Hi Shane, There were no laws in England regarding christenings, but there were laws regarding marriage and church attendance. After the Hardwicke Marriage Act of 1754, a marriage had to be performed in an Anglican church for it to be legally valid. The only exceptions were Jews and Quakers. Huguenots were not excepted. If the marriage was conducted in a place other than an Anglican church then it was not legal, and the children of the marriage would be legally (but not ecclesiastically) illegitimate. This would severely restrict their rights to inherit property. Many Dissenters, Catholics and so on had two marriage ceremonies - one in their own church and one in an Anglican church. Just to complicate the issue with respect to Huguenot churches - some of them were considered part of the Established church and others were not. The Hardwicke Marriage Act was repealed in 1837. From Elizabethan times (the exact date escapes me) it was illegal not to attend an Anglican church on a Sunday. This law was aimed primarily at Catholics. Huge fines were imposed but rarely collected. The Catholic Emancipation Act of 1827 removed this requirement. Dissenters were freed from the requirement by an earlier Act - about 1780 I think. As above, some Huguenot churches were considered part of the Established Church but others were not. In any case, it would be a pretty rare event to see a Huguenot prosecuted for non-attendance at church. I haven't seen any references to the practice, but others may have something else to add. English law did not require baptisms to be performed in any particular denomination, and even at the height of religious intolerance, all churches recognised "one baptism for the forgiveness of sins". That is, once you were baptised, it didn't matter in the name of which denomination it was done. Regards, Cathy Day Canberra, Australia ----- Original Message ----- From: <smdtarry@bellsouth.net> To: <HUGUENOTS-WALLOONS-EUROPE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2006 2:07 AM Subject: [HWE] Christening practices in England > Folks, > > Can someone please refresh my memory on the Christening laws in England? Didn't the Huguenots/ > Walloons have to have Christenings performed in Anglican churches? > > Thanks, > > Shane > > > ==== HUGUENOTS-WALLOONS-EUROPE Mailing List ==== > Not sure how to post a message to the list? > Instructions are on list website at: > http://www.island.net/~andreav/post.htm > > ============================== > New! Family Tree Maker 2005. Build your tree and search for your ancestors at the same time. Share your tree with family and friends. Learn more: http://landing.ancestry.com/familytreemaker/2005/tour.aspx?sourceid=14599&targetid=5429 > > >