UK : Acquiring Fluency in Reading Archaic English Documents

With anticipation, you begin to read the 17th century English will of one of your ancestors – or do you? This ancient document contains priceless ancestral information, but at first glance, appears impossible to read. Genealogists remember first encounters with these “chicken scratch” scripts and the feelings of frustration involved in vain attempts to interpret them. Experts know that acquiring fluency in reading archaic English documents requires sufficient instruction, study, and practice. Proper instruction includes learning how to decipher old handwriting, understand antiquated terminology, and how to correctly extend abbreviations.

Over the centuries, the English have used several different handwriting styles. Scribes composed legal documents chiefly in what is termed secretary hand from the 15th to the 17th centuries. Secretary hand merged with italic hand, which originated in Italy. By the end of the 17th century, the offspring of this handwriting marriage called mixed hand (aka round hand) developed. Mixed and italic hands are the handwriting styles currently used in Great Britain, America, and Western Europe. (1) (2) (3)

To learn secretary hand requires familiarization with characters that differ from the handwriting we use in our modern-day alphabet; nevertheless, the alphabet is basically the same.

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About Price Genealogy

Located one block from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Price & Associates is able to trace
most family histories back four or five generations without difficulty. With additional assistance from our research professionals across the globe, we have successfully traced genealogies back as many as thirty generations—to William the Conqueror, 1066 A.D. and beyond.

Price & Associates professional genealogy researchers have been helping people discover their heritage for more than thirty years. As one of the United States’ largest genealogical firms, we have assisted thousands of families to organize, chart, and verify their ancestral lines.Price & Associates uses the best software andgenealogy resources available, and even provides access to free databases and researching aids to everyone interested in their family history.

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