At-Home Computer Work

Historical Cursive Handwriting Decipherer

Transcribe nineteenth-century handwritten ship logs and legal ledgers into clear digital files for researchers.

Startup Cost: £0 Location: Remote/Home Difficulty: Easy Useful side income A few hours a week

Earning and time figures are our broad estimates, not guarantees — actual results depend on your area, your effort and demand.

Why it's left-field

You serve as an archive detective translating messy, faded ink calligraphy into clean database entries.

How it works

  1. 1Create a specialised transcriptionist profile.
  2. 2Complete the cursive accuracy assessment.
  3. 3Transcribe scanned historical documents line-by-line.

Official platforms

Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you sign up through one, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you — it helps fund the sanctuary, and we only recommend platforms we'd use ourselves.

Get the Freelance Proofreading & Formatting Kit (£5)

Explore similar

At-Home Computer Work

Property photos sell homes, but agents shoot them in a hurry — retouchers fix skies, straighten walls and brighten rooms from home, per listing.

Startup cost: Startup Cost: FreeLocation: Location: Remote/HomeDifficulty: Difficulty: MediumEarning potential: Potential repeatable businessTime needed: A few hours a week

Why it's left-field

A £300,000 listing hangs on photos taken in eleven minutes by a busy negotiator, so the person who quietly fixes them becomes part of every sale.

At-Home Computer Work

With a £30 foot pedal and free playback software, transcriptionists earn per audio hour from home — interviews, podcasts, meetings and legal notes.

Startup cost: Startup Cost: £30-£60Location: Location: Remote/HomeDifficulty: Difficulty: EasyEarning potential: Useful side incomeTime needed: A few hours a week

Why it's left-field

The pedal is the secret: hands stay on the keyboard while feet rewind, which roughly doubles your speed and makes the per-hour rate respectable.

At-Home Computer Work

Estates need every item photographed, described and priced for online sales — methodical home work that pays per catalogue or a share of sales.

Startup cost: Startup Cost: FreeLocation: Location: Remote/HomeDifficulty: Difficulty: MediumEarning potential: Potential repeatable businessTime needed: A few hours a week

Why it's left-field

Executors dread the task: a houseful of ordinary things that must become an accurate online catalogue, and they'll happily pay someone unemotional to do it.