Tips for Reading Handwritten Documents

In these days of high tech tools and databases which can answer research queries in an instant, the challenge presented by reading and interpreting handwritten archival documents often comes as a surprise to first time researchers. In fact interpreting old handwriting can be a laborious and time consuming task for even the most experienced.

Sometimes this is because the handwriting is illegible which can appear in documents of any time period! However, it can also be because of the writing styles and conventions used in older records, such as those from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which are so different from those used today.

With acknowledgements to Gail Davis, Lindsay Allen, Richard Gore, Janette Pelosi, Bob Meade, Julie Hallett, David Hunter, Lee, Susan Walter, Pat & Iain Stuart.