Genealogy Chat

I've had a copy of the will of my 5x great grandfather for quite some time now yet am still struggling to read it.
I'm anxious to find out what it says as I know my 4x great grandmother is not allowed to inherit money for some reason and would like to know why.

Any ideas what I can do?
Thanks in advance
Danielle

Sorry forgot to mention that.

The writing is quite cursive and small. Have tried increasing the size on the computer but then it just goes all blurry.

Danielle

When I am transcribing a will I lay a sheet of really good tracing paper over the top and clip it in place so it doesn't move.
I then get a pencil and magnifying glass and as I spot a word I write it on the tracing paper on top of the word on the will.
That way I don't worry about the meaning of the sentence or lose my place. After a while I find that enough words have been deciphered for me to work out meanings.

If the writing is difficult to read then try looking at these sites.
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~oel/handwriting.html
http://paleo.anglo-norman.org/medfram.html
http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/ceres/ehoc/
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/palaeography/

Good luck
Sue

Thanks all.

Think my best bet now is to see if I can find someone who will see if they can decipher it. As I've had no experience deciphering parish registers and generally have difficulty with the census returns.

Regards
Danielle

How long a will is it? If you have it in a form that you can send by e-mail then I'll take a look. PM me

Sue

Have sent the transcription in an e-mail Danielle.

It wasn't as hard as older wills can be to read. I think years of marking children's books means I can sometimes read tricky writing!

16th century ones can look as if they are in another language.......and sometimes they are!
I'm struggling with a Latin one at the moment. Not that I can read Latin but I'm hoping my old Latin dictionary might eventually help. Been working on it for ages on and off and haven't even got it transcribed into the Latin yet.

Best wishes
Sue

Everyone,

Thanks for the help.
Speacial thanks to Sue for her time spent deciphering mine.

Regards
Danielle xx

Hi
I wonder if it is possible someone could help with looking at the will of my 6xg grandmother.
Lots of words I have managed to decipher, but the words I am most interested in are two names, that I believe could be the names of her parents, and so take me back another generation.

Thank you
Lynda

Lynda

If you can e-mail a copy to me or Sue in Somerset - or both of us - we'll have a look. Hope that's OK with you Sue!

Jill

I'm happy to help if needed.

:)

Sue

Sue,

As Classical Latin is my second language I am happy to have a go with your will provided it's not too lengthy.

Peter

That's kind Peter.

When I get it actually transcribed I'll bear you in mind!

It's not easy writing so I've overlaid it with tracing paper and I'm writing in words as I spot letters and words I recognise. I'll then type it out so at least I can see the words properly.

I work from home so it is easy to get distracted but will have to concentrate on work for a bit. Lots to do at the moment.

Best wishes
Sue

Many thanks to Jill and Sue for their input with an old will.

I have only just started to read these boards and think you are wonderful group of people- always ready to help someone with a problem.

Thanks to you all for the wealth of info to be found about the boards, but special thanks to Sue and Jill.

Lynda