Could these have been written by the same person?

[rolt968]

Could the same man have written both of these documents?

1. This is an extract from a church roll of honour. (Remember it is calligraphy.)

 

2. This is part of Charles MacDonald's attestation form (from his soldier's record, ancestry) which I think contains normal handwriting:

 

[thetrenchrat22]

Where is the Roll Of Honour

[Guest]

 I think not.  The capital letter "P" on the Roll of Honour, repeated several times, has a distinct extra curlicue in it's main body.  And an extra flourish on the upright of the P at the bottom.  That in Macdonald's writing has neither (=Florence Place on form)

 

[rolt968]

 I think not.  The capital letter "P" on the Roll of Honour, repeated several times, has a distinct extra curlicue in it's main body.  And an extra flourish on the upright of the P at the bottom.  That in Macdonald's writing has neither (=Florence Place on form)

 

Thank you.

 

I am trying to keep an open mind.  I had actually been more worried by the absence of the tail on the "F".  If the names are in some form of calligraphic script(?) curls might be added but missed out in his nromal handwriting. Or would they?

 

I am very sure that he actually created the format for the RoH (His name is on the bottom together with the date "February 1915"). He was a designer for a local textile company. I'm guessing that he was a a trained draughtsman.

 

Sadly he's also a later addition to the Roll of Honour and is on the church war memorial. He died of wounds in October 1916.

 

When I first saw it three or four years ago I had assumed that "CHARLES MACDONALD" at the foot was the name of a firm of printers. It is only when I started to research one or two men on the war memorial and the RoH that I saw that Charles MacDonald was a designer and looked again at the photos (not very good ones) which I had taken as precaution and realised that the frame/format - a Corinthian arch - had most likely been drawn in ink by a draughtsman.

 

The first twenty three names (at least) are in the script shown. The list of twenty three names filled the arch. There are fifty two names in total. The rest listed below the steps of the arch and on the top. Quite a lot of the later names are certainly not in that script.

 

Unfortunately the RoH and the church documents for the period are in the local archives and locked down at present. I will supply more information about the Roll of Honour itself later but would rather leave it until after I have written something about it for the church.

 

RM

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

2 minutes ago, rolt968 said:

Charles McDonald

Is he the same man as MacDonald?

[rolt968]

23 minutes ago, Dai Bach y Sowldiwr said:

Is he the same man as MacDonald?

Apologies. I knew I would make that mistake sooner or later. I have corrected it.

[Marilyne]

Calligraphy is a pretty "standard" writing. My sister did it for a while ages ago and her calligraphed notes looked nothing like her normal handwriting. 

 

M.

[rolt968]

1 hour ago, Marilyne said:

Calligraphy is a pretty "standard" writing. My sister did it for a while ages ago and her calligraphed notes looked nothing like her normal handwriting. 

 

M.

True. When I was young my father did calligraphy for a while. I thnk he changed his handwriting style about the same time (apart from his signature) from copper plate to something like simplified calligraphy.

Edited 25 October , 2020 by rolt968

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

I don't think anyone could prove definitively that he didn't write it.

I think there is a very high level of circumstantial evidence  that he did.

[rolt968]

2 hours ago, Dai Bach y Sowldiwr said:

I don't think anyone could prove definitively that he didn't write it.

I think there is a very high level of circumstantial evidence  that he did.

Thank you. I think that's true.

I was well trained in presenting genealogical and similar evidence and in a case like this would use something like "It is very likely that.." I'm nor sure what the readers of a church magazine would make of that.

RM