Can someone translate 1 short paragraph from a Will ?
I will attach the final probate statement which was written in 1648. I believe some of it might be in Latin. It is the Will of Richard Ruth, and I believe his wife Alice is mentioned.
Answers
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This is what I call the "Probatum" often written on the back of the will. It is almost always written in Latin (England stopped using Latin in legal records in 1733). I'll give you the transcription and then the parts that I'm comfortable with a translation.
Transcription (based on my somewhat ignorant understanding of Latin but decent ability at reading early modern English)
Probatu[m] fuit humoi Testamenta[m] vicesimo sexto die mensis Septembris Anno Dm [Domini]
1648 apud villa[m?] Scti [Sancti?] Albani Coram mag’ro Johanne Browne Clercio ni Artibus
Mag’ro surro’ ven[erabi]lis viri Thomae Goad lega’ Doctoris offilis ni et p[ar]totus Archinata’
D?i?i Albani London Diocess Com’issay fuit administraco ominu’ et Singulora’
bonoru[m] juriu’ creditoru[m] Ec [etcetera] Aliciae Ruth viduae Relictae et executrici Ec Jurat
Ec Pr’sente me Nicholas Rolfe Notario Publico
Translation (my best shot at it anyway)
Probate was made [humoi? Not sure but it’s clearly written] of the Will 26th day, month of September AD
1648 in St. Albans before magistrate John Browne Clerk in Education
Honorable magistrate surrogate Mr. Thomas Goad [legam?] Doctor [offilis] for and whole[?] Archdeacon
of Alban London Diocese Commissary made administration all and singular
good right creditors etc. Alice Ruth, widow, relict and executrix etc. juror
etc. presented I Nicholas Rolfe Notary Public
It's all really common in probatums. It essentially says the date the will was proven (versus dated). It means the testator is dead whereas he or she is living when the will is dated. It indicates the court being the Archdeaconry of St. Albans (Hertfordshire), which was in the Diocese of London and who presides over the archdeaconry with someone acting in his behalf. It indicates that Alice Ruth was the widow and executrix of the will.
I hope this helps.
Dan
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Let me add that the Latin uses a lot of abbreviations. I indicated these by using an apostrophe (').
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Wow, you did good! Thanks so much. I've done my best in translating the rest of the document, but there several other places I'm lost. I think they are talking about land in St Albans that is being bequeathed to my ancestors. Would you mind giving it a look? No Latin in this section.....I hope.
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I'd be happy to help. I've taught reading "old English" handwriting many times and it's one of my favorite things to do 🙂 Would you attach the front side of the will for me? I'm happy to ready a particular section. If you'd like a full transcription then what I'd love for you to do is transcribe what you can as best you can and then I'll get whatever you can't quite make out.
Kind regards,
Dan
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Wow, I'm so fortunate to find you and your skills. I'll try and attach the original page, and then download my version. Each line I numbered so I could remember where I was working. The blanks denote a word and sentence I was totally lost on.
Looks like I'll have to send you my translation in snap shots as I have it saved in word which will only save in PDF and won't attach below. Sorry. I'll work on that.
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Sorry but this will be page by page
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Page 3 of 4
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Try this link, which should give you the total translation as best as I could make it.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w3LyzA1gAkK10-QJCSA7ry_y67YPtd6g/view?usp=sharing
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No worries. The link worked great and I'm on it. I'll get at least some done today but the will itself is beautiful and I haven't seen anything difficult to read. I'll add some footnotes that may be clues for what to watch for as you continue reading these.
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I'm copying the text into a Word doc.
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Here's the transcription. I tried to be fairly precise. I'm sure auto-correct probably changed some of what you had typed. Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Dan
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1txh2jQHm-qNfzoTJHnpbHWEun80YM4rZ/view?usp=sharing
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Still cant access that link, it says I need your approval to open the link.
Sorry about that, I'm looking forward to several missing pieces in that Will. I'm still working on the first page of Robert Ruths Will, and actually I'm pretty happy with my progress. When I'm done I'll send it on to you to see if the "teacher" approves.
Thanks Sue Tisdall
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I'm so sorry Sue. I'm really looking forward to you seeing it. Would you mind giving me your email address and I'll send it from my FamilySearch one? You're referring to 1625, right? I've looked at it and I'm pretty confident I can get it.
Kind regards,
Dan
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No problem, and thanks again. No you were working on the Richard Ruth of 1648 Will. I think I have the 1625 by Robert Ruth finished well enough for what I want. But its the Richard Ruth that is my 7th time great grandfather that is even more important. thanks so much! Suetis@Verizon.net
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Thank you, Dan, for helping this lady. I think this may help others to realize that they can get this kind of help from community.
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