The church records I've been studying in Guggisberg, Kanton Bern, *usually* give only baptismal dates, which people frequently mistake for birth dates although the record is called a "Taufrodel." But some church record-keepers do add the date of birth as well, and some even record the date of the parents' marriage and (apparently) the names of their parents! You never know until you look. Harold Henderson, [email protected] on the lookout for HENDERSON, MACRAE, DAVIDSON, JOHNSTONE (Scotland) ANDERSSON/BORING, SVENSSON, STENBERG, JOHANSDOTTER (Sweden); THRALL (New England), JAMES (Wales), FLINT, GEDNEY (Lincolnshire), SCHRIBER/SCHREIBER, JOSS, STAUDENMANN (Switzerland); SCHOLES, MILLS (Lancashire), MOZLEY (Nottinghamshire), VAN NATTA (New Netherlands), BOREN, COCHRAN, LINHART, BLACK (Pennsylvani a); BASSETT, COON, BLISS, HUMPHREY, BURDICK, CAMPBELL, CRANDALL, DENISON (New England); & more

It has been my experience that the earlier the record is, the more likely it will be that the date is that of the baptism/christening. As a rule in church records if I see only a single date recorded I assume it is that of the baptism/christening unless the record explicitly states it is for the birth. I have also observed in the instances where one minister has chosen to record both dates, they tend to be a fairly consistent distance apart for a given town but may be different from other towns even short distances away. I would guess another instance of the Swiss practice of local traditions :-) It is also interesting that in more recent times (since about 1830 in Graubunden) when there was essentially uniform recording of both birth and baptism/christening, these intervals are similar to the more scattered data recorded earlier in the church books. One general exception involves children whose condition indicated that they might not survive long. There one does see them being baptised/christened on the date of birth. This may be noted in the church book that the baptism/christening took place at home. Regards, Mike Hobart ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, October 04, 2002 7:46 AM Subject: [SWITZ] births/baptisms > The church records I've been studying in Guggisberg, Kanton Bern, > *usually* give only baptismal dates, which people frequently > mistake for birth dates although the record is called a "Taufrodel." > But some church record-keepers do add the date of birth as well, > and some even record the date of the parents' marriage and > (apparently) the names of their parents! You never know until you > look. > Harold Henderson, [email protected] > on the lookout for <snip> --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.394 / Virus Database: 224 - Release Date: 10/3/2002