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Baptism aged 12?

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  • Baptism aged 12?

    My Grt-Grt grandfather Lockhart Anderson was, according to LDS IGI index,born in 1827 and baptised in 1839. He was baptised in the Old Chuch St Pancras. His brother and sister were baptised aged 12 and 14 on different occasions. He was also married in the district registry office in 1863 despite there being no obvious reason for not marrying in church. (I don't think she was pregnant)
    Any ideas?

  • #2
    My great grandmother was baptised at age 25! Her father had become a Baptist, probably before she was born and I assume he was waiting for an adult baptism. In the end she was baptised at a Methodist church in a nearby small town a few months before she married and then lived in the same town.

    Maybe yours were non-conformists too?

    Anne

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    • #3
      My 3xgreat grandfather was brought up as a Quaker and was baptised on his wedding day in 1815! He obviously would not have been able to have been married otherwise.

      As Anne says, he could have been a non-conformist.
      Elizabeth
      Research Interests:
      England:Purkis, Stilwell, Quintrell, White (Surrey - Guildford), Jeffcoat, Bond, Alexander, Lamb, Newton (Lincolnshire, Stalybridge, London)
      Scotland:Richardson (Banffshire), Wishart (Kincardineshire), Johnston (Kincardineshire)

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      • #4
        I have several people in my tree who weren't baptised until their teens (none of them non-conformist).
        Sarah

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        • #5
          So this is not unusual. I thought everyone was baptised by the age of 6 months. (I read too much Thomas Hardy obviously).
          I was interested to find a couple of my OH's ancestors in Scotland were baptised even though they were illegitimate!
          I wonder if Lockhart's parents hold the key. They were both born in Ireland not sure which part. Maybe one or both were Catholic?

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Kazza View Post
            I was interested to find a couple of my OH's ancestors in Scotland were baptised even though they were illegitimate!
            I've got several of those too (in England). :D
            Sarah

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            • #7
              I was baptised at 13 - "dedicated" as a baby and baptised after going through a lengthy course of lessons. Lots weren't 'done' until much later.

              It's like the CofE confirmations, really.

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              • #8
                It was considered even more important to baptise illegitimate children! They were at a spiritual disadvantage, being born of sin.

                Another reason for a seemingly late baptism was the taking up of an apprenticeship - apprentices had to prove they had been baptised into the established church until about 60 years ago.

                I have also read that many employers wouldn't take on a servant who hadn't been baptised...sometimes it was just easier to be baptised again.

                OC

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                • #9
                  You can only tell age at baptism if date of birth is also noted (or there is compelling circumstantial evidence).

                  As a rule of thumb, but this is likely to vary across the country and with different C of E vicars, rural babies seem to be baptised younger than town babies and C18 babies younger than C19 babies.

                  Despite my great grandfather working for an extremely devout employer (4 attendances at church expected of you each Sunday) his children were all a month or more old when baptised. A century earlier, his forebears were a day or two old when baptised. In the 1720s, the local vicar was hectoring the mothers to get the babies baptised and recorded his displeasure if the children were over a month old.

                  That was rural Norfolk, where an unbaptised child would be known throughout the community.

                  In London's shifting population, it would be far more difficult to keep tabs on people.
                  Phoenix - with charred feathers
                  Researching Skillings from Norfolk, Sworn from Salisbury and Adams in Malborough, Devon.

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                  • #10
                    A friend of mine was baptised and confirmed in the same service a few yeas ago.
                    Joy

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                    • #11
                      my experiences of baptisms in my and my husband's family trees is that most babies were baptised within about 6 weeks - 3 months. A large number were baptised on the day they were born - perhaps they weren't expected to live.

                      I've also found families sometimes baptising their elder children together with the latest baby.

                      And - for reasons I don't know - my gt x 3 grandmother Hannah was baptised on the same day as her son, my gt x 2 grandfather Emmets Matthews.

                      Hannah had married in the parish church and already had one son baptised there two years earlier, so no idea why she suddenly felt the need!
                      ~ with love from Little Nell~
                      Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

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                      • #12
                        Redacted
                        Last edited by Penelope; 11-03-09, 12:18.

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                        • #13
                          But Kazza said Lockhart was baptised at 12, and his brother and sister were baptised aged 12 and 14 on different occasions - usually if a family hadn't got their children baptised and the vicar persuaded them to, they would have all the children done together. So it must have been something different in this family's case.
                          KiteRunner

                          Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good... laugh"
                          (Indigo Girls, "Watershed")

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                          • #14
                            Redacted

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                            • #15
                              Don't forget that if you have any Salvationists in your family they won't have been baptised as the Salvation Army does not have baptisms - they dedicate. They were formed in 1865 if that helps.

                              I was dedicated in the SA in 1947 and baptised into the C of E in 1968.

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                              • #16
                                I am a non-conformist, and our principles are that everyone is baptised only 'at their own request', and by immersion. I was not christened as a child. This is because batism by immersion signifies that we have 'died with Christ, and been buried and raised up to new life'. For this reson we only practice adult baprism.

                                It is carried out inpublic and some are baprtised in the river, the sea or the public baths. In my church we have a baptistry.

                                In my 30s I went to the anglican chruch and had to be 'confirmed' in order to become a full member of the church.

                                Regarding marriage in a registry office, quite a number of couples were married this way, as many mon-conformist churches were not licenced for marriage. My grandaprents were married in a registry office.

                                Anne

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                                • #17
                                  Originally posted by Wor canny Lass View Post
                                  Regarding marriage in a registry office, quite a number of couples were married this way, as many mon-conformist churches were not licenced for marriage. My grandaprents were married in a registry office.
                                  They could also have been married in the church with the Registrar present, which would be recorded in the Registrar's "travelling" register.
                                  Uncle John - Passed away March 2020

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