Historical context

Signing, sealing and witnessing

A deed or a will ends with the people who made it valid. Their names, marks and seals are often the hardest part of the page to read.

Signatures and marks

Marks: People who did not sign made a mark: a cross, an initial or a sign of their own. The clerk wrote the name beside it.Spufford
Not proof of illiteracy: Reading was taught before writing, and many who could read never learnt to write. A mark says only that the person did not sign.Spufford
per me: Latin for 'by me', written before a signature: per me phelyp hobyD&K-S p. 124; P&Y p. 24

Seals: Deeds and bonds were sealed, usually in wax, on the document or on a tag hanging from itHector pp. 16–17; Alcock
In witness whereof: The closing words before the signing: the party has 'set my hand and seal'D&K-S p. 124; Petti p. 123
Signed, sealed and delivered: A deed took effect when it was handed over. The witnesses note that it was sealed and delivered in their presence.Petti p. 123; Alcock
Witnesses: Named at the foot or on the back, often with their own marksAlcock
Dockets: A note on the back saying what the document is, often added when it was filedHector p. 13

Petti: A. G. Petti, English Literary Hands from Chaucer to Dryden (1977)
D&K-S: G. E. Dawson and L. Kennedy-Skipton, Elizabethan Handwriting 1500–1650 (1966)
P&Y: J. F. Preston and L. Yeandle, English Handwriting 1400–1650 (1999)
Hector: L. C. Hector, The Handwriting of English Documents (1958)
Spufford: M. Spufford, 'First steps in literacy', Social History 4 (1979)
Alcock: N. W. Alcock, Old Title Deeds (1986)

Facts from these sources, in our own words. Page numbers are the printed pages.