This has been fascinating and timely for me, worrying again at my greatest brick wall when this topic arose on the list. To cut a long story short I am trying to decide (although I may never be entirely sure) which of two possible families an ancestor belonged to and have circumstantial evidence to link him to one family but two christenings very close together have always been a problem. I have a child baptised on the 6th August 1779 and another baptised on the 9th February 1780. Everything else seems to suggest that they are from the same family but only six months separate the two baptisms. However.... if the baptism of the first child was delayed slightly and the second child was premature and baptised promptly then it could just be possible, perhaps? The second child died almost exactly two years after the baptism. Any thoughts appreciated. Barbara
Hello All, My impression from my own research is that baptismal dates are at best no more than a rough guide to birth dates, Some families seem to be baptised in clusters, others baptised late, sometimes very late..Some, in large families, even seem to have been missed. Who knows why? There is a particular form of service in the Book of Common Prayer for "The ministration of baptism to such as are of riper years"..There were two periods when a 3d duty was levied on register entries, the later beginning 1st Oct 1783 and continuing, writing from memory, until 1794. Whilst arrangements were in place for the parish to pay the fee for those too poor to pay, it seems to have had the effect, unsurprisingly, of discouraging baptisms. Not everyone, even in those supposedly religous days arranged for their children to be baptised, and no doubt even those that did could have found the journey to church in a large rural parish a matter for some consideration and, in bad weather, of delay. Some would waited till caught by the parson, others could well have flirted with, or committed themselves to, non-conformism which had its own baptismal arrangements. Non-conformism was strong in 18th and 19th cc. The world was different then, and in my opinion, we should beware of making assumptions. Jim Halsey On 8/25/06, Barbara <[email protected]> wrote: > > This has been fascinating and timely for me, worrying again at my greatest > brick wall when this topic arose on the list. > > To cut a long story short I am trying to decide (although I may never be > entirely sure) which of two possible families an ancestor belonged to and > have circumstantial evidence to link him to one family but two > christenings > very close together have always been a problem. I have a child baptised on > the 6th August 1779 and another baptised on the 9th February 1780. > Everything else seems to suggest that they are from the same family but > only > six months separate the two baptisms. However.... if the baptism of the > first child was delayed slightly and the second child was premature and > baptised promptly then it could just be possible, perhaps? The second > child > died almost exactly two years after the baptism. > > Any thoughts appreciated. > > Barbara > > > > > > > > ==== OLD-ENGLISH Mailing List ==== > To contact the list administrator: > [email protected] > >
Hello and thanks to all for your thoughts. (They go some way towards a firm conclusion on my part and convincing another descendent of the same family. I will be forwarding all!) The registers concerned appear to be very complete but closer acquaintance tells a different story. Particularly for the period around 1785 give or take a few years. And of course, my ancestor was born, and not recorded in that year. Aware of the levy on register entries I have thought that this may be the reason, but I also strongly suspect the growing influence of Wesleyan Methodism. (A few late baptisms just before a marriage seem to confirm this.) Another question, if this is the right place (?), published works give extracts from the Bishops Visitations for 1804 and the minister states that there is a preacher of the itinerant kind and that assemblies were not large, but I suspect he may have been deliberately underestimating the influence of non-conformity in the parish. Wesley is reputed (though I have not found evidence in his journals) to have preached in the town and Methodism was strong until very recent times. Could the minister have fudged the truth? Barbara -----Original Message----- From: j halsey [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 25 August 2006 21:39 To: Barbara Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: [OEL] Time between births Hello All, My impression from my own research is that baptismal dates are at best no more than a rough guide to birth dates, Some families seem to be baptised in clusters, others baptised late, sometimes very late..Some, in large families, even seem to have been missed. Who knows why? There is a particular form of service in the Book of Common Prayer for "The ministration of baptism to such as are of riper years"..There were two periods when a 3d duty was levied on register entries, the later beginning 1st Oct 1783 and continuing, writing from memory, until 1794. Whilst arrangements were in place for the parish to pay the fee for those too poor to pay, it seems to have had the effect, unsurprisingly, of discouraging baptisms. Not everyone, even in those supposedly religous days arranged for their children to be baptised, and no doubt even those that did could have found the journey to church in a large rural parish a matter for some consideration and, in bad weather, of delay. Some would waited till caught by the parson, others could well have flirted with, or committed themselves to, non-conformism which had its own baptismal arrangements. Non-conformism was strong in 18th and 19th cc. The world was different then, and in my opinion, we should beware of making assumptions. Jim Halsey
This doesn't take into account those occasions where whole families were baptised at the same time. Audrey ----- Original Message ----- From: "Barbara" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, August 25, 2006 7:29 PM Subject: RE: [OEL] Time between births > This has been fascinating and timely for me, worrying again at my greatest > brick wall when this topic arose on the list. > > To cut a long story short I am trying to decide (although I may never be > entirely sure) which of two possible families an ancestor belonged to and > have circumstantial evidence to link him to one family but two > christenings > very close together have always been a problem. I have a child baptised on > the 6th August 1779 and another baptised on the 9th February 1780. > Everything else seems to suggest that they are from the same family but > only > six months separate the two baptisms. However.... if the baptism of the > first child was delayed slightly and the second child was premature and > baptised promptly then it could just be possible, perhaps? The second > child > died almost exactly two years after the baptism. > > Any thoughts appreciated. > > Barbara > > > > > > > > ==== OLD-ENGLISH Mailing List ==== > To contact the list administrator: > [email protected] > > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 268.11.7/432 - Release Date: 29/08/2006 > >