<<snipped>> On findmypast and familysearch I found a reference to his christening on 23 february 1639 with a father of Johis. <<snipped>> You're in "Latin" names at that point. So far as I can see the letters *are* Johis but with an abbreviation bar above, so I'd transcribe it - rightly or wrongly - as Joh'is. This is short for "Johannis", the Latin form of John. James would be rendered as "Jacobus" or some abbreviation of it. The letter like a reversed "3" is a form for "h" - none of the "b" variants in my book (Hilary Marshall's "Palaeography for Family & Local Historians") look anything like this. Adrian B PS - "Latin" at this point is often referred to as "Church Latin" as it tends not to look too much like Caesar's language, so some English names, with no Roman equivalents, are barely altered.

All, Thank you very much for the prompt replies! This does leave me in a bit of a pickle, since earlier folks researching Thomas's father were convinced he is James, but there's no evidence right now for that. The search continues. I appreciate everyone's help. Cheers,, Tony On Fri, Jul 18, 2014 at 5:48 AM, Adrian Bruce <abruce@madasafish.com> wrote: > <<snipped>> > On findmypast and familysearch I found a reference to his christening on > 23 > february 1639 with a father of Johis. > <<snipped>> > > You're in "Latin" names at that point. So far as I can see the letters > *are* > Johis but with an abbreviation bar above, so I'd transcribe it - rightly or > wrongly - as Joh'is. This is short for "Johannis", the Latin form of John. > James would be rendered as "Jacobus" or some abbreviation of it. > > The letter like a reversed "3" is a form for "h" - none of the "b" variants > in my book (Hilary Marshall's "Palaeography for Family & Local Historians") > look anything like this. > > Adrian B > PS - "Latin" at this point is often referred to as "Church Latin" as it > tends not to look too much like Caesar's language, so some English names, > with no Roman equivalents, are barely altered. > > >