READING WHAT IS WRITTEN

The Family Historian’s Guide to Reading Script

Southern Alberta Library Conference Presented by: Faye B. Geddes March 2 – 4, 2017 READING EVENTS TO KNOW ABOUT

 Phoenician Alphabet – 1500 B.C.

 Roman Empire conquers Greece – 146 B.C.

 Christianity

 Celtic Writing – 600 A.D.

 Charlemagne – late 700’s A.D.

 Gutenberg – about 1440 A.D. PHYSICAL ASPECTS

 Materials • Writing Surface • Ink • Pen

 Life of a Scribe

 Deteriorating Records TYPES AND STYLES

 GOTHIC HAND – also knowns as “”

– also known as “legal hand” or “set hand”

– also known as “Elizabethan script” TYPES AND STYLES

 Italic Hand

– after 1650 combined aspects of Italic and Secretary THINGS TO CONSIDER

 Spelling  Terms & Expressions

 Spacing & Punctuation  Names – • Place Names  Numbers & Dates • Surnames  Abbreviations • Given Names

 Letter Peculiarities  Foreign Languages SPELLING

 No standardization  You may find spelling differences within the same document  Common for the letter e to be added to the end of words  When dealing with plurals the terminal es was often used instead of just s  Certain consonants and the vowels e and o can be found doubled (example: allways for always and shee for she  Sometimes the consonants and vowels you think should be doubled are not  The letters I and J are often interchanged SPACES & PUNCTUATION

 Spaces • No standardization

 Punctuation • No standardization • Beware of the dot above a word • Periods at the end of a sentence often omitted NUMBERS & DATES

 Numbers • No standardization • Lower case Roman numerals that ended in multiples of I – the letter j was almost always used instead of the final i. (example: iiijor =four)  Dates • Two types of Calendars (Old Roman & Julian) • Sometimes scribes would record a double date (because of the two calendars) • Sometimes abbreviations would be used for months (example: 8ber, 9ber) • Sometimes the name of a Holy Day would be used for the date ABBREVIATIONS

 Sometimes Scribes would make up their own abbreviations

 Suspension – first letter or part of the word written followed by a punctuation mark. Examples: Rich. = Richard, Io. = John, Arch: = Archbishop

 Contraction - First and last letter or letters are written, middle letters omitted and indicated by a punctuation mark. Example: Ric’rd = Richard  Superscript – Another form of contraction but instead of a punctuation mark the last letter or letters are raised above the line. Examples: Richd = Richard, Willm = William, wch = which ABBREVIATIONS

 Special Signs – symbols to replace words or parts of words. Examples: LETTER PECULIARITIES

How to find:

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Indexing

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Language & Handwriting Helps LETTER PECULIARITIES

 ff – when located at the beginning of a word = capitol F

 s – often written elongated – could be mistaken for an f

 ll – sometimes scribes would cross a double l – could be mistaken for double t

 u, m, n, w – just really hard to read LETTER PECULIARITIES

 ss – often a special symbol would be used – could be mistaken for fs, fp or p

 e – often confused with o

 r – could be made so that it looks upside down – could be mistaken for u

 d – easiest letter to detect because it is consistently the only letter will curve to the left. TERMS & EXPRESSIONS

 Common Phrases Used • Wills: • Being of sound mind • In the name of God, Amen • I give and commend my soul unto God • Being weak of body but sound of mind • I will and bequeath • Land records • This Indenture made • Hath given granted, bargained, and sold • His heirs and assigns forever • Witnesseth that the said TERMS & EXPRESSIONS

 Occupational Names & Terms • Accomptant • Aleconner • Aledraper • Cafender • Bladger • Heckler • Tillman NAMES

 Place Names • Beware of abbreviations  Surnames – could be abbreviated or a nickname • Mt = Mont (usually used in conjunction with another part of the name. (Example: Montgomery • X = Chris (example: Christopherson)  Given Names – sometimes a nickname or abbreviation • ffr = Francis • Jas = James • Polly = Mary • Io. = John • Jno = John FOREIGN LANGUAGES

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Enter “Handwriting” in the search bar GUIDELINES

 Read the entire document and write down the words you can easily make out.  Study how the letters are formed from what you can read  Compare the entries before and after  Use a magnifying glass  If you’ve been studying it for a while, Take a Break  Have someone else look at it GUIDELINES

 Trace the letters  Start with more modern writing and work back  Read it out loud. (most scribes spelled phonetically)  Read for context  Find common wording or terms and expressions for the area  PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE – the more you read old handwriting the easier it gets PRACTICE PRACTICE THE DUCKING STOOL GAME

 www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/ducking-stool-game/ THANK YOU

 Faye B. Geddes • [email protected]