* Reading 17th Century Parish Records

[peterbel]

Has anybody any suggestions for guides to understanding/reading 17th Century hand writing?
This is an example of what I am faced with in a 1621 Parish baptism record:

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"James #### of Maria #### Ballamy #### a #####
##### was ###### ### ###th day of November #### ####"

And I am not sure of even that

[ColeValleyGirl]

Try The National Archive Palaeography Tutorial.

[peterbel]

Thanks Helen, looks interesting.

[mjashby]

Try:

"James the son of Maria Smale [Small?] alias Ballamye being a bastard child was christened the 30th day of..."

Mervyn

[ColeValleyGirl]

It's 'base child' not 'bastard child' although the two are the same thing in practice.

[peterbel]

Whoa, brilliant
Though not sure I understand 'Maria Small alias Ballamye being a bastard child' part.
Were they naming the father by having two Last Names?

[ColeValleyGirl]

Were they naming the father by having two Last Names?

Possibly, but it could equally well be that the mother went by two names (perhaps because she was base born as well). You need move evidence to know.

[mjashby]

Helen,

Yes you could well be correct. It's a bit difficult to see what's round the bend (if anything) at the side of the page, which also makes it difficult the get the last couple of words after the month, which might be December or November, but seeing it in the context of the surrounding entries should help to confirm which.

Mervyn

[peterbel]

Thanks all, it is much clearer now, apart from the two Last Names!
This is a slightly larger clip and has all the document has of that particular hand.

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[arthurk]

It looks the same as the other entries, where the last two words are Anno predict - in the aforesaid year. (Note the superscript 'r' - doing duty as a contraction for 're'.) It's November, by the way.

I'm not sure why he slipped into Latin at the end, though it is a bit shorter than the English.

[mjashby]

Peter,

Very difficult to draw any conclusion without finding more info. It's likely that the child's 'real' surname as far as the Church was concerned was Smale/Small, having been born the son of an unmarried woman, but that he was known in the community as James Ballamy/Bellamy, perhaps suggesting a relationship with someone of that surname at the time of the baptism. The child's forename 'James' might be a clue, but could also be a 'red herring'.

If they remained in the same Parish it may be possible to find some later records for James and his mother which could offer more clues.

Mervyn

[peterbel]

Thanks everyone.
I am adding all my 'finds' into a spreadsheet in the hope I can sort them into family groups. Seems to be the best way of connecting individuals when the entries are limited in information. Still a bit of guesswork though !

[peterbel]

The information in these links gave me a good insight to the use of 'alias', particularly in the West Country.
Hope it helps others.

https://sites.rootsweb.com/~staustell/W ... liases.htm
https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/N ... scriminant

[PeterPB]

The McLaughlin series of Guides are pretty useful. Try "Reading Old Handwriting" by Eve Mcloughlin. I found a 2nd hand one on eBay today. £7.50. There is also one on Amazon for over £1,000 !! PeterPB