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Old Photographs, Recognition, Handwriting Deciphering => Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition => Topic started by: londonscorpion on Monday 25 November 19 10:06 GMT (UK)
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I have transcribed what I can of one half of an inventory. I would be grateful for any help with the missing/doubtful/wrong words. My take is as follows.
1) Impris his wearing apparell and his money in his purfe
2) In the Kitchen one Cask one Spitt one pair of Andirons one pot
3) hanger one fire Shovel and tongs one ??? Tongs two
4) brass Candlesticks four iron Candlesticks one Chair one
5) Spinning wheel Eighteen wooden plates three drinking pots
6) Item one warming pan two Brass skillets one Copper Sauce
7) pan one Cullender one Candle Box two Tin pudding pans
8) two ??? ??? one Large ??? ing ??? one Salt Box
9) one pair of Bellows ten Iron ??? two Curtains and one
10) Bed twelve knives and forks one Tin Cover one Tinder Box
11) one Iron ??? and one Iron Prong
12) Item Seven Difhes of pew(t)er in weight thirty pounds
13) Item five and twenty pewter plates in weight 19
14) In the Brewhoufe one Copper ??? Six ??? two three
15) Legg’d Koolers three other Koolers two water pails one
16) Crofs prefs and ??? one Crofs Stalledge
17) In the Milkhoufe one Brafs Kettle one Churn ??? milk
18) ??? six trays one Butter platter Six Casks six wooden
19) Difhes one Brafs Skillet two milk pails
20) In the Celler Eight Beer vessells and one Cooler
21) In the pantry one Iron Kettle two pottage potts three Beer
22) ??? one ??? ??? Bagg two other ??? Bags
23) one Brafs Frying pan
24) In the parlour two round Tables Six Cane Chairs and Six Cufhions
25) one Clock and Cafe four window Curtains
26) In the parlour Chamber one feather Bed with the hangings and
27) Steddle two Blanketts one quilt one feather Boulfter &
28) two feather pillows
29) Item Six Cane Chairs and Cufhions one ??? Table one looking Glafs
30) four window Curtains and Vallance
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and this is the second half:
31) Item one Small Silver Tumbler and six Silver Spoons mark’d
32) WGA
33) In the Porch Clofett three window curtains and Vallance
34) In the Kitchen Chamber one feather bed and Steddle with
35) Curtains Vallance and Case one quilt five blanketts
36) One feather Boulfter and two feather pillows
37) Item one old ??? stool one ??? Cheft one pair of Andirons
38) fire pan and tongs one pair of Bellows one Great Bible
39) and Stand Six Chairs
40) In the maids Chamber one old Cheft and two Boxes
41) Item Seven pair of pretty fine sheets and five pair
42) of Courfe sheets
43) Item six pair of pillow ???
44) Item six Courfe Table Cloths and ??? ??? ??? ???
45) Item one ??? Table Cloths and woolen Napkins
46) Item one ??? Table Cloth & woolen napkins
47) Item one dozen of Courfe napkins
48) Item Eight ???
49) Item the ??? Bed and ??? in the Garrett
50) Item without Doors one old Cow one old ??? and a ???
51) Item moneys on Morgage
52) Item for arrears of rent
53) Item things unfeen and forgotten
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In case it helps, another view of it all here
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6L6H-RX5?i=468&cat=685691
50) Item without Doors one old Cow one old ??? and a ???
one old mare and a sheapp? Sorry, best wait for the experts!
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Thanks Jon.
I am also wondering how, in general, the lines "things unseen and forgotten" were calculated in these inventories. I have seen several and it does not appear to be a percontage.
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First set:
3. Looks to be: Tobacco
8. ...two Earthen Basons one Large Chafing Dish one...
9. Tentatively: Scutes?
11. Probably: Iron Slice
14. ...one Copper furnace Six Tubbes...
15. These are spelled: Keelers
16. ...Cheespress and Bailes... [may be Railes?]
17. ...Chern hoe...
18. Leads
22. ...[Tr??tene? - not sure]...other old Bags...
29 Not sure - doesn't appear to be little/litle - could be littre = letter?
ADDED:
Re #22: ...one [Tovet?] one meal Bagg two other old Bags...
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a keeler is a cooler or a shallow tub for cooling milk or wort (Words from wills Stuart A. Raymond)
line 37 is an old close stool and a joyn'd chest (Stuart says made by a joiner using pegs and dowels not nails)
line 43 pillow beres (pillow cases)
line 44 12 course napkins
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Re #29:
The clearer image on Familysearch shows that it is: ...little Table...
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46: ...one shopcloth...
48: ...Eight towelles...
49: ...the mans Bed and healing in the Garrett...
50: ...and a Sheath...
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Just a minor point, I hope you don't mind :)
In several places such as
In the Porch Clofett three window curtains and Vallance
Impris his wearing apparell and his money in his purfe
In the maids Chamber one old Cheft and two Boxes
you have put a letter 'f', the letter in question is actually a 'long s' and should be transcribed as 's' not 'f'.
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45: ...Huccaback Table Cloth...
ADDED:
Was the deceased's wife an Anne, Alice, Avis, Agnes or other A forename?
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Yes, an Ann
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In line 22 there is a leading word - is it "Tressells"
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In line 22 there is a leading word - is it "Tressells"
vessell(es) - follows from two Beer on line 21.
Thanks for the wife's name.
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Thanks to all for your help. As ever, much solved but new questions - many of the words / phrases are new to me: does anyone know what these are:
Line 3 “Tobacco” tongs
Line 8 Could this be an “f” to make it a “Chafing” dish. They are still called this today and used to keep food warm.
Line 9 Scute
Line 16 Cheespress and Bailes. With the “and“ Baile sounds like it’s a part of the press, but which part?
Line 17 /18 Chern hoe milk Leads. Could the hoe be a “two”, so “one Chern two milk leads” and if so what is a milk lead?
Line 22 Tovet
Line 37 Would I be correct in assuming that a close stool is actually a chair loo?
Line 46 Shopcloth – does this simply mean cloth bought in a shop?
Line 50 Sheath
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The OED says
shop cloth n. †(a) a cloth laid upon the boards of a butcher's stall; (b) cloth sold in a shop, frequently considered superior to homemade cloth; (c) a cloth used by a mechanic or engineer to protect or clean equipment.
tobacco tongs n. a light pair of tongs formerly used by smokers to pick up tobacco or a live coal for igniting it.
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Thanks Jen,
Both make ultimate sense, especially the tongs for picking up an ember.
Thanks too for the advice on the use of the long s . I must admit I can't tell the difference, either on when to use the one or the other, or even how to tell them apart. I just thought it was common practice (to write an f) when the s was in the word, rather than at the beginning or end.
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To our eyes it looks like an ‘f’ but the long s was usually written without a horizontal bar or with the bar only on the left side of the downstroke.
Take a look at the poem in this interesting article https://babelstone.co.uk/Blog/2006/06/rules-for-long-s.html
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Line 37 Would I be correct in assuming that a close stool is actually a chair loo
OED says:
Close stool A piece of furniture enclosing a chamber pot, typically a type of chair or small chest having a lid concealing a seat with a hole used in the same way as a toilet.
If tovet is correct, the definition in the (very useful) English Dialect Dictionary is 'a measure of half a bushel' :-\ https://archive.org/details/cu31924088038439/page/n217 (bottom right of r-h page).
The same definition given in the OED.
Line 17 /18 Chern hoe milk Leads. Could the hoe be a “two”, so “one Chern two milk leads” and if so what is a milk lead?
I think it might possibly be 'two' :-\ which would make it read 'one chern two milk leads'
According to the Dialect Dictionary (freely available online ;) ) a milk lead was 'a shallow cistern lined with lead in which milk is set to cream' https://archive.org/details/cu31924088038413/page/n121
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That is a mighty useful book - thanks for the link - I have bookmarked it.
The usage seems to be "a tovet of something" so if it is tovet, the inventory must be referring to a container of some sort with the capacity of one tovet.
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That is a mighty useful book - thanks for the link - I have bookmarked it.
That is only one volume!
This should link to the whole thing :o https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator:%22Wright,%20Joseph,%201855-1930%22%20dialect%20dictionary%20AND%20mediatype:texts
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bail, bale- hoop handle of a kettle or similar vessel
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I have book marked the whole lot!! Panicked a bit at first until I realised volumes 3 and 5 were further down the page!
Interesting about Bail (Bale): I wonder why it was important enough for the appraisor to specify it separately?
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Line 50 Sheath
Dialect Dictionary has various definitions of sheath https://archive.org/details/englishdialectdi05wrig/page/368 one of which is part of a plough :-\
On the same page is the word sheat which was a young pig :-\
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I have book marked the whole lot!!
You will find it a gold mine of information!
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Hmmmm. Both a pig and a plough bit could be found outdoors. Looking at the word again, it definitely looks like an h at the end. Tricky one.
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Line 17 /18 Chern hoe milk Leads. Could the hoe be a “two”, so “one Chern two milk leads” and if so what is a milk lead?
I think it might possibly be 'two' :-\ which would make it read 'one chern two milk leads'
Yes JenB, on looking again it is two. The h has a curved top and this is straight.
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The English Dialect Dictionary has several definitions for scute with origins in Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall:
1. A sum of money, a present or reward
2. The metal shield for the heel or toe of boot or shoe
3. The iron point of a wooden plough
4. A small patch of leather put on the sole of a boot or shoe
5. The outside piece sawed off a balk of timber
None of these definitions really fits, especially as there are ten of them and they are specified as being of iron. They were found in the kitchen along with the bellows so maybe something to do with kitchen life.
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The English Dialect Dictionary has several definitions for scute with origins in Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall:
1. A sum of money, a present or reward
2. The metal shield for the heel or toe of boot or shoe
3. The iron point of a wooden plough
4. A small patch of leather put on the sole of a boot or shoe
5. The outside piece sawed off a balk of timber
None of these definitions really fits, especially as there are ten of them and they are specified as being of iron. They were found in the kitchen along with the bellows so maybe something to do with kitchen life.
I can't see a letter t in that word. I'd suggest ... ten Iron Scures (= skewers).
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Just to say on Line 1 you have
'one Cask one spitt'
I don't think it's cask at all.
It is a 'Jack'.
The capital C appears a lot in other items - Copper, Chest, Chafing dish etc, and it's nothing like the first letter of the word Jack.
This item is grouped with other things made of iron - spit, andirons, fire shovell etc, so I don't think they would have included a cask in with these thing.
According to wikipedia, a jack in this context was 'a roasting jack which rotated the meat on the spit'.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roasting_jack
(Sorry to come late to the party! The difficulties of being on the other side of the world! :) )
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lines 9-10: ... two Curtains and one Rod (not Bed – compare the B in Basons, Brass, Bellows etc.)
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Goldie, much better late than never. Of course its Jack. I even have another inventory with the same word in the same room! Thanks for your contribution.
And Bookbox thanks to you too: both spot on with skewers; and rod which I presume is a for hanging the curtains.
I guess that pretty much puts it to bed with the exception of one last mystery in line 49.
What is "the mans bed and healing". The only thing that comes to mind, being in the garret and thus remote, is some kind of sick or isolation room, with "healing" being a medicine chest. Any other ideas?
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Hilling is a bed covering and may be spelled healing
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For interest
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Hi Clayton and welcome to the fray. "Healing" might be another word for a bed cover, but that begs the question as to why the appraiser chose to use it when he has already used "quilt" twice (in lines 27 and 35). And what about "mans bed"?
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And what about "mans bed"?
Read as: man(servant)'s bed
A household of a certain status would have a maid and a man.
I'm confident Clayton's suggestion is right, given the association with the bed. We don't know what was in their minds when they used these terms. A quilt might be stuffed with down, for example, while a hilling was just cloth.
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Thanks Horsely for that final, very satisfactory, explanation.
Case closed.
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Case closed.
Not quite - I just glanced at line 35 (to see the quilt) and noticed a couple of errors in the transcript:
...Curtains vallance and bace one quilt two blanketts...
bace should mean base.
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Thanks for correcting that mistake, Horseley. Eagle eyes as ever.
I should imagine that discovery prompted you to re-read the whole transcription again; so would it now be safe to say "case closed"? ;)
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I should say that I don't necessarily ever have time to proofread a 53 line inventory just for love of doing so.
However I have checked through now and found the following matters which I think haven't been covered. Apologies to the other poster if I'm wrong. (I should have picked up 45 & 46 at first looking but I was heading to bed at the time.)
15: ...Ligg'd Keelers...
18: ...Six Crooks... (not Casks)
43: Actually spelt pillow barrs (should be same meaning as beres)
45: ...Huccaback Table Cloth and twelve Napkins (Cloth is plural in the transcript.)
46: ...& twelve Napkins
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Many thanks, Horseley for that final push - the exception has been noted and is very much appreciated.
I see there are some 20 definitions of “crook” in the English Dialect Dictionary but the third one seems the most relevant with: "an iron hook and chain suspended in a kitchen chimney, on which the cooking vessels are hung over the fire". We live and learn! By the way, I presume that Ligg'd can be read as Legged.
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By the way, I presume that Ligg'd can be read as Legged.
Yes.