Another thing like this is the y. It has a stroke across it I think and was in effect an additional letter of the alphabet. Along with the long s, it made 28 letters in the alphabet of the day - there were probably another couple too. We see it in Ye Olde Teashop etc - but it was just pronounced th. So, the "ye olde" folk are wrong - it should be just plain "the" these days! The th/y changed earlier than the s/f did though, I believe. Dawn <<In searching the scottish records Russell has been spelt as Rufsell/Rufsel especially in the 1700/1800's. They considered it an old writing. Someone on a list sent me the meaning of the old writing, but I can't seem to find it at the moment. Just recently found them on a 1841 census as Ropsell. I always use the soundex as have found them with all kinds of different variations. Joan B.C. Canada>> __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4913 (20100303) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com

Hi Joan and Dawn Thank you so much for this information. I will pass it on to others in the family. Smiles Pat Darwin Australia Another thing like this is the y. It has a stroke across it I think and was in effect an additional letter of the alphabet. Along with the long s, it made 28 letters in the alphabet of the day - there were probably another couple too. We see it in Ye Olde Teashop etc - but it was just pronounced th. So, the "ye olde" folk are wrong - it should be just plain "the" these days! The th/y changed earlier than the s/f did though, I believe. Dawn <<In searching the scottish records Russell has been spelt as Rufsell/Rufsel especially in the 1700/1800's. They considered it an old writing. Someone on a list sent me the meaning of the old writing, but I can't seem to find it at the moment. Just recently found them on a 1841 census as Ropsell. I always use the soundex as have found them with all kinds of different variations. Joan B.C. Canada>>