Genealogy Chat

Can anone help. I have downloaded a will which was written Nov 1823. Does anyone know a site which will help me with the english translation for that period? Thanks Jackie

Nudge! Joan

Surely wills written at that period were written in English? Is it the handwriting which is the problem or specific legal terms? Judith

They are VERY difficult to read but it is possible! They were not usually written in Latin by 1823 so I have found its a question of taking it slowly word by word. As you get your eye in it will become a little easier. Bear in mind that most of the will will be legal jargon but you might find that you can pick out personal names and place names to give you a start and help you understand the letter formations. I have a will that takes 3 pages of A4 but there is so much repitition that I bet I could precis the lot in half a side!!! A solicitor told me they used to be paid by the word, so the more words the better! Anne

Hi, There is a very useful booklet "A Secretary Hand ABC Book" by Alf Ison ISBN 0 9508366 0 5 which has helped me transcribe lots of wills. I bought it at the PRO but I expect you can get it from the usual onlline booksellers Gwynne

Hi, There's an article in www.genealogy.com called "Guideline for reading old documents" which might prove useful. Gillian

If this is a PCC will, then the handwriting will be a swine. Do you know this is your family, or is it on spec? I don't mind transcribing a couple of paragraphs for you, to get you started, but as someone else said on this thread, the lawyers were paid by the word and they do tend to witter on. Brenda

I found the best way is the type it up leaving a * ** when I couldn't read the word or words. Then go through it again and you will find you can pick up a few more words. A magnify glass or sheet helps. The more you read it the clearer it becomes. You should see my 1st so full of * ** *** its a wonder I ever managed to get anywhere. But it was fun doing it. (who am I trying to kid) Irene

I downloaded a PCC will, spent ages trying to decipher it and then found I still couldn't link the woman into my tree! I was so hopeful she would turn out to be my gggrandmother only to find she didn't appear to have any kids. Just my luck!

Thank you for all you sugestions. I'm afraid I was a bit unclear when I said translate. Yes the will is in English it was written in 1843. I did download it from PCC and it is awful to read. It is definately a family member as well. My problem was more on the lines of the use of their english. Such as using a double ff should it be read as a single f or should it be read as an s? eg ffarm I take it should be farm. Sorry for the delay in answering. Jackie

Hi Jackie, I have an 1803 will with those double ffs - they seem to stand for f when its at the start of a word, eg ffunds. Mine also has a long s, which looks like an f in some words, but where there's a double s only the first one is the long form eg assigns looks like afsigns. Judith

Jackie, found this in a back issue of family tree mag. Try www(.)amberskyline(.)com/treasuremaps/oldhand(.)html remove brackets. or http://web(.)ukonline(.)co(.)uk/westcott/ The second website assists with phrasing and words that you may not be able to get. Good luck !

Judith my wills are just the same. Thanks Sarah for those web sites. They look as though they are going to be a great help. They have sorted out the s and f problem already Thanks all Jackie