RootsChat.Com

All we know about my g/gf is that he was from Dublin.
He may have arrived in S.Africa circa 1878, because he said he'd fought with the British in the Zulu War [1879] - but there's no record of that - and he definitely didn't win the VC in that war, as he claimed he did
He married my g/grandmother in S.Africa in 1883

Can anyone decipher the first name of the Doyle witness in baptism #133, please ?

I've searched some of the other pages in the records, but cannot find a similar outline for the first letter of the name. The father of the child was my Irish g/gf Joseph Bernard Doyle [a brickwall in my family tree] and I'm hoping the witness was a relative and therefore a clue for further Doyle research.   
The bapt record is on FamilySearch at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9Z5-KQPK?i=552&cc=2155416

Have been quite enjoying deciphering the shorthand now that you've got involved, tillypeg  and reminded me of so many of the Pittman shortforms that I'd long since forgotten.
If PoP/P&P is indeed Pride & Prejudice, I wondered if the last two words in the 2nd line of the 2nd letter might possibly be Northanger Abbey - altho' the end of that first outline doesn't quite match, so I'm probably clutching at straws   

Other people's shorthand is difficult to read without knowing the context, because the vowels are usually omitted, so the same outline could be any number of words using the same consonants.
And after not using s/hand for so many years, I've forgotten a lot - so the little I can decipher is very mundane
27/9 letter - last few words, after the small x (which is a full stop) "with kind regards yours faithfully"
28/9 letter - 1st line "Thank you very much for the .... £10."
2nd line "If the success of Pop should encourage you to ... ... ..."
3rd "(as I hope it will) it will ...) could? be that ... £10 ..."

But I'll keep staring at the jpgs for a wee while, and let you know if I figure out anything else.

OK, will remove it, but did have a go:

Thanks, japeflakes

The hairstyle was a short lived creation from mid- late Edwardian Era.

And thanks, jim1