Old Handwriting for Family Historians (417)

Palaeography, or old handwriting, often presents challenges for local and family historians. There is nothing more frustrating than finding a document that you are sure is relevant, but which you cannot read.

This course takes a practical approach to reading and transcribing old handwriting, starting with the records of the 19th century and moving backwards in time. Students will be given the opportunity to examine handwriting styles and develop an understanding of how handwriting developed over the centuries. The course will then focus on Secretary Hand, a commonly used form during the Tudor and Stuart period. Historians will come across Secretary Hand in many types of documents such as parish registers, wills and inventories. The course aims to equip students with their own set of steps to being able to read, and successfully transcribe, the handwriting in old documents, enabling them to read documents which at first sight might appear to be written using a different alphabet.

The course is most suitable for those who already have some understanding and practice with old handwriting in their own family history research, and some familiarity with parish registers, wills and inventories, as many of the documents examined will be from the 16th and 17th centuries. No prior knowledge of Latin is required, although the final lesson introduces the kind of Latin found in 16th century parish registers.

Set books:

There is a set book which accompanies this course. Students are asked to purchase Alf Ison's A Secretary Hand ABC Book before the course starts. This is available from various online bookshops or, direct from the publisher: Berkshire Family History Society.

Reading List:

Students often ask us for recommended reading for their courses, that they can look at before the course starts. Here is a suggested book list for this course.