Poser 363 - Testament of Christina Stewart of Glenmorvern, 1832

The poser we've set you this week tests your ability with 19th century handwriting. Handwriting from this era can be a bit deceptive. From a distance it often looks neat and regular but on closer inspection can be very difficult to read as the letters are very narrow or close together or both. When the text is written very closely together it can be hard to see clearly where sentences and clauses begin and end. This poser is just such an example and is taken from the testament of Christina Stewart of Glenmorvern, dated 4 December 1832 (National Records of Scotland, SC70/1/47 page 885). Were you to look at the whole of this testament, a number of pages would look as if they were composed of one continuous sentence. Consequently, we’ve chosen this bit of the testament simply because it sits at the bottom of a page, which is why it starts and finishes mid-sentence.

Download a printable version of this week's poser, PDF, 177KB, new window

This week's questions:

1. When were the trustees of Christina Stewart to pay out her legacies?
2. Where did Isabella and Mary live and what sum did they receive?
3. What were the names of Christina's two nieces?

To help you the first line reads: …the trust above mentioned That my said Trustees

Help:

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

Money
Letter i, j, m, n, and u

Answer to this week's poser