist Harold Orton. He then taught dialectology for almost three decades at Swansea University.Parry is best known...

 went on to apply the same principles used for the SED to Welsh English

Welsh English

Welsh English, Anglo-Welsh, or Wenglish refers to the dialects of English spoken in Wales by Welsh people. The dialects are significantly influenced by Welsh grammar and often include words derived from Welsh...

, founding the Survey of Anglo-Welsh Dialects

Survey of Anglo-Welsh Dialects

The Survey of Anglo-Welsh Dialects was commenced in 1968 under the direction of David Parry of University College, Swansea. The aim was to record the "conservative forms" of Welsh English spoken in rural locations in Wales. The methodology was based on that used in the Survey of English Dialects...

(SAWD) at Swansea University

Swansea University

Swansea University is a university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. Swansea University was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it changed its name to the University of Wales Swansea following structural changes...

 in 1968.

During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, Orton served as lieutenant in the Durham Light Infantry

Durham Light Infantry

The Durham Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1968. It was formed by the amalgamation of the 68th Regiment of Foot and the 106th Regiment of Foot along with the militia and rifle volunteers of County Durham...

, where he was wounded severely in 1918, never regaining full use of his right arm. He worked as lecturer at Uppsala

Uppsala

- Economy :Today Uppsala is well established in medical research and recognized for its leading position in biotechnology.*Abbott Medical Optics *GE Healthcare*Pfizer *Phadia, an offshoot of Pharmacia*Fresenius*Q-Med...

 (1924-28), as lecturer at Armstrong College, Newcastle (now the University of Newcastle) (1928-39) and as lecturer in charge of the department of English language, University of Sheffield

University of Sheffield

The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...

 (1939-46). In 1947 he was awarded with a chair at the University of Leeds

University of Leeds

The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...

, where he taught until his retirement in 1964. He was visiting professor at Kansas (1965, 1967, 1968), Iowa (1966), Tennessee (1970, 1972, 1973) and Belmont College, Nashville (1971).