Example 1:  Excerpt from a 1680 Oxfordshire Will

Transcription:

     ...

Title & Interest which I have in that messuage or tenement & One yard Land of Arable meadow & Pasture

Ground with Th’appurtenances, & all & all manner of Houses Orchards Gardens Profits Commodities Advantages Emo-

luments & hereditaments whatsoever thereunto belonging, lately purchased of George Holman Esquire, & now in þe

Tenure or Occupation of Dorothy Roberts widow, lying situate & being in þe parish of Wendlebury aforesaid

& Chesterton in þe said County of Oxon ; Item I give and bequeath unto þe said Henry All that one Acre of

meadow Ground with Th’appurtenances lying and being in þe Fields Precincts and Territories of Burcester-Kings-end

in þe said county of Oxon, lately purchased of Sir John Holman, & formerly belonging to m. Henry Standerde:

     ...

Note the use of the thorn 'þ' (often transcribed as 'y').  Hence, 'þe' = 'the', (but often transcribed as 'ye').

 Example 2:  Excerpt from a 1550 Northamptonshire Will

Transcription:

     ...

...arde xx s in monney   Item I geve to iiij off myne owne ſyſters xx s

apeaſe   Item I geve to Jone burlyng a horſe whyche I dyd by laſte j mare

and a mare fyllye one cowe and a yearlynge heyfur and ij peyre off

whelles[obscured]   Item I geve to viij chylderne of Jone burlyngs to every one off

them one ſheppe apeaſe   Item I geve to Jone burlyng one todde off wolle ij

good ſheppe iij lames Runyng owt of the folde my dettſ that ſhe owyth

Note the archaic spelling, the use of the long-s 'ſ' and the use of Roman numbers.

Translation to Contemporary English:

     ...

...arde 20 s. in money   - Item: I give to 4 of my own sisters 20 s.

apiece  - Item:  I give to Joan Burling a horse which I did buy last, 1 mare

and a mare filly, one cow and a yearling heifer and 2 pair of

wheels   - Item:  I give to 8 children of Joan Burling's to every one of

them one sheep apiece  - Item:  I give to Joan Burling one tod[1] of wool, 2

good sheep, 3 lambs running out of the fold, my debts that she owes

Note 1:

tod (n.) - an English unit of weight, chiefly for wool, commonly equal to 28 pounds (12.7 kilograms) but varying locally.

  Example 3:  TBA

Other Work:

Feel free to browse my transcriptions for the Oxfordshire Family History Society website Here (most with surname TRAFFORD).