What is this word?

kernowmaid

kernowmaid

Our very own Cornish Maid
Scandal and intrigue ... from a part of the family where I wouldn't have expected it!
My great great great grandad re-married - at the age of 64!
To a woman younger than his eldest daughter (my gt gt gran, Ann Elizabeth, she who died in the workhouse infirmary in another thread).
And fathered 3 more children before he died 10 years later.

I have a letter written (in 1887)1-1807 pg 1.jpgfrom his younger daughter in Australia to my gt gt gran.
The last 4 lines on this page read:

I know you will do the best you can. I expected the ******* would want to claim all. I know you will ...

What do you think is the missing word? FRIEND? FLOOSIE?
I'm 99% sure this is about their father's money - he died intestate, and I've just received the Probate saying that Ann Elizabeth was the person nominated to deal with it.

All suggestions gratefully received!
Jane

Sorry, the letter appeared in the middle of my message! Hope you can make sense of it!
 
Maybe the missing word is bastard - albeit it is written by a woman - and the word is being used not in the correct manner as say illegitimate but in a criticising, derogatory manner. Just a thought!
Jack
 
HUSSIE! (spelt HUSSE - but you can see from the letter that spelling & punctuation are not the best :rolleyes:)

I don't see "bastard" at all, and it doesn't fit with the mood.
There was no "firm" involved - and I think that "company" would have been used.
But what I thought might be FL now looks like H (why can't I get this close-up on my computer programmes? - TD is brilliant!)
And "hussie" would suit the mood, the generation, and the gender.

Thank you all, especially Granny Barb :)
 
GrannyBarb said:
Flusse (floosie) or Husse (hussy)? Either way - not a kind term.
Click to expand...

What a desperate letter. She must have been in some distress to have written it.

Looking at the writer's other spellings, I'm with GrannyBarb. I suspect it may be hussy [hussi] rather than floosie. The big Oxford English Dictionary only gives 20th century examples for floosie and I suspect she is more likely to have come across hussy as a word rather than floosie. That's a guess of course!


Edit: ...late as usual! ;)
 
I still think it's a capital 'F' - elsewhere I've quite often seen a handwritten one with that short line parallel to the main stem, and for that reason I also don't see it as 'Fl-'. (The other 'l's here are quite tall, and mostly looped.)

Although the writing isn't perfect, it's mostly quite well formed, and I suspect a capital 'H' would have had the two stems of a much more similar length. Would it be possible to see the writing on the back as well, please, to have more to compare it with?
 
Your wish is my command ...
There are 2 letters from this person (Margaret), so I'll include the other for comparisons:

1-1807 pg 2.jpg 1-1807 pg 2.jpg 2-1807 pg 1.jpg 2-1807 pg 2.jpg

Sorry, my finger twitched - so there are 2 the same!
 
The first snip below is the word in question. The second snip is from page 2 of the same letter. To me the first letter looks very similar, I first read the second snip as Mr Fowl, but then I thought it could be Mr Howl.The word in question I think may be 'the Hurn', which doesn't make sense but the best I can do. o_O:rolleyes:

1-1807 page 1 snip.JPG 1-1807 page 2 snip.JPG
 
When you consider her spelling and I don’t mean that as a criticism then I believe the word to be ‘flussi(e). I did compare the two ‘F’ and they seem to be the same. I also believe that is Mr Fowl.
 
Where was the writer from? Joseph Wright's English Dialect Dictionary includes a rare Scottish word 'fum'. It gives just one example, from Ayrshire in 1887, and defines it as "a term of abuse: used of a slovenly woman". You can see the entry at
Code: 
https://archive.org/details/cu31924088038397/page/n529

Added - thanks for the other images, but it's a pity there isn't a capital 'H' in them.
 
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