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Baptised Twice - Anyone any idea why?

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  • Baptised Twice - Anyone any idea why?

    According to the Baptismal Register from St Peter's, Huddersfield, there was a child Harry, s/o William and Mary Anne Dransfield, father a solicitor of Huddersfield, baptised on 3 Dec 1862 by W J E Owen, and a note in the margin saying "Sep 24 1862" initialled by Mr Owen.

    According to the same Baptismal Register, there was a child Harry, s/o William and Mary Ann Dransfield, father a solicitor of Huddersfield, baptised on 14 Oct 1863 by W Marshall, and a note in the margin saying "24 Sep 1862".

    Here's a link to the first:



    and to the second:



    Anyone got any ideas why the same child should be Baptised twice within 10 months. Did the parents just forget that they'd already had him done, do you think?
    Always looking for Goodwins in Berkshire.

  • #2
    Perhaps the first one was done privately at home (ill baby baptised, washing away of sins) and the second entry was a public ceremony, when the child was received into church membership. Both these would normally be done in one church ceremony, with godparents making their vows.

    Jay
    Janet in Yorkshire



    Genealogists never die - they just swap places in the family tree

    Comment


    • #3
      I wondered that, Janet, but two names down the page of the first one (baptism of Thomas Crossland), in the margin there's a P, which I assumed meant Private Baptism, but there's no P for Harry. And 10mths is a long time between a private baptism and a public one/being received into the congregation. All the others I've seen have only been a matter of a few weeks/couple of months later.
      Always looking for Goodwins in Berkshire.

      Comment


      • #4
        You could well be right, but I've also had some "received" several years after the initial "private" ceremony. I've found with genealogy that it's just not possible to say "this was the rule" because "exceptions" turn up, all the time. Well, they were dealing with people, not machines. :D

        Jay
        Janet in Yorkshire



        Genealogists never die - they just swap places in the family tree

        Comment


        • #5
          I doubt if this was a private baptism in this particular case.
          It seems very much as if the child was born on the date in the margin entry "24 Sep 1862" (is there a civil birth registered on this day?)

          March quarter 1863
          DRANSFIELD Harry Dewsbury 9b 540 ?
          Then the infant was baptised on 3 Dec 1862 and again on the 14 Oct 1863, possible there was something wanting in the first baptisms

          The reason I don't think it was a private baptism is due to the length of time between birth & baptism. If the child was sickly it is doubtful the initial baptism would have been left so long.
          There is of course the possibility of a "private baptism" for social reasons (snob value) but the dates seem late for such private baptisms.
          Cheers
          Guy
          Last edited by Guy; 05-10-13, 16:20.
          Guy passed away October 2022

          Comment


          • #6
            Well, Guy, you've found what I've found!

            If Harry was b. 24 Sep 1862, his birth doesn't seem to have been registered until Q1 of 1863, which is a bit of puzzle - given that his father was a solicitor and really should have known better. Maybe that's got something to do with the second baptism?
            Always looking for Goodwins in Berkshire.

            Comment


            • #7
              He was born 24 Sep 1862 - If you look at the top of the margin it says "when born"
              Surely if the second baptism was to cover up some problem with the date of registration they wouldn't have declared the same date of birth but would have made up a later one.
              Last edited by JudithM; 05-10-13, 20:10. Reason: spelling correction
              Judith passed away in October 2018

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by SmallTownGirl View Post
                Well, Guy, you've found what I've found!

                If Harry was b. 24 Sep 1862, his birth doesn't seem to have been registered until Q1 of 1863, which is a bit of puzzle - given that his father was a solicitor and really should have known better. Maybe that's got something to do with the second baptism?
                Given that the date was 1862/3 there was not really a problem as the registrar was the person required to ask for the information. The parent had 6 months to ask for the birth to be registered.
                It would be interesting to see if it was a late birth registration. I assume a solicitor was in the position to pay the half-crown fee required to the Superintendent Registrar and even the five bob fee if it was decided it was not the Registrars fault.
                I also wonder if there was anything in the parish chest (correspondence) to explain the second baptism.
                Cheers
                Guy
                Guy passed away October 2022

                Comment


                • #9
                  Just a wild thought - I wonder what the relative social positions of Mr Owen and Mr Marshall were? One a curate, the other the Vicar, perhaps?

                  OC

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Olde Crone Holden View Post
                    Just a wild thought - I wonder what the relative social positions of Mr Owen and Mr Marshall were? One a curate, the other the Vicar, perhaps?

                    OC
                    I was wondering something similar. Mr Marshal seems to have only officiated at a few baptisms. I wondered if the family thought there was some sort of kudos in having him baptise their son, or even perhaps that he was a family member or friend.
                    Judith passed away in October 2018

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Could it have been a "Clerical error" (no pun intended). Have a relative whose marriage was entered in Parish Register and about 3 weeks later it was entered again. There was also a missing entry where the Vicar had written "can't remember" - clearly he had got his bits of paper mixed up or the communion wine was involved.

                      Sue

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Olde Crone Holden View Post
                        Just a wild thought - I wonder what the relative social positions of Mr Owen and Mr Marshall were? One a curate, the other the Vicar, perhaps?

                        OC
                        If other registers from the same church are available, it might be possible to discern their relative status from the marriage registers. It's also worth noting that there are records of clergymen, noting their different rôles at their various churches. And individual parishes usually have lists of their incumbents - their rectors/vicars - over time.

                        Chrisitne
                        Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

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