Hi Mabel I spotted this mass baptism phenomena in Halifax too - see email sent to the Halifax list last year. I think that with the advent of civil registration parents were concerned that their older children would not have any proof of age & possibly the clergy seeing a way of persuading those unbaptised to do so & so the rush to church. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: Susan Wiseman To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, August 15, 2009 3:44 PM Subject: 1837 Halifax baptisms Can anyone tell me whether there was any pressure from the clergy to baptise children immediately before the start of civil registration in 1837? I have long known that my 2 x great grandfather & 2 siblings (ages zero - 7) were baptised at Halifax parish church on 26th Jan 1837 - co-incidentally their parents 20th wedding anniversary. Today, researching another family I find that a few days later on 31 Jan a family of 4 children aged from 1 - 9 were baptised together. Looking at the parish registers on CD there were a significant number of older children being baptised in the months leading up to the start of civil registration. Explanations welcome Susan Wiseman

On 23 Jan 2010 at 17:07, Susan Wiseman wrote: > Hi Mabel > I spotted this mass baptism phenomena in Halifax too - see email sent > to the Halifax list last year. I think that with the advent of civil > registration parents were concerned that their older children would > not have any proof of age & possibly the clergy seeing a way of > persuading those unbaptised to do so & so the rush to church. Susan > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Susan Wiseman > To: [email protected] > Sent: Saturday, August 15, 2009 3:44 PM > Subject: 1837 Halifax baptisms > > > Can anyone tell me whether there was any pressure from the clergy to > baptise children immediately before the start of civil registration in > 1837? > > I have long known that my 2 x great grandfather & 2 siblings (ages > zero - 7) were baptised at Halifax parish church on 26th Jan 1837 - > co-incidentally their parents 20th wedding anniversary. Today, > researching another family I find that a few days later on 31 Jan a > family of 4 children aged from 1 - 9 were baptised together. Looking > at the parish registers on CD there were a significant number of older > children being baptised in the months leading up to the start of civil > registration. Explanations welcome Susan Wiseman > Many clergymen were bitterly opposed to civil registration, since they saw it as some of their power being taken away from the church. Possibly they were making a point! However, I wonder if some of these families were gypsies because mass baptisms of gypsy children were a well-known phenomenon? Despite their itinerant lifestyle, gypsy families were keen on getting their children baptised for two reasons: 1) It established a form of Settlement, enabling them to provide written evidence of a place of birth or settlement and making it easier for them to get poor relief; 2) the clergy were very keen on enlarging their flock, so that they could demonstrate to the archdeacon when he came round on his annual visitation that they were doing their job! Thus, they often offered inducements to gypsy parents passing through the parish to have their children baptised in the form of money, clothing or gifts for the children. This led to some gypsy families taking advantage of the clergy's zeal and indulging in "serial" baptisms, i.e. having the children baptised in a number of different parishes, sometimes even on the same day. In her book "My Ancestors Were Gypsies" (pub. by the SoG) Sharon Sillers Floate says the record was held by a couple who had their daughters baptised between 1831 and 1849 in more than 160 parishes from Devon to Yorkshire! -- Roy Stockdill Professional genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE