Wills & Probate · Getting Started · June 2026
Can’t Read an Old Will? Here’s What To Do
You’ve found an ancestor’s will and you cannot read a word of it. You are not alone — and you are not failing. Old English wills written in secretary hand look almost nothing like modern handwriting. Here is why they are so difficult, what your options are, and when professional transcription is the right answer.
as it seems
Secretary Hand · Getting Started · June 2026
What is Secretary Hand?
A clear guide to the script used in British legal and administrative documents from roughly 1550 to 1750 — what it is, where it came from, and why certain letters look so unfamiliar to the modern eye.
with its furniture
Probate · Research Skills · June 2026
How to Read an Old Probate Inventory
Probate inventories list every object an ancestor owned at death — room by room, shilling by shilling. Where to find them, what they contain, and how to interpret the occupational and social detail they preserve.
to Almightie God
Wills · Family History · June 2026
What Can a Tudor or Stuart Will Tell You?
Beyond the bequests: what the religious preamble, witness names, property descriptions, and debt clauses of a 16th or 17th century will reveal about an ancestor’s life, beliefs, and social world.
Parish Registers · Getting Started · June 2026
I Can’t Read My Ancestor’s Parish Register Entry
Parish registers are among the richest sources for family history — and among the most difficult to read. What the different register types contain, the scripts they use, and how to get a reliable transcription when the handwriting defeats you.
Archives · Research Skills · June 2026
How to Order Documents from The National Archives
A step-by-step guide to finding and ordering documents from TNA at Kew — what catalogue references mean, how the ordering system works, and what to do when you receive a document you cannot read.