Anyone good with old handwriting?

[2Btoo]

Chaps

A friend has inherited this letter from her parents, but we're struggling to read it.

If anyone is any good with old-fashioned handwriting and fancies a pop then do let me know what you think it says.

Thanks!

Edited by 2Btoo on Sunday 1st December 21:56

[ApOrbital]

You owe me 50 notes bh.

[gotoPzero]

LOL

[Jayzee]

Not much help, but I googled the address. Beautiful building - unchanged since that letter was written.

[croyde]

You've ended up with my private prescription again.

[Norgles]

Looks like this to me

Dear not sure,

Have ordered a copy of the Service I sent to you which you can read on Coronation Day. It is extremely historical, that for 500 years a Coronation Service like this was definitely a Service of prayer & Consecration as had grown up after Godly reforms were sacrificed by the middle ages. I trust that all bearers may realise the solemn importance of this.

I think there is a good spirit in London that many feel some awe at the great issues involved. I am to be at John’s Ames Rifle Saturday & Sunday I preach at Woolston. But there will be too much for me to get over to Mayfield. I hope you are well & resting

Yours sincerely,
Signature

The book will be a memorial for Beth

[The Gauge]

The only words I read were 'sexiest' and 'coronation'. Not quite the two words I'd expect to read in the same sentence

[Randy Winkman]

No idea but that writing is both brilliant and terrible at the same time.

[ApOrbital]

Sorry for the joke bad taste


I can read some of it, nice hand writing BWT.

[skyebear]

"Dear Sir,

I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to extend a very special invitation to you, one that could change your life forever.

As you may be aware, Nigeria is a country of immense wealth and prosperity, and I am proud to say that I am a prince of this great nation. Recently, I have come into possession of a fortune worth $100,000,000 and I would like to extend an invitation to you to share in this wealth.

I believe that with your hard work and determination, you have the potential to turn this fortune into something truly great. Whether you want to start a business, invest in property, or simply enjoy a life of luxury, this money is yours for the taking.

So if you are interested in joining me on this incredible journey, please do not hesitate to reply to this letter. I would be honored to have you by my side as we embark on this new chapter together.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Best regards,

Adewale, Prince of Nigeria"

[essayer]

[ApOrbital]

This is not going well

[languagetimothy]

Is there a story behind the letter? Why was it kept, a relative, someone famous? Assuming the date is 1911 what is the name? or it is 2011 and that signature is Chris deburgh…..

These properties are quite prestigious and back in the day would still have been..

Quite pricey now!

http://www.overstreet.co.uk/terraced-for-sale-park...

[K87]

Dear Bamford

Have ordered a copy of the Service I sent to you which you can read on Coronation Day. It is extremely historical, that for 500 years a Coronation Service like this was definitely a Service of prayer & Consecration as had grown up after Godly reforms were sacrificed by the middle ages. I trust that all bearers may realise the solemn importance of this.

I think there is a good spirit in London that many feel some awe at the great issues involved. I am to be at John’s Ames Rifle Saturday & Sunday I preach at Woolston. But there will be too much for me to get over to Mayfield. I hope you are well & resting

Yours sincerely,
Signature

The book will be a memorial for Beth


Coronation day was 22nd June 1911

[2Btoo]

Guys,

Many thanks for the answers. Particular thanks to K87 and Norgles who have both come up with what looks like a very fair transcript of what was written.

Jayzee and languagetimothy: it is indeed a lovely property and relatively unchanged outside in the last 100 years, although it has been altered quite significantly inside.

I'm not at liberty to give any details but there is indeed a story behind it (there always is!). The address is as significant as the date. And I can assure you that the author was not Chris de Burgh!

Thanks again for your input - it's much appreciated.

[K87]

2Btoo said:

Guys,

Many thanks for the answers. Particular thanks to K87 and Norgles who have both come up with what looks like a very fair transcript of what was written.

Jayzee and languagetimothy: it is indeed a lovely property and relatively unchanged outside in the last 100 years, although it has been altered quite significantly inside.

I'm not at liberty to give any details but there is indeed a story behind it (there always is!). The address is as significant as the date. And I can assure you that the author was not Chris de Burgh!

Thanks again for your input - it's much appreciated.

Thanks for posting, it was an interesting exercise.

Handwriting changed a lot in the 1940s when this style of writing was in decline and much more so when the ball point became almost standard use from the mid 50s onwards.

Thanks again.

[croyde]

I must applaud the posters that deciphered that letter as I have trouble working out what my ol' mum has written in my birthday cards.

Well done

[The Gauge]

Did something happen in this thread that caused posts to be deleted?

K87 said:

Thanks for posting, it was an interesting exercise.

Handwriting changed a lot in the 1940s when this style of writing was in decline and much more so when the ball point became almost standard use from the mid 50s onwards.

Thanks again.

You have good knowledge on the subject, does your work utilise this knowledge or do you just have good general knowledge of handwriting?

Also, I find it interesting how the introduction of a different pen can change peoples handwriting. Assuming the OP's letter was written with a fountain pen, what is it about that pen and a ball point pen that promotes a change in hand writing style? Was it that the ball point pen cant create such a flamboyant style of writing?

[K87]

The Gauge said:

Did something happen in this thread that caused posts to be deleted?

K87 said:

Thanks for posting, it was an interesting exercise.

Handwriting changed a lot in the 1940s when this style of writing was in decline and much more so when the ball point became almost standard use from the mid 50s onwards.

Thanks again.

You have good knowledge on the subject, does your work utilise this knowledge or do you just have good general knowledge of handwriting?

Also, I find it interesting how the introduction of a different pen can change peoples handwriting. Assuming the OP's letter was written with a fountain pen, what is it about that pen and a ball point pen that promotes a change in hand writing style? Was it that the ball point pen cant create such a flamboyant style of writing?

I have been collecting and repairing old fountain pens all my life just as a hobby, Sometimes for other people but more often just for myself, I have a few specialisations but that is away from this.

You may be surprised how often the question comes around, 'can anyone tell me what this old letter is all about'. You try and pick up some clues as to why the letter was written and to what address, especially if it is pre 1840, you then look at the style of writing, the shape of the letters, even the paper that has been used.

This particular letter was written with a good quality steel nibbed dip pen, using blue black ink made from ink powder and water. Because the handwriting is informal you can assume that the sender knew the recipient very well and also that there was some short hand in terms of what is being said, he did not feel the need to go into detailed explanations.

The letter was prior to the wider adoption of the fountain pen and I have the feeling that the writer was comfortable with his tried and tested dip pen, he may not have been an early adopter.

The casual; style of the OPs letter is contrasted with a formal and beautiful style of just a a couple of decades earlier




Some of you may still find this a difficult read but basically it is a teacher from a good school writing to a boys parents telling them that their sons penmanship has improved

This was the aspirational style of writing until the 1940s which required a nib that had some flex to it which allowed for a variation in the width of the line and some flamboyance in lower case long tailed letters, f g j p q and y.

In the 1940s Parker introduced the Parker 51, everyone wanted one and they sold around a million a year, a huge success.



This particular pen was a 51 given to Andrew Cunningham by Eisenhower.

Many great qualities to the 51 but the nib did not flex and you hand to change your style of handwriting to something like this








Americans printed their letters mostly, the Brits tried to carry on with cursive or 'joined up' letters.

When the ball point pen was first introduced it was a another leap forward, we are still 40 years away from email remember, people bought Bic pens in huge numbers and everyone had very similar hand writing, for better or worse.

[K50 DEL]

Chirography, and penmanship in general is a fascinating subject.
During the course of tracing our family tree back through several hundred years (and class levels) we've had to study lots of different styles of writing and I've grown to love deciphering what was so carefully written all those years ago.

When I was at school in the '80s although we were taught to write neatly, the demands were nowhere near so great as they were for my parents and Grandparents, whose cursive style was so easily legible decades after they wrote.