Hello List, Two of my gg-uncles, Murdoch and David Morrison, appear in the Auchinleck OPR baptisms for 1854. Murdoch was born 1837 and David 1840 and for each it gives birth dates followed by 'baptized by James Chrystal'. Does this mean they were baptized at birth (maybe in a different church) but entered in the OPR several years later or were they not baptized until 1854? Two older siblings seem to have been baptised in 1825 and 1829 but others don't appear at all. Dr Chrystal was there for a long time wasn't he? Best wishes, Mary

They may have been baptised at birth (at this church or another) but if there's no record there's no proof of this. You do find that some Parishes updated the books just before civil registration came it, so that some baptism (and possibly other) records are dated many years after the event may actually have taken place. Further examination of the records for this church may reveal a sudden peak in recording. Alternatively the family may not have been able to afford to record the event at the time, and have paid for an entry later on. Louise On 6 June 2010 10:25, Mary Paton <em.paton86@iinet.net.au> wrote: > Hello List, > > Two of my gg-uncles, Murdoch and David Morrison, appear in the > Auchinleck OPR baptisms for 1854. Murdoch was born 1837 and David > 1840 and for each it gives birth dates followed by 'baptized by James > Chrystal'. > > Does this mean they were baptized at birth (maybe in a different > church) but entered in the OPR several years later or were they not > baptized until 1854? Two older siblings seem to have been baptised in > 1825 and 1829 but others don't appear at all. > > Dr Chrystal was there for a long time wasn't he? > > Best wishes, > Mary > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > AYRSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

> > Alternatively the family may not have been able to afford to record the > event at the time, and have paid for an entry later on. > > There was no charge for recording baptisms in the 1800s. There was a brief period in the 1780s when there was a charge but it proved so unpopular it was discontinued. Irene