Other British Readers on LibriVox
Here, in no particular order, are some British (or British-sounding) readers at LibriVox. I am including myself, as I notice that quite a lot of people are happening on this page through Google searches for British LibriVox readers:
Ruth Golding
Mil Nicholson
Andy Minter
David Barnes
Peter Yearsley
Cori Samuel
Philippa
Martin Geeson
Martin Clifton
Justin Brett
Rachel Lintern
Christine Blachford
Graham Redman
Adrian Praetzellis
Alan Chant
MorganScorpion
icyjumbo
Carl Manchester
FNH
hefyd
Jim Mowatt
Clive Catterall
Phil Benson
Lizzie Driver
Lucy Perry
ashleighjane
Elaine Webb
gkeeling
Nigel Boydell
Simon Evers
TimSC
Jason Mills
Mair
thebicyclethief
Andrew Coleman
Phil Griffiths
Tim Bulkeley (now in NZ, but born and bred in Britain)
laineyben I cannot quite place the accent – there is the slightest overlay of something else, Canadian perhaps?
Elizabeth Klett (US, but amazing British English accent 
)
Karen Savage (expat Brit – bilingual UK/US 
)
tabithat (who might just whack me with her didgeridoo to be included in this list, but she is so very good)
Joy Chan (ditto comment above)
Irish:
Barty Begley
DublinGothic
Tadhg
Welsh:
Brian Morgan
Any other British readers that I have missed? Let me know and I will add them to this list.
October 30, 2010 at 12:59 am
Thanks for this. I’m combing through looking for British-sounding recordings, so you’ve saved me some time.
October 31, 2010 at 1:27 am
Glad it is useful, Thomas.
I have added some more.
November 30, 2010 at 1:54 pm
That’s great! But could you recomend me readers from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales from this list?
November 30, 2010 at 2:35 pm
There are none on that list. I have mostly included readers who have recorded solo works.
I can add Andy and Charlie Macdonald, who have magnificent Scots voices, but neither of whom has made many recordings. I cannot, however, think of any LibriVox readers with a distinct Welsh accent, more is the pity, as I am part Welsh myself and love all Welsh accents. I will ask on the forums if anyone knows of any. There is a new reader who has a Northern Irish accent, but he hasn’t recorded anything yet.
You may also find the International Dialects of English Archive useful.
November 30, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Thanks a lot, Ruth!
November 30, 2010 at 5:12 pm
You saved my life, really!!:)
June 28, 2011 at 10:43 pm
I LOVE to listen to you, Ruth Golding! I had already discovered a couple of the others and really but, now, thanks to you, I can spend less time searching and more time listening while I walk on the beach or do my housework. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Patricia from San Diego
June 29, 2011 at 12:20 am
I’m delighted that I can make the dreaded household chores more pleasurable. Thank you for taking the trouble to post.
August 31, 2011 at 4:33 pm
Hi,
I would like to know if it is possible to hire a reader for a specific book?
Also if I myself make an audio book, can I offer it to librivox or are there copywrite rules against me doing this?
Many thanks
August 31, 2011 at 4:47 pm
If you have a particular reader in mind, it is certainly possible to contact them to ask if they would be interested, yes. Some LibriVox readers do record professionally, others only record in their spare time and at their own pace.
If you do not have a particular reader in mind, there is no reason why you shouldn’t post on the Other Projects part of the LibriVox forum to see if anyone is willing. You would need to register on the forum first to do this.
Regarding making an audiobook yourself and offering it to LibriVox, it would depend on whether the book is out of copyright in the USA, where all our files are stored. It would also need to be in the format required by the Internet Archive, which hosts all our completed recordings, and include suitable disclaimers in the files releasing it into the Public Domain. We always recommend that new readers do a short test recording to ensure that all the settings, volume etc. are what we need. More information on the LibriVox Wiki in the Guide to Recording and Want to start a solo recording? in the forum which tells you how to go about setting things up.
Hope this helps – get back to me if I can help further.
Ruth
September 5, 2011 at 1:33 pm
Hi,
I am a success seeker and I listen to books almost all the time. It really helps me to do multi tasking and even the household chores becomes easy when I listen to the books. I have been asked by an Indian audio book company to produce audio books for their company. I am looking for a reader who can be partner in our new venture.
Thanks & Regards
Paul.
September 5, 2011 at 1:48 pm
I have to confess, Paul, that this old cynic thinks your comment sounds like spam, especially the success seeker bit. Convince me otherwise by giving me some more information. By email if you wish – my email address is on the Contact page.
November 3, 2011 at 7:11 pm
You could add Tim Bulkeley there. I just listened to his recording of Stalky & Co and he’s definitely from these isles.
Not bad to get for nothing seeing as the only version at iTunes is read by a lady from the U.S. and not very well according to the comments.
At the moment I’m on your Walter Besant History of London. Lots of interesting stuff in there. Thanks.
November 3, 2011 at 7:57 pm
You are quite right, Michael. He did hail from these shores, though he has been away a long time, and has now a very pleasing hint of NZ mixed in. He will be added!
Ruth
November 3, 2011 at 11:30 pm
Dear Golden Voiced Ruth,
I am very grateful to Tim Bulkeley for recording the PG Wodehouse books that he has done so far. It would be SO VERY nice if more of the Wodehouse collection on Librivox were recorded by him or someone from your Brit List. I just LOVE Wodehouse, but it really ought to be done with a British accent in order to be properly enjoyed.
Do you suppose you might cajole some of your other British readers to make a clean sweep of P.G. Wodehouse?
Sincerely,
Patricia
November 3, 2011 at 11:54 pm
Would that we could, Patricia! P. G. Wodehouse died in 1975, and so none of his work enters the Public Domain in the UK until 2046, when some of us will be a grand old age indeed, if spared that long.
His early work (published pre1923) is out of copyright in the United States only. Virtually everywhere else in the world, it is still protected by copyright.
Ruth
December 24, 2011 at 5:52 am
Hi Ruth,
Our book club decided to read a classic for February 2011 and selected Wuthering Heights. I am enjoying your recording very much, indeed! You’re very talented. Thanks for volunteering for Librivox and providing people like me many hours of enjoyment.
January 16, 2012 at 11:57 am
Thank you for getting in touch, Deepa. I am glad you are enjoying it.
January 16, 2012 at 11:32 am
I have been away from the England for all too long, which no doubt has dulled my ability to recognize British accents. However, listening to the accent of peegee — Phil Griffiths — I tend to think that this surely must be a British one.
January 16, 2012 at 11:54 am
You are quite right, Daniel! He slipped through the net. I am sure there are others, too, so do let me know when you find them. I have added him to the list.
January 16, 2012 at 4:26 pm
Sure, I’ll keep it in mind and let you know.
BTW, I quite enjoyed your narration of Keith Temple’s “It’s Behind You,” you exercise extraordinary talent in your work (profession). Should you narrate more Iambik audiobooks in the crime and mystery genres then I’ll probably purchase them, too. Meanwhile you might consider narrating more Cleek mysteries for Librivox; also Sherlock Holmes mysteries and other Sir Arthur Conan Doyle works would be most welcome.
One question bothers me: why is the term “read by” used so often on Librivox? All books are “read by” someone, were it not so then there would be no point in publishing them. On the other hand, “narrated by” specifically implies reading out loud — hopefully to an audience. Well, now I’ve got that off my chest!
January 21, 2012 at 9:13 pm
As you now know, Daniel
, we have had a lively discussion on the ‘read by’ subject. I often use ‘recorded by’ or ‘Recording by’ which seems an acceptable solution, I think.
The good news is that there is another Cleek on the stocks right now. I need to make a little more progress on a couple of non-fiction works (one particularly difficult one) before relaxing with my hero, Cleek, but I am greatly looking forward to it.
Also, the second recording I shall be making for legamus.eu will be The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes. In case you haven’t read about Legamus here, it is a new venture where we Europeans record works that are in the Public Domain in Europe because the author has been dead over 70 years, but still in copyright in the USA (and hence not available to record for LibriVox) because they were published after 1922.
Now all I need is the time to record them…
Ruth
February 20, 2012 at 1:38 am
hello all,
having started recently to listen to laineyben’s reading of sir henry rider haggard’s novels, i feel it my most pleasant duty to express here how pleasurable the experiance is. the understanding and feeling for the protagonists and differences between them, the pacing -all are of the finest quality, as fine as a bbc broadcast.
February 21, 2012 at 11:35 am
You listed: Elizabeth Klett (US, but amazing British English accent
). FWIW, I beg to differ. I am listening to one of her solo narrations (Behind a Mask, or a Woman’s Power) and her accent is clearly american — perhaps even a southerner, or there about. However, she does a remarkably good job with her British voice characterizations, IMHO.
February 22, 2012 at 10:45 am
You should add Termin Dyan to your list, Ruth. Clearly British!
He’s quite pleasant to listen to, in fact Zuleika Dobson http://librivox.org/zuleika-dobson-by-max-beerbohm/ might be to your taste (a funny satire).
May 18, 2012 at 5:40 pm
my favorite is Peter Yearsley — another favorite I do not see is Algy Pug, who is believe is from Perth.
nrw – mpls, mn – USA
September 24, 2012 at 3:16 am
Thank you so much for your recordings, Ruth, the delight of many an hour, both on account of your voice and skills. An invaluable contribution to whoever, like me (I’m French and don’t get much opportunity theses days to practise with native speakers), needs to maintain and polish their English, ear, and accent. And also for this page, for I was getting tired of searching librivox for British English and European English-speaking readers… As an English teacher, I’ve been advising my students to visit librivox, to better their understanding and discover literature; but the point is also for them to learn to discriminate accents, and build their own speaking skills so as to make their accent consistent; so I will surely add this page to their weblist.
September 28, 2012 at 5:40 pm
thank you so much for this list.
we all have our little ‘personal favorites’ – mine are
Peter Yearsley and Andy Minter.
… and, Count Arthur Strong and Mel Gedroyc,
on BBC4x.
neal wakershauser – minneapolis, minnesota USA
January 29, 2013 at 1:17 am
Hi Ruth,
Firstly I wanted to thank you for making such lovely recordings!
I listened to Librivox for the first time about 2 years ago when I thought it would be interesting. Now I love it! I’ve been listening to children’s classics which I never read as a child and have enjoyed stories such as Frances Hodsgen Bennett’s and Lucy Maud Montgomery’s so much! Then I heard you reading Edith Nesbit(which I also didn’t read when young) and just adore the combination of the stories and you reading them. I can hear the joy in your voice and it takes me back to being young again!
Do you have the intention of recording any other children’s classics?
Thanks once again,
Naomi, Lugano, Switzerland