‘Roses Are Red, Dilly Dilly’
Autograph books have been popular from the mid-nineteenth
century onwards. At first, these leather-bound and pocket-sized accessories
were the favourite possessions of young middle-class girls, but increasingly
they were kept by young people of all classes. Such books can now delight
family history researchers in that they are usually filled with the signatures
(and other fascinating contributions) of the close and extended family and
friends of the books’ owners. Autograph books can also prove to be real
treasure troves of extra information relating to the family (including
photographs, and enclosures such as marriage notices and obituaries about those
who have signed them).
Your ancestor might not have kept an autograph book him or herself but he or she might well have signed one owned by someone else. You cannot, of course, search for that fragment of your ancestor’s autograph easily in the archives or online but, as the following case illustrates, some researchers have come across ancestors’ autographs by accident whilst searching archives for something else.
A family history researcher knew that his ancestor was
wounded in the First World War and was sent to recuperate at Derby Royal
Infirmary. He searched the National Archives Website (www.nationalarchives.org) under the
name of the hospital and discovered that Derbyshire Record Office holds the
autograph book of a young nurse, Millicent Jackson, who collected contributions
from many of the soldiers (and staff) at the hospital between 1915 and 1918.
After viewing the autograph book in the archives, the researcher was delighted
to find that there – alongside many other contributions - was his ancestor’s
signature, a poem (possibly original) together with a tiny photograph pasted
into the book by Nurse Jackson. The book also included newspaper cuttings about
the deaths of particular soldiers who had contributed autographs. Many
autograph books like this one have been donated to archives across the country
as part of larger collections of papers.
Click here for more on books by Ruth A. Symes
Five Things to Consider in Your Ancestor’s
Autograph Book
If you do come across an autograph book owned by an ancestor, it may help your family history research in a number of different ways.
1. The most obviously useful entries will be contributions
made by family members that record a name, relationship, and the date and
place where the entry was made. An entry signed ‘Great-aunt Johnson, Wigan,
June 1918’ for example can alert you to the fact that this relation was still
alive and in this location at this particular time.
2. The entries in autograph books nearly always tell you
something about the historical situations and social circles in
which your ancestor lived and moved. There may be contributions from other
members of a household or family, neighbours, school friends, work colleagues
or military regiments. The autograph book of Mrs G. B. Stammer of Brighton
(kept in the Bury St Edmund’s Branch of Suffolk Record Office), for example,
contains the names of the men of The Suffolk Regiment (1915-1918) ninth
Battalion, C Company.
Sometimes you will be able to cross-reference names in
autograph books with other documentary sources. The autograph book of
boarding-school girl Nellie McCarthy, for instance, includes the names of many
of her classmates. The 1901 census shows confirms that girls with these names
were indeed at school with her in Ipswich in 1901.
3. An autograph book can tell you something about the interests
and aspirations of the person who owned it. There may, for example, be
entries from famous people with whom your ancestor was enamoured or from
particular sporting or artistic groups or societies with which the owner of the
book was associated, for example, members of the local football team or amateur
dramatics society.
4. Exactly how a person chose to make his contribution to an autograph book can be an important indicator of what he or she was like. Graphology – a popular pseudo-science since the end of the nineteenth century can help you analyse handwriting, for example. In 1899, the Sunlight Year book described graphology as ‘the science which seeks to discern the character of a man from his handwriting, governed by rules and [] acquired by practice and observation.’ It’s possible that your autograph-hunter ancestor might have used graphology to analyse his own collection. Here are some examples of what aspects of your ancestor’s handwriting might tell you about his or her psychology:
- Ascending
signature - ardour, success and
ambition.
- Descending
signature - lack of confidence in
oneself and melancholy.
- Straight
signature - firmness of nature or honesty.
- Undulating
or wavy signature - subtleness of nature, falsehood.
- Large
capitals at the beginning of the Christian name and surname - boasting,
imagination and frankness.
- Short
final letters on words – economy, reserve and a critical mind.
http://www.paralumun.com/graphology.htm
Site promoting the science of graphology.
Contributors to autograph books betray their personalities in ways other than their handwriting as well. Consider the creative ways in which they have used the pages, turning them upside down, for example, or writing in their corners, folding the pages, or cutting holes in them. The occasion of writing an autograph also gives an opportunity for a contributor to exercise other talents peculiar to himself – sketching and designing word puzzles (such as anagrams and acrostics) being the two most obvious.
5. The choice of verse or ditty may also tell you something about the relationship between the contributor and the owner of the book. Thus my wise but wary grandmother once wrote in the autograph book that I kept in my teens: ‘Love all/Trust few/Learn to paddle your own canoe.’ Another entry by my serious but witty father in the same book commented wryly ‘Without me thou were nought!’
In the past, ‘visitor’ or ‘guest’ books in hotels or places of public interest could function as autograph books with contributors passing comment on what they had seen as well as recording their signatures and date of their visit. In such cases, the entries can create a striking picture of the world in which your ancestor once mixed. Dorothy Smith, the manageress of the Pump Room Teahouse in Bath the 1930s, for example, asked musicians and singers to sign a book after they had performed in the Pump Room’s Concert Hall (or even when they just came in for tea). Signatures included that of Paul Robeson (the influential singer and equalities campaigner), the soprano Dame Isabelle Baillie and the composer and conductor Rachmaninov. Alongside the contributions, Dorothy stuck newspaper articles and photographs – all of which make for a fascinating record of the ‘celebrity’ ambience of that particular place at that particular time. This autograph book can be viewed at Bath and North East Somerset Council’s Record Office.
If your ancestor collected famous signatures, his or her
autograph book (or even individual pages of it) might be valuable. The
professional business of collecting autographs is known as philography and the
price an autograph can demand on the market depends upon:
- who
signed
- exactly
what they wrote
- whether
the signature was in ink or pencil (ink signatures are more valuable)
- the
overall condition of the autograph
Click here for more on books by Ruth A. Symes
Useful Books
Bingham, Eve, Simply Handwriting Analysis: Graphology
Techniques Made Easy, Zambesi Publishing Ltd, 2007.
Branston, Barry. Graphology Explained: A Workbook.
Red Wheel/Weiser, 1991.
Useful websites
Chat page from Good Housekeeping Magazine in which
readers have contributed remembered verses and ditties from autograph books.
For women's history and social history books - competitive prices and a great service - visit:
Keywords: European ancestors, ancestry, family history, genealogy, autograph books, England, English, Europe
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