* Interpretation of 'Legal' italic writing in Wills etc?

[themoudie]

I have recently had cause to try and unravel several 18th and 19th Century legal documents written in the 'Legal italic' style!

Does anybody have any 'Hints' or 'Tips' to try and ease this process, or is it a case of sheer persistance and 'bloody mindedness', with a degree of interpretation?

I have attached an example of the type of document I refer to.

Any positive thoughts would be welcome. Thank you.

My regards, Bill

[arthurk]

To a large extent it's a matter of practice. With wills of this period the style and form of letters was fairly consistent, and there are also a lot of standard (and usually repetitive) legal phrases, so once you get used to these it's not too much of a challenge.

You can get books on palaeography, and there are also online tutorials at The National Archives http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/palaeography/ and the National Records of Scotland http://www.scottishhandwriting.com/index.asp

If you need further help, members here would probably be happy to take a look, or there's a specific board for questions about handwriting at RootsChat.

Two tips, though: you usually get a better response if you have a go first and then ask about the bits you're stuck on; and most people trying to help would need a larger image to work with. With a jpg file that usually means a width of somewhere around 600-800 pixels, and you can reduce the file size by adjusting the quality. But don't get rid of your original higher quality version, in case bits of it are needed later - very difficult writing sometimes needs the best quality possible before you can make it out.

[AnneEast]

Pencil and paper, work on it for a a reasonably short time at one go. Come back to it often. Don't pause too long on words you don't get, just leave a space on your paper and come back to them later. You will gradually 'get your eye in' and words which seemed impossible may become clear later. Context is everything so try and get the gist of each part and the words will come.
Two things to note. First there are hardly any sentences ... that's legalese! Secondly you might find words at the end of lines that you can't read. That's because they are not words at all but ~~ to fill in the end of a line so there are no spaces, presumably so illicit words cannot be inserted later!
Anne

[tatewise]

I have had a go at the start of that Will and think is says that shown below.
Note the unusual letter 'h' that looks more like an 'a' and that some 't' are not crossed.
As Anne says, you 'get your eye in' and see patterns in the letters.

Test? in ??? and ??? following give
and bequeath unto my Daughter Uoou?
Ann Wilkinson the sum of five hundred pounds
to be paid her at two different times viz two
hundred within twelve months after my Death
the other three hundred within twelve months
after the Death of my beloved wife Kitty ???
Give and bequeath unto my sister Kath...
Boston twenty pounds to be paid her annually
from the ??? of my money in the ???

[themoudie]

Thank you All for your suggestions and Mike for having a stab at the interpretation. I wasn't expecting a full translation by anybody, after all it is part of the 'fun' of this crazy pastime, or business, if you choose to make it so.

I like the idea of the pencil and paper and leaving spaces that you gradually fill and certainly agree with the little and often and retaining the original size and clarity of the document as much as possible.

Sometimes, after scanning or downloading an image, I find that a minor adjustment to the 'backlighting', 'brightness' and finally 'sharpness' can help a great deal with interpretation.

I may post my finished interpretation, just for completeness, but don't hold your breaths, it may be a wee while!

My regards, Bill

[NickiP]

I have to admit to going to find a copy elsewhere as the image was a bit too small for me to read! Not that long a Will anyway and have had a lot of practice reading them over many years from varying dates.

Testament in manner and form following I give
and bequeath unto my daughter Eleonora
Ann Wilkinson the sum of five hundred pounds
to be paid her at two different times viz two
hundred within twelve months after my death
the other three hundred within twelve months
after the death of my beloved wife Kitty Boston
I give and bequeath unto my sister Katharine
Boston twenty pounds to be paid her annually
from the interest of my money in the three
per cent Console? during her life and from and
immediately after her death I give and bequeath
the aforesaid twenty pounds unto my beloved
wife Kitty Boston with all the interest of my
money in the funds Securities for money goods
Chattels Estate and Effects of what name or
fund soever and likewise I give and bequeath
unto my said wife Kitty Boston the use of all
my plate linen China household Goods and
furniture which shall be in my dwelling house
at the time of my death to hold use occupy
possess and enjoy the same during her life I
forbid any inventory being taken of my plate
linen china household goods and furniture at
my decease and from and immediately after her
death I give and bequeath unto my son Henry
Scott Boston all the residue of my money in the
funds Estate Chattels Effects Securities for money
of what name or fund soever plate linen
china household goods furniture and Books
unto my foresaid son Henry Scott Boston his
heirs Exors Administrators and assigns I do
give and bequeath in case of the death of my
beloved wife Kitty Boston and of the death of
my son Henry Scott Boston unto my daughter
Eleonora Ann Wilkinson all the residue of my
money in the funds and to her Heirs Exors
Admors and Assigns And I do make nominate
constitute and appoint my said wife Kitty
Boston sole Executrix of this my last Will and
Testament and also sole Guardian of my son
Henry Scott Boston hereby revoking and making
void all and every other Will or Wills heretofore
by me made and I declare this my last
Will and Testament In Witness whereof I have
hereto set my hand and seal the ninth
of June in the year of our Lord one thousand
seven hundred and ninety eight at Harwich in
Essex Thomas Boston Signed Sealed published
and declared by the above mentioned Thomas
Boston as and for his last Will and Testament
in the presence of us who at his request and


Exors = Executors
Admors = Administrators

[themoudie]

Dear NickiP,

That is marvellous, thank you very much indeed, for your time and effort to decipher the text.

I shall now use it to have a crack at the other Wills that I have to decipher.

Yes, I had to reduce the image size so that I might post it on the forum as an attachment to my post.

For those of you itching to know more about the Will, this is part of the Will and last Testament of Annuited Rear Admiral Thomas Boston (1733 - d.1809), son of John Boston, Chamberlain at Langholm to His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch (bp.1702 - d.1758) and grandson of Thomas Boston, Minister of Ettrick Parish, Selkirkshire (bp.1677 - d.1732).

Good health and now to enjoy the warmth of the day.

My regards, Bill

[Wilfreda99]

I went on a course about reading old documents and, as well as the tip before about the scribble at the end of rows to make them all the same length, he recommended the following:
Number each row on the text to be interpreted.
Number each row on your interpretation, and keep them the same, so if your translation flows over more than one row still number the next row with the next number on the original.
Leave gaps for words you can't decipher.
In this way it is easy to return to the puzzling part next time rather than having to read through from the beginning again.