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I'm sorry if this question sounds strange but I'm not sure where else in the world to post it.

I have an eighteenth-century will that I'd like to be able to read, but I have very little practice in the art and find the document difficult to parse:

enter image description here

Are there professionals whom one can hire to transcribe a document of this sort? I would be grateful for any advice others can offer on this question.

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    @LarsBosteen As someone who gets paid to do exactly this sort of thing as an historical researcher in archives, I'd certainly hope that questions like this are on topic here! ;-)
    – sempaiscuba
    Aug 30, 2018 at 0:20
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    It may start something like "I John Hamilton Moon(?) of King Street Tower Hill in the County of Middlesex"
    – Henry
    Aug 30, 2018 at 11:24
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    @Henry wow that's a good start! This is the will of John Hamilton Moore, a printer accused of copyright infringement in at least three cases for reprinting other printer's images. There's little available material on image copyright infringement in the eighteenth century (copyright for images only comes from 1735), which is what makes me interested in the author. Thanks for this head start!
    – duhaime
    Aug 30, 2018 at 12:16
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    You could try posting it on Genealogy
    – OldCurmudgeon
    Aug 30, 2018 at 14:05
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    Also, there loads of awesome people on Rootschat who just love this sort of thing.
    – OldCurmudgeon
    Aug 30, 2018 at 14:07

1 Answer 1

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The short answer is yes.

The detail will depend on where in the world you are based. In the UK, for example, we have the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives. Their website includes a search form to help you find a researcher who can help you with this kind of research.

However, having said that, I suggest having a look at the palaeography resources on the UK National Archives website. It can be a fairly straightforward process - when you get your eye in - and it is usually far more satisfying to transcribe these documents yourself.

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    Thanks very much @sempaiscuba this is perfect. I'll try and get through this myself, because I agree that would be most rewarding...
    – duhaime
    Aug 30, 2018 at 0:10

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