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Old Photographs, Recognition, Handwriting Deciphering => Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition => Topic started by: littlemissx77 on Sunday 10 January 21 17:55 GMT (UK)

Title: Deciphering an 18th Century will
Post by: littlemissx77 on Sunday 10 January 21 17:55 GMT (UK)
Can anyone help me decipher this will please. Some parts i can read but other parts are completely alien to me :)
Title: Re: Deciphering an 18th Century will
Post by: rosie99 on Sunday 10 January 21 18:17 GMT (UK)
It could be an idea if you transcribe what you can read then we can fill in the gaps
Title: Re: Deciphering an 18th Century will
Post by: littlemissx77 on Sunday 10 January 21 18:52 GMT (UK)
I can read the parts of the will that i did not post. These are just 2 sections that i'm struggling with. Apart from the odd word "burial", "daughter", and "Kimpton" i cannot decipher the rest.
Title: Re: Deciphering an 18th Century will
Post by: Bookbox on Sunday 10 January 21 20:15 GMT (UK)
... my Body my Will is that it may be buried
in the same Grave with my three Infant
Daughters in the Church Yard of the said parish
of Kimpton as to the manner of my Burial I
leave ^that^ to the directions of my Executors herein-
after named First I will that my Debts and all

my Funeral Charges be discharged and the Ceremony
of proving this my Will in the Commons be
comply’d with if necessary  Item I give and
bequeath to my beloved Wife Jane Percy all
and singular my Effects and property of every kind
and description and denomination as well Stock
in Farming Household Furniture also all the ...

Title: Re: Deciphering an 18th Century will
Post by: littlemissx77 on Sunday 10 January 21 21:12 GMT (UK)
you are my hero, thank you
Title: Re: Deciphering an 18th Century will
Post by: littlemissx77 on Monday 11 January 21 07:31 GMT (UK)
Could you please tell me what name this is, after the word cousin...
Title: Re: Deciphering an 18th Century will
Post by: Bookbox on Monday 11 January 21 09:17 GMT (UK)
Jeremiah

The letters J and I are interchangeable in this hand. You will see the letter I coming up many times in the will.
Title: Re: Deciphering an 18th Century will
Post by: littlemissx77 on Monday 11 January 21 09:38 GMT (UK)
Thank you once again. Can I ask you to decipher one more word, seeing as you are so good at this ? 😁
Title: Re: Deciphering an 18th Century will
Post by: Bookbox on Monday 11 January 21 09:54 GMT (UK)
Go ahead. There are also plenty of others who may be able to help.
Title: Re: Deciphering an 18th Century will
Post by: littlemissx77 on Monday 11 January 21 09:58 GMT (UK)
Ok thanks, freehold something cottages??
Title: Re: Deciphering an 18th Century will
Post by: Bookbox on Monday 11 January 21 11:16 GMT (UK)
Freehold Messuage or Cottage

messuage = a dwelling house with outbuildings and land assigned to its use.
Title: Re: Deciphering an 18th Century will
Post by: littlemissx77 on Monday 11 January 21 11:41 GMT (UK)
Thanks for your help
Title: Re: Deciphering an 18th Century will
Post by: littlemissx77 on Tuesday 12 January 21 16:17 GMT (UK)
Please can someone help with the word. The sentence is I give and bequeath unto my said ?  Elizabeth Broughton.
Title: Re: Deciphering an 18th Century will
Post by: horselydown86 on Tuesday 12 January 21 16:24 GMT (UK)
Probably niece.

(There's no need to highlight text.  It makes it harder to decipher.)
Title: Re: Deciphering an 18th Century will
Post by: Ian Nelson on Tuesday 12 January 21 18:42 GMT (UK)
Quine = woman, lady or girl
quite common in Aberdeenshire
Title: Re: Deciphering an 18th Century will
Post by: littlemissx77 on Tuesday 12 January 21 19:38 GMT (UK)
Thanks, is that an old Celtic (Scottish) word for a lady fiend
Title: Re: Deciphering an 18th Century will
Post by: Bookbox on Tuesday 12 January 21 19:47 GMT (UK)
This is a PCC will, so Aberdeenshire influence seems unlikely.

I agree with horselydown86 that it reads Niece.

The first letter is N; it has an initial flourish identical to that of the M in Messuage (see extract in reply #9).
The 2nd letter is clearly a dotted i.
The 3rd letter is a squared-off e, with its top running into the following letter.
The 4th letter is a short, right-angled c (looks like r in this hand).
The final letter is a different style of e, ‘backwards’, rounded and open.

All these letter-forms are typical of the court hand used in PCC wills at this period.
Title: Re: Deciphering an 18th Century will
Post by: littlemissx77 on Wednesday 13 January 21 06:00 GMT (UK)
Can I ask what a PCC will is please?
Title: Re: Deciphering an 18th Century will
Post by: Bookbox on Wednesday 13 January 21 10:00 GMT (UK)
PCC = Prerogative Court of Canterbury. Apologies for using an unexplained abbreviation.

Before 1858 all wills were proved in church courts, not in civil courts. The PCC was just one of many such courts, and the highest. It had jurisdiction over most of the southern part of England and Wales, and could also handle referrals from other probate courts.

The PCC probate records (wills etc.) are held at the National Archives. Those that you find online are copies, entered in the probate registers by clerks who were trained in this particular style of handwriting.
Title: Re: Deciphering an 18th Century will
Post by: littlemissx77 on Wednesday 13 January 21 10:27 GMT (UK)
So interesting and informative, thank you
Title: Re: Deciphering an 18th Century will
Post by: Ian Nelson on Wednesday 13 January 21 11:21 GMT (UK)
Thanks, is that an old Celtic (Scottish) word for a lady fiend

I guess it has the same origin as Queen.   In Aberdeenshire they have ' Quines & Loons ', girls & boys.
From my early youth I knew a girl from Fife and she was nicknamed Queenie by her Grandmother, my neighbour, who had moved to the west coast of Scotland, yet her name was Christine.  I asked the granny and was told all girls were quines.  I was a befuddled 8 year old then, before and after.