I would have thought it would be a better more highly paid class of clerks. After all, surely the two provinces would have had the pick of the bunch when it came to their staff? Each diocese seems to have had different systems of copying too. At Lichfield, probate documents are not copied into books or continuous rolls. They are each copied invidividually and stored in bundles tied with pink tape. Occasionally they are not copied at all and the wills and inventories are the originals. These are a great help as you can identify more easily the 'unofficial solicitors' in your locality by the handwriting. What is more, the witnesses are always given in these cases besides the signature or mark of the testator. I believe the provinces had all their wills copied and the inventories appear, for the most part, to be lost - a great pity in my opinion. Audrey ----- Original Message ----- From: "Keith Griffiths" <kgriffiths5000@btinternet.com> To: <OLD-ENGLISH-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, May 09, 2004 7:05 AM Subject: [OEL] Handwriting > >From the fair number of wills I have, I notice that the handwriting of the > registered wills from the Prerogative Court is much better than > those of the Consistory and Archdeaconry Courts. Is this just a coincidence > or is there a story to tell here? > ~~ > Keith Griffiths > > > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.677 / Virus Database: 439 - Release Date: 04/05/2004 > > > ==== OLD-ENGLISH Mailing List ==== > Going away for a while? > Don't forget to UNSUBSCRIBE! > OLD-ENGLISH-L-request@rootsweb.com > >