Nature of Source
The study of old or ancient handwriting. An ability to read old forms of handwriting is essential when researching wills, inventories, property titles, deeds, parish registers and other documents.
The styles of writing can be divided into three periods:
Old English, 690-1100
Middle English, 1100-1500 (Court Hand, Book Hand)
Modern English, 1500-present (Including Court, Legal, Chancery and Secretary Hands)
The most common form of writing encountered is the Secretary Hand based on the Court Hand.
It can often help to know the terms and style associated with each document especially as many of the words and phrases are repeated in separate documents. For example the preamble to the main body of a will is repeated in similar terms in other wills. From these known words it is possible to construct an alphabet to assist in transcribing the more difficult unknown words. When transcribing a document always number the lines down the left-hand side and keep to the same numbering as the original. When making a transcription of a document ensure that the original abbreviations and spelling are rigorously maintained. From the transcription is advisable to produce a translation expanding out the abbreviations.
Be aware that many oft-used words were abbreviated, so a word such as ‘parish’ was often abbreviated contracting the ‘par’ to a long ‘p’ with the word reading as ‘pish’. Also look for the thorn (þ), often written as a ‘y’, which is the equivalent of th and combined with a superscript e becomes the word ‘the’. Sums of money in pounds, shillings and pence were abbreviated to ‘l’ or ‘li’ for pound (from the Latin ‘libra’), ‘s’ for shilling and ‘p’ for pence. Sums of money were also often shown by the equivalent Roman numerals. It is important to note that the final ‘i’ or ‘1’ when represented in Roman numerals was written as a ‘j’ which was used as a measure to prevent fraud. It was also the custom in earlier documents to write the number 4 as ‘iiij’ and not the more recognisable ‘iv’. Amounts were often written in scores of twenty so that xx over iiij would signify 4 times 20. A comprehensive guide to Weights and Measures and Money can be found here.
It is possible that a word can be transcribed correctly but the meaning remains unclear, so reference to a dictionary of archaic words will be needed. Use maps and topographical directories for help in identifying place names.
Prior to 1733 official and legal documents were written in Latin except for the period 1651 to 1650. The Latin used in such documents is known as medieval Latin as opposed to classical Latin. The essential difference is that medieval Latin followed the same sentence structure as the English language spoken at the time. Therefore the use of classical Latin grammar will not be in evidence in medieval Latin. As is the case with many old documents such as wills and parish registers the same words and phrases appear repeatedly so the vocabulary needed to transcribe a record is relatively small. However, much of writing is heavily abbreviated which can hinder the understanding of some words and phrases.
Additional Resources
The following GenGuide sources could assist in studying palaeography and handwriting:
Where Found
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Period Covered
700 – Onwards
Genealogical Value
N/A
Further References
- Bristow, Joy. The Local Historian’s Glossary of Words and Terms: Countryside Books, 2001
- Buck, W.S.B. Examples of Handwriting 1550-1650: Society of Genealogists, 2005
- Corèdon, Christopher & Williams, Ann. A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases: D.S. Brewer, 2007
- Durie, Bruce. Documents for Genealogy & Local History: The History Press, 2013
- Grieve, Hilda. Examples of English Handwriting, 1150-1750: Essex Record Office, 1950
- Hector, L.C. Handwriting of English Documents: Kohler and Coombes, 1980
- Hoffman William F & Shea, Jonathan D. In Their Words, A Genealogist’s Translation Guide to Polish, German, Latin, and Russian Documents: Language and Lineage Press, 2017
- Hoskin, Philippa & Slinn, Sara. Reading the Past: Medieval Handwriting: University of York, 2003
- Hoskin, Philippa & Slinn, Sara & Webb, Christopher. Reading the Past: Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century English Handwriting: Borthwick Institute, 2001 (The online edition released, with updated images, 2020 as a pdf)
- Ison, Alf. A Secretary Hand ABC Book: Berkshire Family History Society, 2000
- Jarvis, Claire. Teach Yourself Palaeography: A Guide for Genealogists and Local Historians: The History Press, 2022
- Marshall, Hilary. Palaeography for Family and Local Historians: The History Press, 2010
- Milward, Rosemary (comp). A Glossary of Household Farming & Trade Terms from 17th-century Probate Inventories: Derbyshire Record Society, 1986
- Munby, Lionel. Reading Tudor and Stuart Handwriting: Phillimore, 2002
- Oates, Jonathan. Tracing Your Ancestors from 1066 to 1837: Pen and Sword Books, 2012
- Richardson, John. The Local Historian’s Encyclopedia: Historical Publications, 2003
- Scottish Handwriting 1500-1700: a self-help pack: National Records of Scotland & Scottish Records Association, 2022 (Available to download)
Latin
- Gooder, Eileen Amy. Latin for Local History, Longman, 1978
- Latham, Ronald Edward. Revised Medieval Latin Word List from British and Irish Sources: Oxford University Press, 1965
- Martin, Charles Trice. The record interpreter: A Collection of Abbreviations, Latin Words and Names Used in English Historical Manuscripts and Records: Phillimore, 1982 (1910) (Available to preview online at Google Books or to download at the Internet Archive)
- McLaughlin, Eve. Simple Latin for Family Historians: Varneys Press, 1994
- Morris, Janet. A Latin Glossary for Family and Local Historians: Family History Partnership, 2009
- Parker, John. Reading Latin Epitaphs: A Handbook for Beginners: University of Exeter Press, 2008
- Smith, William & Lockwood, John. Chambers Murray Latin-English Dictionary: Chambers, 2000
- Stuart, Denis. Latin for Local and Family Historians: Phillimore, 2006
- Westcott, Brooke. Making Sense of Latin Documents for Family and Local Historians: Family History Partnership, 2014
Websites
Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies
Palaeography Guide. This free guide will introduce you to some of the letter formations you will find and provide tips on reading and transcribing old documents. It includes some examples for you to transcribe yourself.
Pharos Tutors
Old Handwriting for Family Historians. Old handwriting or palaeography often presents difficulties for family historians. This course takes a practical approach to reading and transcribing old handwriting, focusing on Secretary Hand, a commonly used form during the 16th and 17th centuries.
The National Archives
Palaeography. A practical online tutorial. This web tutorial will help you learn to read the handwriting found in documents written in English between 1500 and 1800. This resource has been archived as the interactive parts no longer work.
FamilyTree
Paleography (old handwriting). How to read historical documents. Discover how to crack those handwriting conundrums with our palaeography guide.
Staffordshire Archives and Heritage
Learning Room: Palaeography Lesson 1, by Jenny Lewis. Online interactive guide to palaeography.
ThoughtCo
Reading Old Handwriting. Reading tips and suggestions for deciphering old handwriting. These online document examples and tutorials should help you get started.
Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre
Useful Tips for Reading Old Handwriting.
Society of Genealogists
Palaeography Part 1: How to create abstracts from old documents. Learn these simple methodologies to reading old handwriting.
Society of Genealogists
Palaeography Part 2: Reading Secretary Hand. Historically, English handwriting has not been so easy to read for our modern eyes. Part 2 of our palaeography guide is here.
English Ancestors
A Secretary Hand survival guide.
University of Nottingham
Manuscripts and Special Collections. Introduction to Reading and Understanding Medieval Documents. This unit explores a number of features of medieval documents, including their layout, the languages in which they were written, handwriting styles and abbreviations used.
Brigham Young University
Script Tutorials. The website offers guidance in the deciphering of documents written in archaic handwriting styles or alphabets.
University of Hull
Archival Skills. Palaeography. Guide to the skills required to successfully work with archives. The site provides online resources and tutorials and practical exercises dealing with early modern handwriting.
Yale University
Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Learn to Read Secretary Hand, by Kathryn James
Scotland’s People
Scottish Handwriting. The resource offers online tuition in palaeography for historians, genealogists and other researchers who are looking for guidance reading manuscript historical records written in Scotland in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
GitHub
The site, developed by Peter Baker retired professor of medieval English literature, offers open-source fonts designed for medievalists and others interested in historical scripts such as Junicode, Elstob, Joscelyn, Cerne and Eadui. For example, the ‘Joscelyn’ font is an authentic secretary hand font. The font produces an accurate and uncompromising reproduction of the notoriously difficult Renaissance secretary hand in a digital font, using OpenType features to represent the cursive and highly variable character of the hand.
University of St Andrews
ReadMe! A self-correcting tool for reading pre-modern handwriting: Online exercises allowing users to complete transcriptions of various hands. The resource includes interactive exercises and tutorials, covering scripts from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries, including secretary hand and book hand.
Medieval English Genealogy
Handwriting and language. The site offers a guide to the challenges of reading and interpreting medieval English records, particularly for genealogical research.
University of Cambridge
The Faculty of English.: English Handwriting 1500-1700. The site offers an online course for anyone whose research will embrace original English manuscript sources in this period. as well as other handwriting resources. The site has transcription conventions, tips on dating, a bibliography and list of links for continuing reference.
FreeBMD
Reading the Writing. The site offers detailed advice for reading and interpreting difficult, often ornate or poor-quality handwritten entries in the Civil Registration indices of births, marriages, and deaths for England and Wales.
RootsWeb
Examples of Letters of the 17th Century Found in Parish Registers.
RootsWeb
Old Law Hand Alphabet. From Court Hand Restored, by Andrew Wright of the Inner Temple, first published in 1776.
FreeREG
Information for Transcribers: Dealing with uncertainty: Guidance on reading old styles of handwriting, with examples and how to handle difficult-to-read historical register entries. The guidance includes recommended resources for palaeography (deciphering old handwriting).
FreeREG
Information for Transcribers: Numbers and dates. Guidance on handling dates in genealogy such as calendar changes, split-year convention before 1752 in England and Wales and other complexities like Roman numerals and regnal years.
Norfolk Record Office
Reading and interpreting registers. Guide to understanding historic parish registers, including how to read entries related to baptisms, marriages and burials.
RootsWeb
Given Names c. 1450-1650. The site provides a detailed compilation of English given names in use approximately from 1450 to 1650 to aid the transcription and interpretation of old English documents. Information is provided on variant forms, Latin equivalents, abbreviations and notes on usage and regional preferences.
FamilySearch Research Wiki
Traditional Nicknames in Old Documents. Alphabetical list of historic personal nicknames and what they represent.
Crazy Diamond Design
The company specialises in historical fonts and typefaces. They offer a range of typefaces representing historical handwriting and printing styles used across the British Isles over the past two millennia.
Latin Related
The National Archives
Learn medieval Latin: Introduction to reading medieval Latin documents. Latin was the official language of many documents written in England before 1733. This step-by-step beginners’ guide to medieval Latin, created by our experts, will help you gain the necessary skills to read documents from this period.
Findmypast Blog
A Genealogist’s Guide to Latin in Family History Records. Comprehensive guide to understanding the language, helping you decipher key phrases from Latin to English.
FreeREG
Information for Transcribers: Latin words to recognise.
RootsWeb
Latin Language and Script: Resources for the Genealogist.
RootsWeb
Latinized Given Names. The list is composed of names collected from various sources including parish registers and is not limited to any particular time period.
GenealogyBank
A Genealogist’s Guide to Old Latin Terms & Abbreviations. In this article, Mary Harrell-Sesniak explains some of the old terms, many of them derived from Latin, that genealogists encounter during their family history research.
GENUKI
Latin in Parish Records.
FamilySearch Research Wiki
Latin Genealogical Word List. This page provides information about the language, including grammar and a Latin to English wordlist.
FamilySearch Research Wiki
Latin Genealogical Word List. This page provides information about the language, including grammar and a Latin to English wordlist.
GENi
Abbreviations & Acronyms for Genealogy. This is a listing of the accepted genealogical abbreviations and acronyms.
University of Nottingham
Manuscripts and Special Collections. Latin numbers, words and phrases used for dates.
UBC SunSITE
On-line Latin word-list.
Whitaker’s Words Online
Enter a Latin word or short phrase below, and look it up in Whitaker’s Words.
Google Translate
Google’s free service instantly translates words, phrases and web pages between English and over 100 other languages including Latin.
Online Databases
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CD Roms
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