The poser we’ve set you this week tests your ability with 19th century handwriting. You’ll notice from the examples some of them suffer from interference from above and below. This is very common in 19th century handwriting. Other features to note are the slope of the writing, which can often make the letters narrower and subsequently more indistinct. Letters like a, e and o suffer a lot from this because the chamber of the letter gets flattened. Watch out for what looks to us like capital Ks in the middle of words, they should be transcribed as a small k unless they’re the second part of a Mac name such as MacKinnon.

All of the examples are names taken from testaments and some of the examples contain the rest of the writing that was around about them to help you identify particular letters. There are 5 male and 5 female names to work out. Some of the names are a little unusual. Good luck!

Help
For help with reading the poser, use our coaching manual. The following areas may be of particular assistance.

Capital letters
Alphabets


Answer