Hi Ailsa, I have the same understanding that the literacy rate in Wigtownshire was high. Usually, when someone was required to sign, but could not, the Registrar wrote their name, got the person to make a cross, then added "his/her mark". My guess is that the two + marks in this case have been placed there by the Registrar to indicate to the witness where to write his signature and relationship to the deceased. If you examine the handwriting of James Douglas, the witness, you will see that it is different from the remainder, which was in the hand of the Registrar. That's a good indication that James Douglas knew how to write his own name. Meg may be able to add to or correct this. She has more experience in reading civil registration records than me. Regards, Bruce Date: Mon, 18 Mar 2013 08:37:22 +1100 From: "ailsa158" <ailsa158@optusnet.com.au> Subject: Re: [WIG LIST] 'Ann DOUGLAS nee DALRYMPLE died 1855 Kirkcowan' & '1855 Death, Ann Douglas, Kirkcowan' Many thanks again, Meg and Bruce for your help with the 1855 DC for Ann DOUGLAS nee DALRYMPLE. I appreciated receiving the transcriptions, images and all your comments about the information in the DC. Bruce, it certainly does look like Ann and William were following Scottish naming patterns, which is a good clue to finding William's parents. Meg, you pointed out that there should have been more information in the DC than there was, eg there were no ages of children, nothing to say whether parents were deceased etc. I took another close look at the second of the images you sent me and discovered two " + " , signs one under the other, in the narrow column immediately to the left of the column in which the informant was supposed to sign and give his/her relationship to the deceased. I cannot read the heading of the column to the left so I do not know what the " + " signs mean. The only thought I had was that these could have been the place where an illiterate informant would make their mark if s/he could not sign his own name in the next column. I am surprised if this was the case as my understanding is that the vast majority of people from the Wigtownshire area were literate. Perhaps he had a learning difficulty which also meant he did not know the ages of his siblings! Would you know what the " + " signs mean? Kind regards, Ailsa