I think the scarcity of paper may have been common in the 1950s. My Dad was a sale rep. (in those days a commercial traveler). The back of the second copy of the orders he wrote out (and the use of the old carbon paper) were our drawing paper. We considered ourselves very lucky to have this. Regards to all. Macha in NZ -----Original Message----- From: essex-uk-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:essex-uk-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of La Greenall Sent: Thursday, 18 September 2008 5:07 a.m. To: davidhoye@xtra.co.nz; essex-uk@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [Ess] Elmdon, Essex. I would guess that a rector would have finished practicing his handwriting skills long beforehand and now had other more important 'exercises' to preoccupy him, whilst a newly-appointed clerk might well have good reason to brush his skills up, especially if his education in such things had been modest. Why in the front of the register? I bet plain paper was either scarce or expensive, or both. It might also indicate a new appointment, as someone who'd been in the post for a while might well have been able to build up a small supply of scraps of paper for rough notes etc.; perhaps the backs of redundant notices, bills, and deeds. I can almost feel the excitement of this new young clerk at discovering a whole blank inner front cover to the register, just waiting for him to fill it in his bestest hand possible with great glee! A bit like having a right good swivel on your office chair when you get given a new desk at work. I've had a few old (Victorian and slightly earlier) books with spines in very poor condition, and a peep at the layers in the spine usually reveals the re-use of already-printed paper, old book pages, handbills and so on, so even in more recent times paper wasn't discarded like it is today. Did you know that there's a Rootsweb list dedicated to the HOY name? I also found this website via Google: http://www.hoy.org.uk/ A brief look at its message board brought up one small thread on Elmdon, Essex HOYs from 2002, though in itself it isn't very helpful. However, starting up a new thread might produce some results. Lawrence -----Original Message----- From: essex-uk-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:essex-uk-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of David Hoye Sent: 17 September 2008 10:47 To: essex-uk@rootsweb.com Subject: [Ess] Elmdon, Essex. The first two pages of the pr, which begins 1618, are "testers". On the first page in a good hand is written, repeatedly, "John Hoy is my name" Was he the rector? Does anyone have a copy of "The Hoys of Elmdon" by P. Hoy? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Any problems, please contact the List Admin: Essex-UK-admin@rootsweb.com ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ESSEX-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.6.21/1671 - Release Date: 14/09/2008 07:16 No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.6.21/1671 - Release Date: 14/09/2008 07:16 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Any problems, please contact the List Admin: Essex-UK-admin@rootsweb.com ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ESSEX-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.169 / Virus Database: 270.6.21/1675 - Release Date: 9/16/2008 7:06 PM