📓 BN003 || Deciphering a 19th-Century Will. Pretty tough.

I’ve been working through Lucy Brock will, which I got a copy of from the UK Archives last week. What started as a curiosity has turned into slow transcription work.

The writing is tough to crack. Much tougher than the Land Petitions. Looping ink, archaic legal phrases, and a complete lack of punctuation in places. It’s also very dense. Some of the stylized writing is taking some getting used to. Due to context I was able to decipher “Th” which looks more like “ca” throughout the document. The word below is “Three Rivers.”

It’s a reminder that documents like this were drawn up in a specific time, for specific people. The language and structure assume a shared legal and social world I’m not a part of, or familiar with. But tucked inside these long, winding sentences are small details, mourning rings, mentions of Brockton, some new names, that may add some new perspective on who Lucy was, and where she moved, and her relationship to the neighbourhood.

Still chipping away. It is getting a bit easier as I get used to it. More soon. I’ll be adding my finding to the Research Board.

If you’ve got a good eye for 19th-century handwriting or wills, or just want to take a crack at it can you make heads or tails of this?

Will of Susannah Lucy Quirke Brock, proved 1859, obtained via GOV.UK Wills and Probate service