Was it unusual for a birth at sea not to be recorded ? A passenger list from the Ship Agnes begins " We left Bremen the 28th July 1844 with 229 passengers" it ends with "I certify that the annexed list of passengers in number 229." Port of Baltimore August 31st.1844. A Baptism certificate I have states Catherine born August 19th.1844 baptised 15th.Sept.1844 in Baltimore. She had to been born on-board ship, but why would the list not have the birth ? Janet
Hi Janet, At 10:25 AM 2006-05-15 -0400, J.Spangler wrote: >Was it unusual for a birth at sea not to be recorded ? It was more unusual to find a regular accounting of birth at sea. I'm not aware of Germen regulations, but British ships were required to report all births, marriages and deaths to the Board of Trade, but not as early as 1844 (I think that was 1854?). Some captains or pursers were terrific and added wonderful reports of BMD on the passenger list itself, but most added just bare-bones notes, if at all. > A passenger list from the Ship Agnes begins " We left Bremen the 28th > July 1844 with 229 passengers" it ends with "I certify that the annexed > list of passengers in number 229." Port of Baltimore August 31st.1844. > >A Baptism certificate I have states Catherine born August 19th.1844 >baptised 15th.Sept.1844 in Baltimore. >She had to been born on-board ship, but why would the list not have the >birth ? >Janet If you take a close look at the passenger list you will see that the youngest child indicated is 1 1/2 years old. Infants were carried completely free in those days, and as the lists were used more for accounting purposes rather than immigration requirements, infants' names were often excluded from the lists. The sailing vessels were regulated to how many "adult freights" they could carry per ton. Children were calculated on a sliding scale, which varied by shipping line, nationality of ship and by the period in which they sailed. You might find this amusing report interesting. It regards a ship from England to Quebec in 1843, but it does help to illustrate what I am attempting to explain. :-} http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/passengerlists/janeduffus1843.htm Sue -- TheShipsList Website http://www.theshipslist.com/