Getting to the Roots of Your Family - RootsWeb - Ancestry.com

• Read on a few pages then come back.
• In parish registers, look for another entry involving the same people.
• Change machines, ask someone else to look at it, lay a bright-colored paper on it,
or lay a paper over it and try tracing it. Write the letters you can read on another
piece of paper.
• Use reference materials such as surname books, gazetteers, place name books,
etc.
• Find the letters of the alphabet throughout the author’s handwriting.
• If the word is not vital to your understanding of the document, do not waste time
trying to figure it out.
• Read printed or translated versions of the document.
• Find another copy of the record (such as a registered will vs. an original will)
OLD ENGLISH SECRETARY HAND
A, a –
B, b –
C, c –
D,d –
E,e –
F,f –
G,g –
H,h –
I, I – double ii –
J,j –