My husband's grandmother, SUSAN DRAIN, emigrated from Ballymoney in Co. Antrim in the 1880s, supposedly at the age of 13. She was married about 1893 to EDWARD GRIFFIN in New Haven, Connecticut. I have heard that it was necessary for Catholics who wanted to be married in the church to prove they had been christened by writing back to the church at home for a baptism record. Is that true? If it's true, is this a feasible way to learn the names of her parents and her home parish? Has anyone accessed church records in this way? Libbie Griffin

Libbie:Yes definitely, even today in order to be married in the Church, one has to write for baptism records. All you need is the correct date of Baptism and the name of the Church, no problem. Also as well as this, after the Pastor sends the records, the Church where the marriage took place should have then sent back to the first Church, the date and place of marriage. I imagine it was a way to be sure that people were not marrying twice etc. Hope this info is helpful. Kathleen Donnelly ----- Original Message ----- From: Libbie Griffin <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, March 09, 2001 4:59 AM Subject: [ULSTER] christening records > My husband's grandmother, SUSAN DRAIN, emigrated from Ballymoney in Co. > Antrim in the 1880s, supposedly at the age of 13. She was married about > 1893 to EDWARD GRIFFIN in New Haven, Connecticut. > > I have heard that it was necessary for Catholics who wanted to be married > in the church to prove they had been christened by writing back to the > church at home for a baptism record. Is that true? If it's true, is this > a feasible way to learn the names of her parents and her home parish? Has > anyone accessed church records in this way? > > Libbie Griffin > > > ==== IRL-ULSTER Mailing List ==== > Welcome To Province Ulster, North Ireland (IGP / IGW) > > ============================== > Search more than 150 million free records at RootsWeb! > http://searches.rootsweb.com/ > >

Kathleen and Libbie: If I remember correctly from my own marriage preparations, the priest who is marrying you just looks at the baptismal record so he can certify he's seen proof of baptism, then returns the record to you, so the church where you marry does not keep a copy of your baptism record. Also, as far as I know, the cross-referencing of sacramental records is a fairly recent development, and may only apply in the US (I can't swear to the US-only aspect but I think I've read it somewhere). I certainly have never seen any sacramental registers for any of the ancestors I'm researching in the US or in Ireland have such useful info. Unfortunately! If you're lucky and your people were stable, you may find both the children's baptisms and the parents' marriage in the same church's records, but only if you search separately for them. I've never seen them cross-referenced this way in any RC records in the US or Ireland. Hope this helps. Claire kathleen donnelly wrote: > Libbie:Yes definitely, even today in order to be married in the Church, one > has to write for baptism records. All you need is the correct date of > Baptism and the name of the Church, no problem. Also as well as this, after > the Pastor sends the records, the Church where the marriage took place > should have then sent back to the first Church, the date and place of > marriage. I imagine it was a way to be sure that people were not marrying > twice etc. Hope this info is helpful. > Kathleen Donnelly > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Libbie Griffin <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Friday, March 09, 2001 4:59 AM > Subject: [ULSTER] christening records > > > My husband's grandmother, SUSAN DRAIN, emigrated from Ballymoney in Co. > > Antrim in the 1880s, supposedly at the age of 13. She was married about > > 1893 to EDWARD GRIFFIN in New Haven, Connecticut. > > > > I have heard that it was necessary for Catholics who wanted to be married > > in the church to prove they had been christened by writing back to the > > church at home for a baptism record. Is that true? If it's true, is this > > a feasible way to learn the names of her parents and her home parish? Has > > anyone accessed church records in this way? > > > > Libbie Griffin > > > > > > ==== IRL-ULSTER Mailing List ==== > > Welcome To Province Ulster, North Ireland (IGP / IGW) > > > > ============================== > > Search more than 150 million free records at RootsWeb! > > http://searches.rootsweb.com/ > > > > > > ==== IRL-ULSTER Mailing List ==== > Welcome To Province Ulster, North Ireland (IGP / IGW) > > ============================== > Search over 900 million names at Ancestry.com! > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist1.asp

Hi Claire: Thanks for the tip, I assumed it was also done in Ireland. I used to be Church Secretary for a couple of years and that was the procedure. They may not have been as careful in the Irish Churches, perhaps because they didn't have to be. Yes after the Priest makes out the certificate he gives it to the person to keep. Yes, especially in Ireland you will usually find the full family history in the Record Books. Thanks for the info. Kathleen ----- Original Message ----- From: Claire <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2001 10:45 AM Subject: Re: [ULSTER] christening records > Kathleen and Libbie: > If I remember correctly from my own marriage preparations, the priest who is > marrying you just looks at the baptismal record so he can certify he's seen > proof of baptism, then returns the record to you, so the church where you marry > does not keep a copy of your baptism record. Also, as far as I know, the > cross-referencing of sacramental records is a fairly recent development, and may > only apply in the US (I can't swear to the US-only aspect but I think I've read > it somewhere). I certainly have never seen any sacramental registers for any of > the ancestors I'm researching in the US or in Ireland have such useful info. > Unfortunately! If you're lucky and your people were stable, you may find both > the children's baptisms and the parents' marriage in the same church's records, > but only if you search separately for them. I've never seen them > cross-referenced this way in any RC records in the US or Ireland. Hope this > helps. > Claire > > kathleen donnelly wrote: > > > Libbie:Yes definitely, even today in order to be married in the Church, one > > has to write for baptism records. All you need is the correct date of > > Baptism and the name of the Church, no problem. Also as well as this, after > > the Pastor sends the records, the Church where the marriage took place > > should have then sent back to the first Church, the date and place of > > marriage. I imagine it was a way to be sure that people were not marrying > > twice etc. Hope this info is helpful. > > Kathleen Donnelly > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: Libbie Griffin <[email protected]> > > To: <[email protected]> > > Sent: Friday, March 09, 2001 4:59 AM > > Subject: [ULSTER] christening records > > > > > My husband's grandmother, SUSAN DRAIN, emigrated from Ballymoney in Co. > > > Antrim in the 1880s, supposedly at the age of 13. She was married about > > > 1893 to EDWARD GRIFFIN in New Haven, Connecticut. > > > > > > I have heard that it was necessary for Catholics who wanted to be married > > > in the church to prove they had been christened by writing back to the > > > church at home for a baptism record. Is that true? If it's true, is this > > > a feasible way to learn the names of her parents and her home parish? Has > > > anyone accessed church records in this way? > > > > > > Libbie Griffin > > > > > > > > > ==== IRL-ULSTER Mailing List ==== > > > Welcome To Province Ulster, North Ireland (IGP / IGW) > > > > > > ============================== > > > Search more than 150 million free records at RootsWeb! > > > http://searches.rootsweb.com/ > > > > > > > > > > ==== IRL-ULSTER Mailing List ==== > > Welcome To Province Ulster, North Ireland (IGP / IGW) > > > > ============================== > > Search over 900 million names at Ancestry.com! > > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist1.asp > > > > > > ==== IRL-ULSTER Mailing List ==== > Welcome To Province Ulster, North Ireland (IGP / IGW) > > ============================== > Create a FREE family website at MyFamily.com! > http://www.myfamily.com/banner.asp?ID=RWLIST2 >