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Help with a will - is it in Latin??

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  • Help with a will - is it in Latin??

    Hi,

    Yesterday I purchased a 1689 will - Abraham Morrell of Falmouth, Cornwall. I have managed to decipher most of it - but the section at the end has me baffled - I think it's in Latin?

    I can see London (where the will was proved) and the name of Dianah Morrell (his sister) but none of the rest makes sense to me.

    The only important thing to me at present is this: when was the will proved?



    Many thanks for taking a look!
    Kind regards,
    William
    Particular interests: The Cumming families of Edinkillie & Dallas, Moray

  • #2
    date is recorded in 5th line down. I'm working on a translation

    constituti decimo nono die mensis Novembris = established (made?) nineteenth day of the month of November
    Anno Dom.. = in the year of our Lord
    .................... .................... octogemo nono = ......... ......... eighty nine so I assume year was 1689.
    Last edited by JudithM; 19-01-13, 17:17.
    Judith passed away in October 2018

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    • #3
      Thanks Judith - that's quite a talent you have there!
      Does it comment on the year?

      (I'm assuming that the 1689 date on the index referred to the will being made...I found that date in the will itself - rather than the date of probate)
      Last edited by wulliam; 19-01-13, 17:08.
      Kind regards,
      William
      Particular interests: The Cumming families of Edinkillie & Dallas, Moray

      Comment


      • #4
        Have added year to my post above.
        Not a huge talent - I did Latin at school and scored a grade 9 when 1 to 6 were passes and 7 to 9 were fails. If there had been a grade 12 I would probably have got that! Even so recall enough to use for family history with help from an old dictionary.
        Judith passed away in October 2018

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        • #5
          Never mind - I wonder how many of the 'passes' are using their Latin?

          Thanks again!
          Kind regards,
          William
          Particular interests: The Cumming families of Edinkillie & Dallas, Moray

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by wulliam View Post
            (I'm assuming that the 1689 date on the index referred to the will being made...I found that date in the will itself - rather than the date of probate)
            Wills are indexed by date of probate, not by when the will was made or the testator died.
            Retired professional researcher, and ex- deputy registrar, now based in Worcestershire. Happy to give any help or advice I can ( especially on matters of civil registration) - contact via PM or my website www.chalfontresearch.co.uk
            Follow me on Twittter @ChalfontR

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            • #7
              Thanks Antony - I didn't know that!
              Kind regards,
              William
              Particular interests: The Cumming families of Edinkillie & Dallas, Moray

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by JudithM View Post
                Have added year to my post above.
                Not a huge talent - I did Latin at school and scored a grade 9 when 1 to 6 were passes and 7 to 9 were fails. If there had been a grade 12 I would probably have got that! Even so recall enough to use for family history with help from an old dictionary.
                Given the way you can use it now, I suspect that you'd have got better grades if anyone had actually made it seem useful!

                I'm not sure why it clicked with me - probably because it had facts you could learn, and right/wrong answers, so if you could remember the rules and the vocab, you could get high marks (which I liked!). Or perhaps it was because my parents used to highlight the backgrounds to English words, so I could see that knowing Latin (and even the odd Greek word) could help you guess what a new word might mean. Since then it's been very useful for singing - I like to have some idea what I'm singing about.

                Christine
                Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Christine in Herts View Post
                  Given the way you can use it now, I suspect that you'd have got better grades if anyone had actually made it seem useful!

                  I'm not sure why it clicked with me - probably because it had facts you could learn, and right/wrong answers, so if you could remember the rules and the vocab, you could get high marks (which I liked!). Or perhaps it was because my parents used to highlight the backgrounds to English words, so I could see that knowing Latin (and even the odd Greek word) could help you guess what a new word might mean. Since then it's been very useful for singing - I like to have some idea what I'm singing about.

                  Christine
                  Trouble was Christine, although I could remember the grammar rules, and could make a good attempt at deducing the english translation of a Latin word, we also had to translate from English to Latin - my solution to this was to invent Latin words and although they often had a correct ending this didn't seem to impress the examiners :D
                  Judith passed away in October 2018

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by JudithM View Post
                    Trouble was Christine, although I could remember the grammar rules, and could make a good attempt at deducing the english translation of a Latin word, we also had to translate from English to Latin - my solution to this was to invent Latin words and although they often had a correct ending this didn't seem to impress the examiners :D
                    They should have rewarded your initiative! ;)

                    Christine
                    Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

                    Comment

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