Genealogy Chat

Potty - I, too, was born in WW2. In my case, they evacuated the maternity wing to a country house just outside some village in Oxford. I don't know what hospital I was supposed to be born in - my guess is St Mary's, Praed St, right on top of Paddington Station.
I was born ob Friday, and on the Saturday, my dad cycled out to Oxford to see mum & me. He got lost - they'd taken down all the signposts to confuse German paratroopers. He found this guy working in his garden and asked him the way - the guy said "hang on, I'll get a map and show you". The guy went into the house for the map, took about 10 min to find it, then took 10 min with a rambling explnation of the route, describing every building my dad would pass. Before he finished, the copper from the next village rode up on his bike. Turns out the guy wasn't inside looking for a map, but phoning the cops. He accused my dad of being a German spy, wandering around the country speaking with a strange foreign accent. The copper soon found out why my dad had a strange foreign accent.- dad was born in Aberdeen!!! Anyways, the copper rode with my dad to show him the way to the maternity house.

I too was baptised in hospital soon after birth. In my case it was because the hospital was close to the Thames and in danger of being bombed.

mgnv, I love your conditional service. I was later baptised in church, so presumable this was the service used.

I was 'privately' baptised in 1953 in hospital as I was not expected to live.

Hence I have only a christian name & surname, nought in the middle. And parents had not really thought about a name so I am named after a character in the Archers!!!!

Roy - it's true a medical professional delivering the child can perform an emergency baptism, as can the guy delivering the take-out chinese meal. In fact, anyone at all can.
Since people should only be baptized once, the Book of Common Prayer provides a conditional baptismal service - along the lines:
"Dear God, If they got it right before, ignore this, but if they stuffed up, then this is the real deal."

I remember my mother telling me that a neighbour's baby was hastily baptised immediately after birth by the delivering midwife.
This was 1947 and the baby survived.

Gwyn

Thanks all. that would make sense as there is no other signs of the child on censuses and the like but i know it is the right parents.

There are some records on Medway City Ark (can't recall exactly) where there the PR has a note stating that the child was baptised by Matron X at the X Laying in hospital. This is in the mid 1950s.

'private baptism'. Sometimes because a child was not expected to survive,

I found through another site that a child could be baptised by a medical professional in an emergency possibly a doctor or nurse/midwife, not sure it's true but worth following up

Roy

Often this was carried out in haste for a sickly child, who might not be expected to live, although I have also seen it recorded for 'gentry' in a parish.
There is often an ammendment to the entry saying that the child was received into the church at a later date.

Gwyn

Apparently it means privately baptised. No idea what is different about a private baptism or why it took place. I await the wisdom of the others for that one.J

Does anyone know what PB means when entered in the margin next to a baptism entry? Thanks. :-S