In message <2b.5aa61151.2e0c563f@aol.com>, AMilb36287@aol.com writes >In a transcription of an English parish register some of the entries (around >1580) give the days in Roman characters, such as "... the xviij October", or >"the xxvijth day of January". I assume that the use of the "j" is just a >convention and the day is actually the 18th and the 27th respectively, but I >would >like to confirm this. yes - the letters i and j were reckoned to be synonymous, but it was regarded as tidier to end a group with j rather than a weaker i. also look out for iiij as 4, instead of iv -- Eve McLaughlin Author of the McLaughlin Guides for family historians Secretary Bucks Genealogical Society