Recently I ordered a death certificate for an Isaac William Davey who died in Somerset in the late 1918. I know that my Davey ancestors originally came from Somerset and did not know where one of the Isaacs had died. I have since been told by a generous reader where my Isaac now lies.I will receive a hard copy and an e-mail copy. The latter has already arrived and within it was a free copy of a palaeography guide which is just so useful. Here it is:

This will be a great help when deciphering archive records online or in paper form. Letters that can be particularly hard to recognise in their old form are F, H, I, J and Z.

The other thing I have done recently is order a book called ‘Jersey Alphabet‘ from Ex Libris which I discovered while searching through the internet. Here it is:

It is a lovely read and covers all things Jersey from A To Z. From ABREUVOIR ( a roadside watering place, mainly for animals) to ZOO ( of course Gerald Durrell’s famous haven for endangered species).