Baptism Records - Poss Stupid Question !

[Ann in North Yorkshire]

Hi All

If a birth wasnt registered 1854 would said child have been baptised - were they that keen on baptisms and would I find such in parish records or where ?? Told you it was a stupid question after 4 years you would think I'd know the answer myself

Ann

[Shirley silver surfer]

My ggrandmother was not registered (abt 1865) but I was able to find her baptism - in the parish register. If you know the area that should not be too difficult. Most children were baptised at that time, but not all.

[Ann in North Yorkshire]

Hi Shirley - Thanks for your reply - its County Durham dont think there is much on line for Durham

[KiteRunner]

Ann, it's impossible to say as a general point - many families still had their children baptised in those days but a lot didn't. Then of course there were a lot of nonconformists, and also some families got a lot of children baptised all at the same time.

[Ann in North Yorkshire]

Hi Kate - I'm still looking for my William Blaylock who you helped me with before - just that have had a contact on maternal side from Barbados of all places and he suggests I look at the Baptism records but didnt know where I would find anything online

[Shirley silver surfer]

You may have to go to the local Record office for Durham - or persuade someone else to go for you!

[KiteRunner]

Funny, Ann, I had a feeling it was going to be about him...!

[Ann in North Yorkshire]

Shirley - I contacted them and they said if I cant find him neither can they apparently they only look at what we can see online

Kate - dont think I'll ever give up - BTW I cant remeber if i told you i sent for the copy of the will but it only gave same info we found on line

[KiteRunner]

No, I don't think you did tell me. That's a shame.

I think what the record office probably meant is that they can't search through every parish that they hold records for to look for his baptism, but if you actually went to the record office yourself then you could spend as long as you liked looking through different parishes (and of course, he could have been baptised at any age, so you could search through years and years of records looking for him!) So the record office staff can only really search any index that they have available or check a specific parish for a particular date - unless it is one of those record offices which offers a research service where you pay a researcher per hour.

[Ann in North Yorkshire]

Oh right then Kate I just got the impression that they couldnt help me - can u just sit and look through stuff all day then ?

[KiteRunner]

Well, you certainly can at my local record office, Ann, and I think the same is true of many but at some of them I think you have to book a microfiche or microfilm reader in advance, so best to check before you go!

[Ann in North Yorkshire]

Thanks Kate speak again when and If I ever find him

Ann

[KiteRunner]

It just occurred to me after I had logged off and gone to bed, Ann - it was the Record Office you contacted and not the Register Office, wasn't it?

[Little Nell]

This is webpage for Durham Records Office
Durham Record Office HomePage

Links from here to their holdings, family history, opening hours. It does say it is essential to book a visit and its holdings include

Church of England parishes in the Dioceses of Durham and Ripon
Non-conformist churches (for example, Methodist and Roman Catholic churches)

Did your Blaylock chappie have any brothers/sisters who might have been registered, baptised?

[Margaret in Burton]

It just occurred to me after I had logged off and gone to bed, Ann - it was the Record Office you contacted and not the Register Office, wasn't it?

I too think that Ann is confusing the register office with the record office.

Ann

The register office is the place that holds the birth, marriage and death certs.

The record office or archives is where all old documents are held for that county. Parish registers being only a tiny portion of it.

[Little Nell]

Another possibility is that the relevant family history society may have transcribed indexes

Northumberland and Durham Family History Society

[Vicky the Viking]

have you tried durhamrecordsonline.com ?

not complete but you never know when you might strike lucky.
I've found 2 baptisms in Durham for babies that ARE registered, but in Tynemouth, Northumberland. The family moved about a lot, and the first child was nearly 3 when he was baptised.

also, if you have an idea of the area, you could try trawling the BTs available on familysearch - the new LDS site.

[humbug]

I was just going to suggest durham records onoline - heaps of info on there - not the cheapest site I am told but very informative and they add to it all the time

[KiteRunner]

Hello, Humbug, and it's nice of you to help, but Ann may well have sorted this out by now as this is a pretty old thread - previous post was at the end of March.

[Christine in Herts]

Anything useful here? (found by googling for: durham parish registers)

Durham Records Online: Search Census and Church Records

or here:

http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/england/durham/parish-registers.htm

or in these booklets:

http://www.ancestral-indexes.co.uk/prices/AI_13.html

and is there anything in that newer LDS site?

Christine