A couple of months ago I purchased a CD which includes the transcriptions of the parish registers of Bletchington, Oxfordshire.
I took all the obvious information from the registers, but now I have been extracting the names of godparents for my families, and my head is spinning.
The vicar recorded godparents from 1602, with a few gaps, and continued until 1646. The Civil War and Interregnum seem to have caused him a lot of problems in recording information, but in 1675 they start again, until 1708. They really are a mine of information. The boys have two godfathers and one godmother; the girls one godfather and two godmothers. Quite often a family relationship is given - e.g. sister of the father. Very often the child is named after one of the godparents, even if no family relationship is given.
e.g.
1606
Nov 16 HORNE John s Robert & Anne
G/p:
John Horne, the father’s brother
John Webster, the mother’s brother
Ursula Silversyde
Ursula Silverside is in my tree.
She is named as godmother five times!
If only all vicars had done the same.
It has really helped me work out marriages and children.
If a woman is named as godmother it helpfully states "wife of x".
