Dear John   Thank you very much for the comments.    Chin Cough... I suspected this might be whooping cough.   Half Baptised - that's very interesting (even if theologically unsound) - and I write here in the new knowledge that I am a half-baptised person, as is my brother - the officiant being my grandmother's brother - a Congregational minister. The register I was looking at also notes the rebaptism of such persons, recording that a dissenting minister had done the first baptism.   Your interesting link also gives "Interred = Buried without Christian rites – e.g. Unbaptized persons or excommunicates." - which might explain another puzzling entry which read "died and buried" - even in Lampeter it is not usual to bury the living, but I now take this statement as a reference to an unbaptised person.     Coffin burials and Wool Burials.  I looked up the Act you referred to. Apparently (although repealed later in 1814) this was mostly ignored after 1770, which doesn't fit the 1731 date. I think I will have another look at the status of the persons buried in a coffin - you may well be right.    (Easy to tell at this time because the then VIcar used extra specially careful handwriting when recording the BMDs of the crachach - kind of secret coding... I have come across 20th century equivalents where Gypsies and Evacuees in school registers are coloured in red ink and Church wardens, vicars and rich farmers getting carefully written/tidy entries in church records.   Hwyl   Jen                             From: John Ellis <[email protected]> To: 'Jennifer Cairns' <[email protected]>; 'Dyfed Family History' <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, 24 March 2012, 12:10 Subject: RE: [Dyfed] 18th C. Burial Terms Jen Chin cough:  whooping cough or tussis convulsiva, mainly a disease of childhood associated with a strange sounding cough which often brings on vomiting. Synonyms: ching cough, pertussis, tussis convulsiva. (Tussis means cough; a cough medicine is an antitussive.) See: http://www.thornber.net/medicine/html/medgloss.html as a useful source of old medical terms. Half-baptized:    A local term meaning ‘christened privately’ or not in church.  This was done by a parson in the house very soon after birth because the baby was weak and not expected to live.  If the child survived however, it was then expected to ‘be received into the church’ at a ceremony in the presence of the godparents and congregation. See: http://www.somersetlarders.com/pages/glossary.php The burial of the individual in a coffin. Could this have something to do with "The Burial in Woollen Acts 1666-1680". These Acts were attempts to protect the English Wool Trade, and required that all bodies should be buried in Wool with the exception of those who died from the Plague.  A Five pound fine was imposed for burials which did not comply with the Acts.  By 1814 the Acts were repealed. So perhaps if the individual was buried in a coffin reflects their economic status? John Ellis -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jennifer Cairns Sent: 24 March 2012 11:18 To: Dyfed Family History Subject: [Dyfed] 18th C. Burial Terms Dear List   Yesterday I came across two terms I hadn't seen before - in a Cardiganshire Church Register   1791 - 3 records of deaths from Chin Cough. 1743 - Anne a Bastard child of Herbert Lloyd and Mary Evan Hugh, was privately and half baptised. (Other half baptisms mentioned)   I would appreciate any comments on Chin Cough and Half-baptisms.   This was also another interesting comment 1731 - the vicar was at pains to highlight the fact that the deceased was buried in a coffin, and for several years afterwards highlighted coffin burials.   Thanks   Jen ================================ Dyfed list http://home.clara.net/daibevan/DyfedML.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message