Multiple baptisms

[ElizabethHerts]

My memory has just been jogged about multiple baptisms.

When I was at Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies last week, the archivist told me that parents often waited to have their children baptised until there were 3 of them because then they were exempt from the baptismal fee.

I have looked in "Ancestral Trails" but can't find any mention of this and I'm currently googling to try to find if this is mentioned somewhere.

Does anyone have the information to hand?

[Olde Crone]

Elizabeth

I haven't heard of this before but maybe it was something specific to that particular church/parish/diocese?

OC

[ElizabethHerts]

The archivist was giving this out as general information. She mentioned it to me, quite specifically, and then 10 minutes later I heard her repeat the same information to another researcher.

She didn't qualify the statement at all. She is fairly knowledgeable. I suppose I shall just have to ask her again on my next visit.

I can't remember her actual words but I think she said they were regarded as poor/paupers if they had 3 children to be baptised in one go and therefore qualified for parish help.

Perhaps the parish was in fear for the little ones' souls!

[ElizabethHerts]

http://www.mandywillard.co.uk/surnames/nye/james_1758.htm

There is a note here about parents not being able to pay the baptism fee, but the children were not baptised together. It seems that the vicar here was quite sympathetic.

[Gert in Oz]

OC.. Elizabeth has kindly found several baptisms in Derby all in 1861, the eldest child was born in Manchester in 1850 and yes they did live in one of the poorest districts of Derby, although Dad was a bricklayers labouror, so not out of work.

[Joan of Archives]

This is interesting & I suspect there might be some truth in it as my Granddad was baptised when he was about four, together with his two younger sisters, one of which was a baby. They didn't have two ha'pennies to rub together :rolleyes:

[Margaret in Burton]

When did they stop charging a fee?

I remember asking the vicar about a fee when my eldest was christened and was told that there was no charge to become a member of the church.

[Merry]

I thought the C of E had never charged a fee for baptism.

However, there was a tax on the entry being put in the baptism register, introduced under the Stamp Act of 1783, but this was repealed in 1794. There was no tax charged to paupers. But this tax only covers a few years, so I would be very interested to know what the archivist was refering to.

[ElizabethHerts]

Merry, I can't remember when the archivist referred to this. I did a search for Rick and I think the archivist mentioned why people chose to have children baptised together.

[Oakum Picker]

Hi Elizabeth,

Changing the subject slightly. What day did you visit HALS, was it busy & how easy was parking? Last time I went, I drove for an hour & a half & then couldn't park in any of the car parks on the site. Thanks.

[ElizabethHerts]

Glen, I went to HALS on the Thursday of half-term and parked with ease. I never seem to have any problems parking there, and it is free. I usually get there early, but this time I didn't arrive until 11 a.m. but there were still a few spaces.

[Oakum Picker]

Thanks for the reply Elizabeth. I used to go every couple of weeks when a charge was made for reserving the machines & had no problems. Then as my visits became less frequent, I found more problems until the last time a couple of years ago when I couldn't find a space in the County Hall carparks which has rather put me off visiting. I'll have to give it another go as there are many things I still need to look for or get copies of.

[ElizabethHerts]

Glen, do you live fairly close? I'm just north of St Albans.

[Oakum Picker]

Elizabeth,

I live just south of Aylesbury. The journey during rush hour is anything between an hour & an hour & a half. At other times about 45 mins. I always tried to get to HALS by opening & left at closing which made the effort worthwhile. The particular time I'm talking about, I'd had a bad journey & didn't arrive until 9.30 and there was not a car parking space anywhere. I ended up driving out to Watton & Walkern where some of my ancestors were from & returned about 11.45 - still nothing so I went home.

[ElizabethHerts]

Glenn, you must have been very unlucky not to have found any spaces. It's quite a trek for you and then not to have been able to park must have been most frustrating. I wonder if there was something on at County Hall. They have just finished some redecorating when I went.

We were over your way yesterday. We went to West Wycombe Park in the afternoon and had a drive around as well. We came home via Wendover. I'm very fond of the countryside west of Aylesbury and my Jeffcoat ancestors came from Upper Winchendon. The church there has the most beautiful view.

[Oakum Picker]

Sorry Elizabeth,

Had to dash down to Brighton to sort out my youngest. Yes, I like the Bucks countryside & have hiked over most of it. I'm a couple of miles from Wendover.

I think that when I decide to go, I'll ring up to make sure nothing is going on. Thanks for your interest.

[kiterunner]

Coincidentally, I came across this in the Elkesley parish register today:

Memorandum the Act for three pence from every Baptism Burial and Marriage took place Octr 1st 1783.

There is also a page from 1728 about the tithes etc payable to the Curate, which states his dues for burials, weddings and churchings. Unfortunately it's quite difficult to make out whether they are pence or shillings but I think it says 6d for a burial, 2s for a wedding and 7d for a churching. So it appears that in that parish at least, they didn't have to pay for baptisms until the tax was introduced in 1783, but they would usually pay for a churching after a birth. (Unless the mother died soon after the birth in which case they would be paying for a burial.)

[Gert in Oz]

Coincidentally, I came across this in the Elkesley parish register today:

Memorandum the Act for three pence from every Baptism Burial and Marriage took place Octr 1st 1783.



I know this was in All Saints church Leicester too, because a note was left on a baptism that the father owed three pence from a previous baptism.

Turned out it wasn`t mine in the end.

[kiterunner]

Oh yes, the Act was nationwide, Sylvia.

[Phoenix]

The tax under the Stamp Act was payable to the state, so the vicar would note all the paupers, to justify the amount he paid over.

At other times, where he charged parishioners, the amounts presumably could be waived at his discretion, and this would vary between parishes and over time.

I'm sure I've heard of cut price discounts for job lots, but that cannot have been carved in stone as the church's view surely was that each child should be baptised as soon as possible. In one register (1720s) the vicar is justifying all the late baptisms - babies over one month old - explaining how he has hectored the mothers into having the children baptised.