Browsing through parish registers at the Norfolk Heritage Centre today, looking for my WARNES ancestors, I came across an unexpected double baptism: Clara, daughter of Samuel and Sarah Warnes, was apparently baptised in both Norton Subcourse and Thurlton on 6th July 1868. In both cases, the ceremony was carried out by F.G.Goodwin, the Rector of Thurlton; in the case of Norton Subcourse he was of course described as "Officiating Minister". In the Norton Subcourse register, Samuel and Sarah are listed as resident in Norton Subcourse, but in the Thurlton register they are resident in Thurlton. The two villages are adjoining, and the churches are less than a mile apart. It may well be relevant that little Clara was buried in Norton Subcourse on 12th July 1868, this time by William Rimington, the Vicar of Norton. So perhaps Samuel and Sarah realised at the time of the baptisms that Clara was unlikely to survive. But why two baptisms? I would be interested to know if anyone else on the list has come across similar occurrences, or can suggest a reason for the double baptism. Regards, John Francis

John I think this is more likely a single event recorded twice - carried out by the Rector of Thurlton in Norton and rightly recorded there, but then also written up by him in his own register. I have seen this sort of double recording where priests conducted marriages in parishes other than their own. David Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device -----Original Message----- From: John Francis <pintail@globalnet.co.uk> Sender: norfolk-bounces@rootsweb.com Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2011 20:44:11 To: <NORFOLK@rootsweb.com> Reply-To: norfolk@rootsweb.com Subject: [NFK] Baptised twice on the same day? Browsing through parish registers at the Norfolk Heritage Centre today, looking for my WARNES ancestors, I came across an unexpected double baptism: Clara, daughter of Samuel and Sarah Warnes, was apparently baptised in both Norton Subcourse and Thurlton on 6th July 1868. In both cases, the ceremony was carried out by F.G.Goodwin, the Rector of Thurlton; in the case of Norton Subcourse he was of course described as "Officiating Minister". In the Norton Subcourse register, Samuel and Sarah are listed as resident in Norton Subcourse, but in the Thurlton register they are resident in Thurlton. The two villages are adjoining, and the churches are less than a mile apart. It may well be relevant that little Clara was buried in Norton Subcourse on 12th July 1868, this time by William Rimington, the Vicar of Norton. So perhaps Samuel and Sarah realised at the time of the baptisms that Clara was unlikely to survive. But why two baptisms? I would be interested to know if anyone else on the list has come across similar occurrences, or can suggest a reason for the double baptism. Regards, John Francis ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NORFOLK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hi John, Like David, I have come across the same situation on a number of occasions. It seems to have occurred in the ones I've seen where the vicar of a parish has died or is ill, and someone else handles ceremonies on his behalf. For some reason, I've never found out why, it gets recorded in both the primary parish and the visiting minister also records it in his own registers when he returns home. Cheers Trish Nowra NSW I think this is more likely a single event recorded twice - carried out by the Rector of Thurlton in Norton and rightly recorded there, but then also written up by him in his own register. I have seen this sort of double recording where priests conducted marriages in parishes other than their own. David I would be interested to know if anyone else on the list has come across similar occurrences, or can suggest a reason for the double baptism. John Francis