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I assume this isn't about the handwriting and that the concern is the language itself.
It's worth noting that French has remained remarkably consistent over the centuries.
Native French-speaking teenagers study the works of Molière (from the 1600s) today with only the occasional archaic word that they need to look up to see what it means.
It's nowhere near as big a difference as there is between Shakespeare and 21st century English.
I assume this isn't about the handwriting and that the concern is the language itself.
It's worth noting that French has remained remarkably consistent over the centuries.
Native French-speaking teenagers study the works of Molière (from the 1600s) today with only the occasional archaic word that they need to look up to see what it means.
It's nowhere near as big a difference as there is between Shakespeare and 21st century English.
I cannot read french. The handwriting is very elegant.(?maybe not the right word?)
At first I was just going to type what I saw into google translate, but it became clear pretty quickly that I couldn't even tell what the letters were in many cases.
Also, use google translate to familiarize yourself with common terminology on genealogy records like born/birth, marriage(s)/married, betrothal(s), engagement(s), marriage bann(s), died/death/burial, month, day, year, child, male/female, parents/mother/father, witnesses, godparents, etc. If they spell out numbers, familiarize yourself with those too. If you know what the word should look like, it's easier to spot it on the handwritten record. It's because none of the words are familiar that you're having a hard time making out the letters. The tutorial will help in identifying letters too.
I've taken this approach with Italian, German, and Norwegian records and done pretty well in finding the right records and extracting the important info.
Also, if you're working with church records, they might be in Latin so watch out for that.
Also, use google translate to familiarize yourself with common terminology on genealogy records like born/birth, marriage(s)/married, betrothal(s), engagement(s), marriage bann(s), died/death/burial, month, day, year, child, male/female, parents/mother/father, witnesses, godparents, etc. If they spell out numbers, familiarize yourself with those too. If you know what the word should look like, it's easier to spot it on the handwritten record. It's because none of the words are familiar that you're having a hard time making out the letters. The tutorial will help in identifying letters too.
I've taken this approach with Italian, German, and Norwegian records and done pretty well in finding the right records and extracting the important info.
Also, if you're working with church records, they might be in Latin so watch out for that.
I have familiarized myself with the basic words and that has been enough to extract the pertinent info from the typical record. I know most of the words you mentioned above and typically that is all I am concerned with.
I have this one record, however that I would like to be able to translate the entire thing because recently the parentage of one of my ancestors was called into question. So I am just curious if there may be any clues in the rest of the text that may help prove or disprove his assertion.
You are 100% correct when you make the comment "If you know what the word should look like, it's easier to spot it on the handwritten record".
I know what I am looking for typically and so yeah, there have been times that even though I cannot make out every letter exactly I know from experience and proximity to other words that the word is this or that.
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Originally Posted by chadgates
I have familiarized myself with the basic words and that has been enough to extract the pertinent info from the typical record. I know most of the words you mentioned above and typically that is all I am concerned with.
I have this one record, however that I would like to be able to translate the entire thing because recently the parentage of one of my ancestors was called into question. So I am just curious if there may be any clues in the rest of the text that may help prove or disprove his assertion.
You are 100% correct when you make the comment "If you know what the word should look like, it's easier to spot it on the handwritten record".
I know what I am looking for typically and so yeah, there have been times that even though I cannot make out every letter exactly I know from experience and proximity to other words that the word is this or that.
If you're looking for an illegitimate birth, there won't be a mention of a father. One of my great grandmothers had an illegitimate son. On the record of his christening, it gave his name, that he was her son, & the names of his godparents. It's not what's there, it's what's not there that counts.
I find the writing to be elegant, stylish, and completely illegible. It doesn't help that it is French, but I am finding the same thing in British records before a certain time period. In English, you can try to guess what it says, but they don't include any identifying information so you can't tell if that John Smith is your John Smith, because it will have nothing but his name. Plus the name is often spelled differently in different records.
OP, is there a university near you? Someone well versed in both French and history might be able to help you.
A Wedding in which the autority sad he did everything to do, that the gay can marry. No reference to church....letter awful..just that the had an awful letter, a particular.
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