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Extractions of Several Wills, Decrees, Agreements, Articles of Marriage: Isle of Man,
1675 1775
(with a few Episcopal Wills where noted)
Transcribed by Joyce M. Oates
Joyce explains: "The enclosed Wills and Deeds of Gifts, etc., that I have extracted are not always word for word to the original.
There are several reasons for this. The film copies I used were not always good. Some words I am unfamiliar with and, when added to less clear writing, I made a best guess. Some wills have been eaten away at the edges. Some words were automatically corrected by my word processor program. Some words I changed into modern U.S. spelling so that it made more sense to me and was easier to read in the finished form.
Some words like and I typed out completely even when they were abbreviated, such as with &, for it was faster for me to do so. Some words I wrote out completely instead of abbreviating because, again, they made more sense that way (e.g., Executor is abbreviated several ways in the wills).
Some words I dont have the ability to use the original short-hand for, such as common, where a bar was placed over just one m and thus denoting a double m, with the word originally written comon (besides which, my program would automatically correct it).
I also transcribed the funny s of bygone days into an s of today, and not into an f as is so frequently done. The double ff at the beginning of a proper name was transcribed as F, and there are probably other instances of similar transcriptions.
Lastly, I generally wrote out names completely when they were abbreviated; it made it easier for me to do quick reads later and pick out the names I was searching for if I did that. The relationships of the people, though, are there, so it is a beginning to your search for more information."