I have come across a number of registers spanning the 1500s - 1800s where the words Baptism and Christening have been used, apparently according to the preference of the vicar, and with every appearance of being interchangeable. Indeed, the Oxford English Dictionary defines the words as follows: *Christening: *1. Conversion to or reception of Christianity 2. The action or ceremony of baptizing, baptism *Baptizing: *The action or ceremony of baptizing: immersion of a person in water, or application of water by pouring or sprinkling, as a religious rite, symbolical of moral or spiritual purification or regeneration, and, as a Christian ordinance, betokening initiation into the Church. As far as Family Historian is concerned I would probably create a baptism and a christening fact for Sarah RAVELL because the events took place on two different dates but only one event for Catharine TYLER using baptism or christening whichever is your favoured term. I always quote each register entry verbatim in the 'Text from Source' field, so anyone else looking at the data would be able to interpret it without misunderstanding, regardless of whether I had used a baptism or a christening fact. I think perhaps personal preference is the best approach. All the best Sue On 11/03/2014 19:30, Guy Etchells wrote: > I have just come across this thread and wonder how you would add the > following from a Church of England Baptism Register > > Bottesford Cof E baptism register > > Sarah, daughter of William Ravell & Hannah his wife, born 18 September > 1797 baptised at Long Bennington, 7^th October 1797, christened at > Bottesford, April 12^th 1798 > > Long Bennington was/is another C of E parish adjacent to Bottesford > > Or perhaps > > Catharine daughter ofSamuel Tyler of Normanton in this parish & Sarah > baptised and christened October 7^th 1798 > > I could show with many christened and baptised entries from this and > other registers across England if need be. > The modern interchangeability of the words was not always so. > > Cheers > > Guy > >

This is quite a technical point, but highlights a difference between Christening (CHR) and Baptism (BAPM) in the GEDCOM Specification. Birth (BIRT) and Adoption (ADOP) events can have a Family as Child (FAMC) subordinate link to identify the Adopting parents for example. Similarly, Christening (CHR) events can have a Family as Child (FAMC) subordinate link, but Baptism (BAPM) events CANNOT. I am not qualified to explain why this difference exists, but the GEDCOM Specification says: "Linkage between a child and the family they belonged to at the time of an event can also optionally be shown by a FAMC pointer subordinate to the appropriate event. For example, a FAMC pointer subordinate to an adoption event would show which family adopted this individual. Biological parent or parents can be indicated by a FAMC pointer subordinate to the birth event. The FAMC tag can also optionally be used subordinate to an ADOPtion, or BIRTh event to differentiate which set of parents were related by adoption, sealing, or birth." Although that does not mention Christening (CHR), the later formal structure does, and excludes subordinate FAMC from similar BAPM, BARM, BASM, BLES, CHRA, CONF, FCOM, ORDN events and all other events: INDIVIDUAL_EVENT_STRUCTURE:= [ BIRT | CHR ] +1 <<EVENT_DETAIL>> +1 FAMC @<XREF:FAM>@ ADOP +1 <<EVENT_DETAIL>> +1 FAMC @<XREF:FAM>@ +2 ADOP <ADOPTED_BY_WHICH_PARENT> [ BAPM | BARM | BASM | BLES ] +1 <<EVENT_DETAIL>> [ CHRA | CONF | FCOM | ORDN ] +1 <<EVENT_DETAIL>> Regards, Mike Tate