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-   -   Baptism Q (http://genealogistsforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=27887)

Merry 12-07-19 10:29

Baptism Q
 
Somerset, 1790s, a small parish where there are only one or two baptisms a month. In this particular year the half dozen baptisms leading up to the one I'm looking at say 'privately baptised'. The entry I'm interested in says 'privately baptised on request'. Can I infer anything from that?

I think this is the only child baptised for this couple, though I am suspicious that other children might include my ancestor. I wondered if they were (usually) non-conformist? The baptised child is named Obed.

Olde Crone 12-07-19 12:09

Surely all private baptisms are on request, in as much as they aren't the norm.I

Obediah would certainly be a non conformist name but I don't think you can draw any firm conclusions from that. Annoying, isn't it?!

OC

Merry 12-07-19 12:56

I agree.

Obed didn't stick with the supposed non-conformity once he had married, but neither did my ancestor or his sister, who I recently discovered through a DNA match. I need one of them to have a relative from one of the other lines living with them on a census, but that doesn't seem to be happening.

Maybe I will get lucky with one of those distant relative marriages if I try hard enough!!

Phoenix 12-07-19 13:05

Around this period you often had the paupers marked because the incumbent had to collect fees and pass on a proportion, so the marking was to keep tabs. "On request" might be a specific indication that the fee was paid.

But at this period you have the dictates of an individual bishop, its interpretation by the Archdeacon, and the vagaries of the clergyman to contend with.

I have an ancestor born at that period who joined the Navy. To prove he was of age to become a lieutenant, he had to produce a baptism certificate. The next candidate had affidavits from lots of people because the then incumbent had not seen fit to record private baptisms.

As OC says, you can't actually infer anything. And if they were a nonconformist family, they were probably sufficiently well off that there wasn't a high infant mortality to give the game away.

Merry 12-07-19 13:41

I never think of non-con ag labs as being well off!

My next task was to look at the burial records to see if there were any children buried, but Ancestry isn't letting me sign in. I might have to bite the bullet and visit the supermarket instead, as we are running out of food! Come on Ancestry......... :(:(:(

Phoenix 12-07-19 14:43

Paupers take the religion of their employers (granny had to suffer FOUR services every Sunday because her father's employer was very high church)

The rich want to make a show in front of as many people as possible, so are C of E or Catholic.

Non-cons tend to be small tradesmen - the members of society who earn just enough to be able to follow the religion they choose without consequences. Not rich per se, but not paupers.

Olde Crone 12-07-19 17:45

I agree with Phoenix. My non cons were often just independent enough not to have to kowtow to an employer and this independence was because they were free men. They were mostly weavers who had small parcels of land for subsistence farming. They also were remarkably well educated, mostly self education, and must have been a thorn in the side of the established church.

I have one or two adult c of e baptisms, mostly young females and I suspect these were servants being baptised at the behest of their new employer.

OC

Merry 12-07-19 18:05

Finally I can access ancestry but now it says I have no DNA matches at all! lol


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