Читать книгу Collins Tracing Your Family History - Ryan Tubridy, Anthony Adolph - Страница 67

Few things terrify genealogists as much as the use of Latin in old records. Sorry, but that’s the way things were and we’ve got to live with it. If you really can’t cope with basic Latin there are some very good, modestly priced translators, but often you should be able to manage, however poor or non-existent your school-book Latin. Remember, you were not alone and many of the compilers of the records had only the most tenuous grasp of the language, and therefore used it very basically and often with English rather than Latin word orders and plenty of stock phrases.

Especially in parish records, Latin is scarcely an impediment to understanding. That ‘Petrus filius Ricardus et Gracia Smith’ means ‘Peter son of Richard and Grace Smith’ will surprise few. However, just because ancestors’ names were recorded in Latin does not mean they ever used them thus: when Ricardus Smith went to the pub in the evening he was plain Dick and should appear on the family tree as Richard.

Good guides to Latin include E. A. Gooder’s Latin for Local History: An Introduction (Longmann, 1978) and R. A. Latham’s Revised Medieval Latin Word-list from British and Irish Sources (OUP, 1965). There is also one online at www.genuki.org.uk.