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Posted: **12:58 Sat 12 Sep 2015**

jdaw1 wrote:My question asked “whence”. You have answered everything else (though I think the no-expenses cost was 95/-). And Croft was formerly known as Thompson & Croft.

Your question was noted; I did include my best, though perhaps not very useful, response to the question asked:

PhilW wrote: "Wm. Tilliffe" (shortened Wilhelm?) but I have no confidence in that reading

I included the rest as I was not aware of "Thompson and Croft" in case relevant or helpful, if not already clear/known.

Posted: **12:59 Mon 14 Sep 2015**

Joliffe.

Posted: **13:02 Mon 14 Sep 2015**

Having trouble with the first name though.

Posted: **13:06 Mon 14 Sep 2015**

J. C. Iss... ? The second and third letters are both s. They aren't r: see the r in April, and the other s's elsewhere. Based on my belief that the second name is Joliffe, the first initial of the first name is also J, and the first letter of the first surname, which is penned differently, is I. The last letter looks like d. But Issid doesn't sound like a name.

Posted: **13:08 Mon 14 Sep 2015**

Have you other examples of the same hand which would show how a terminal 'd' is written?

Posted: **13:10 Mon 14 Sep 2015**

Meanwhile, this.

Posted: **14:14 Mon 14 Sep 2015**

William Joliffe is plausible. Thank you.

djewesbury wrote:Have you other examples of the same hand which would show how a terminal 'd' is written?

Not obviously. Nonetheless…

Posted: **07:28 Wed 16 Sep 2015**

I am still puzzling over the first name. The initial letter seems like an I but could even be a copperplate G. The second and third letters can't really be anything other than 'ss'. But the last letter could be an 'r' with a flourishing curl (as also shown in the sheet you uploaded) but there is also a dot visible so there could be an 'i' in there. I'm currently baffled.

Posted: **19:12 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

W^m is a common 19^th century abbreviation for William. I am certain that this is William. I am less certain but happy to accept that the surname is Jolliffe.

Posted: **19:22 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

[url=http://www.theportforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10175&p=95112#p95112]Here[/url], a few minutes ago, AHB wrote:I am currently impaired in both my typing ability and my cogency by a bottle of Dow 1970

AHB wrote: I am certain that this is William.

Hmm?

Posted: **19:32 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

DRT wrote:
[url=http://www.theportforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10175&p=95112#p95112]Here[/url], a few minutes ago, AHB wrote:I am currently impaired in both my typing ability and my cogency by a bottle of Dow 1970

AHB wrote: I am certain that this is William.
Hmm?

I repeat, I am certain that this is William.

Perhaps in the morning I may have a different opinion, but right now I am certain it is William.

As a separate but exceedingly important question I would like to know if is it acceptable behaviour to drink Dow 1970 on a train from an empty but not clean Starbucks espresso paper-compound cup? Or is it better to drink from the bottle? If drunk from the paper cup, how many times should I rinse the cup before I post another tasting note?

Posted: **19:34 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

Drink from the bottle. At this time of night you will blend right in to the other commuters. Drinking from a Starbucks' cup will confuse them into thinking it's Friday morning!

Posted: **19:38 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

1875
April 13
Bought by J.C. ???? (surely not Issn, but that's what it looks like), Esq.
of Wm. Jolliffe "1834"
Thompson & Crofts at 95/-
cost with expenses 100/

The first initial and first letter "J.C." and "Jolliffe" are pretty clearly the same to me.

Posted: **19:45 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

DRT wrote:Drink from the bottle. At this time of night you will blend right in to the other commuters. Drinking from a Starbucks' cup will confuse them into thinking it's Friday morning!

Ah. So what you are suggesting is that I should open another bottle of Dow 1970 tomorrow morning and drink it from a Starbucks espresso cup. An excellent suggestion which I will employ tomorrow. Thank you, I am glad that you are my life coach and not anyone else.

Posted: **20:08 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

AHB wrote:
DRT wrote:Drink from the bottle. At this time of night you will blend right in to the other commuters. Drinking from a Starbucks' cup will confuse them into thinking it's Friday morning!
Ah. So what you are suggesting is that I should open another bottle of Dow 1970 tomorrow morning and drink it from a Starbucks espresso cup. An excellent suggestion which I will employ tomorrow. Thank you, I am glad that you are my life coach and not anyone else.

You have no idea how lucky you are. My life coach would not allow me to drink Starbucks

Posted: **20:12 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

I think what Glenn and Alex are saying is that what I posted several days ago is correct

Posted: **20:25 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

djewesbury wrote:I think what Glenn and Alex are saying is that what I posted several days ago is correct

I agree with Daniel.

Excellent. That's another bottle of Dow 1970 to open...

Posted: **21:41 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

AHB wrote:
djewesbury wrote:I think what Glenn and Alex are saying is that what I posted several days ago is correct
I agree with Daniel.

Excellent. That's another bottle of Dow 1970 to open...

I have no Dow 1970 to open, ergo I must disagree with Daniel. That's how it work, right?

Posted: **00:00 Mon 04 Jan 2016**

A vertical of Thompson & Croft, the goodies being bought by Messrs Stanley & somebody. During lunch, with the decanter, in the Partners’ Dining Room — but who was it?

Posted: **00:06 Mon 04 Jan 2016**

_ri_um
The first letter could be G. I'm stumped for now.

Posted: **00:07 Mon 04 Jan 2016**

Inept Stanley and friends.

Posted: **00:08 Mon 04 Jan 2016**

What's the date on the invoice, and where?

Posted: **00:15 Mon 04 Jan 2016**

djewesbury wrote:What's the date on the invoice, and where?

Written in the Corney & Barrow order book on 24 March 1891.

LGTrotter wrote:Inept Stanley and friends.

Methinks a mangled “Mess^rs”. The superscript is quite usual.

Posted: **00:35 Mon 04 Jan 2016**

The second letter is an 'r'. There is a dotted 'i' either third or fourth. The last letter is an 'm'. In between could be a 'u' or an 'n'. But beyond that I have no idea and I can't work out the initial letter. C? I?

Posted: **00:41 Mon 04 Jan 2016**

The first two letters could be "Fr".

Posted: **00:43 Mon 04 Jan 2016**

DRT wrote:The first two letters could be "Fr".

Yes. It could be a lower case 'f' also - it could almost be 'friends' but the last letter is most definitely an 'm'. Or at least it's not a 'ds'.

Posted: **12:25 Mon 04 Jan 2016**

I read it as "friend"

Posted: **16:41 Mon 04 Jan 2016**

Looks like "frieum" to me, which makes no sense. I suspect that "friend" was intended.

Posted: **18:11 Mon 04 Jan 2016**

It could be his last name, "Fieum" or "Feium"

Posted: **19:56 Mon 04 Jan 2016**

I see "Messrs Stanley and frien?".
1. Compare the n to previous ones, it is identical.
2. All other capitals are fully above the line, so I believe the f is most likely to be lower-case.
3. The end doesn't make much sense, with an odd up-stroke.
On the evidence, I would go with "friend"

Posted: **22:08 Tue 05 Jan 2016**

“Mess^rs Stanley & friend” does not make sense in the context. Not, I hasten to add, that I have better.

Another, from the same catalogue—the usual participle acting on a colour is “sealed”. Not here.

Posted: **22:17 Tue 05 Jan 2016**

Cemented.

Posted: **23:15 Tue 05 Jan 2016**

jdaw1 wrote:“Mess^rs Stanley & friend” does not make sense in the context. Not, I hasten to add, that I have better.

Why ever not? I appreciate that I do not have the context here but it seems that Stanley might well have had an anonymous friend with him.

DRT wrote:Cemented.

This was my immediate thought but I bet it is dismissed.

Posted: **23:17 Tue 05 Jan 2016**

DRT wrote:Cemented.

LGTrotter wrote:This was my immediate thought but I bet it is dismissed.

I thought the same, but it was unusual in that context. Presumably those bottles were difficult to open.

Posted: **23:21 Tue 05 Jan 2016**

Or sealed with some sort of plaster rather than wax?

...and I still think it is friend. Perhaps someone who didn't want his presence to be known? Perhaps a lover? Perhaps someone who just said "please put me down as his friend".

Posted: **01:33 Wed 06 Jan 2016**

Friend makes sense. It's just that the last letter really is an 'm'.

Posted: **04:05 Wed 06 Jan 2016**

djewesbury wrote:Friend makes sense. It's just that the last letter really is an 'm'.

Exactly, hence why I thinks it's his last name.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Posted: **15:45 Fri 22 Jan 2016**

Bowen McKechnie?

Posted: **16:03 Fri 22 Jan 2016**

jdaw1 wrote:
Bowen McKechnie?

Looking at the 'n' in 'vintage' in the line above I would agree. It is definitely not McKechmie but if they are 'special' with their lower k, it could possibly be McKenckie...but I think that unlikely.

Posted: **17:42 Fri 22 Jan 2016**

jdaw1 wrote:
Bowen McKechnie?

I would say yes McKechnie - especially as that is a surname that is not uncommon, whereas other potential interpretations produce surnames I've never heard of. Bowen? Looks right, more common as a surname than a first name. Perhaps Bowen McKechnie is a partnership business of some sorts, rather than an individual.

Posted: **21:46 Fri 22 Jan 2016**

flash_uk wrote:Perhaps Bowen McKechnie is a partnership business of some sorts, rather than an individual.

Considering that the line below it appears to say "Corney & Barrow" I'd say that's likely.

Posted: **21:56 Fri 22 Jan 2016**

Settled: Bowen and McKechnie were whisky distillers. The firm still exists, at the same address as Allied Domecq. Thank you all.

Posted: **23:25 Fri 22 Jan 2016**

jdaw1 wrote:The firm still exists

Not quite. The link says the company is dissolved. Also, it was incorporated in 1954, well after the port samples your handwriting refers to, were dispatched.

Posted: **21:51 Fri 11 Mar 2016**

There was a wine merchant Basil Woodd, but this isn’t it. Whence came this Offley 1868?

Posted: **22:35 Fri 11 Mar 2016**

Morse & Woods wine & spirit merchants.

Posted: **09:11 Sat 12 Mar 2016**

Justin K wrote:Morse & Woods wine & spirit merchants.

Agreed. But I can't figure out what the rest of the text says c

Posted: **10:12 Sat 12 Mar 2016**

Agree on Morse Woods. See here.

....
part ??? part ???
as may be arranged

??? took and paid for
10 doz or 120 bottles

Posted: **20:20 Thu 31 Mar 2016**

I am missing one word:

Nov 10/80. •¿?•, fine wine, but wants keeping, rich & sweet, very firm crust & good colour. R.J.

April 28/83. Very sweet. R.J.

Aug 6/84. Very fine wine, rich & good crust, rather too sweet, but flavor is behind. R.J.

Posted: **20:23 Thu 31 Mar 2016**

Looks like "Tried" to me...

Posted: **21:30 Thu 31 Mar 2016**

Glenn E. wrote:Looks like "Tried" to me...

I see 'tried' as well.

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