At 14:54 07/04/2016, Bill Snipes via wrote: >I'd like to ask a couple of questions concerning research in the 15 and 16th centuries. In those days, were newborns Christened right away, or could Christening/Baptism be put off for several years? Both - I have a baptism for a man on the same day his 14 year old son was baptised. >Also, when listing a father on a Parish document, could they be referring to the godfather? Unlikely >And, is it likely that children were born, but for some reason birth records were not kept? Definitely - births were not recorded until 1837 - so you have to rely on baptisms. Not everyone was baptised. HTH Andy.