My apologies to everyone - and my thanks to all those who pointed out that it probably was a baptismal register I was looking at..... It was. My excuse is that I was in a hurry - and that there was one piece of paper under the head of the pages I was looking at - which said marriages and gave a time span.......... So - I assumed it was marriages and not baptisms.....didn't think to check the official title - as I would usually........ My father always said that 'assumption' was one of the seven deadly sins!!!! Now - I will take myself off into a little hole with my big red face for the next few months!!! Kind of....I'll probably forget all about this by next week..... Thanks to everyone who offered comments - AND - some of what was said was really very interesting. Jane :-(