Genealogy Chat

morning all, can anyone tell me what kind of infomation can be found on baptis records regards bernie

Good morning, You will find the childs given name, his baptism date and in lots of cases the childs birth date also, the mother and fathers names and the fathers occupation, also the address they lived at. Kathlyn

as my birth cert does'nt have my fathers name on, do you think my baptis records will be the same

The range of information depends upon the date of the baptism, and it shouldn't be confused with a civil registration of birth. Usually, throughout the 19th century, you can expect to see the parents' names, and sometimes occupations, but prior to that, very often just the names: typically, Clive, son to George Harrison and Betty. Nothing more. It makes it very hard to be confident that you have matched the child to the right parents, and falls very far short of the 'proof' that many people feel we are seeking for each and every vital event that makes up the structure of our trees. 'You know nothing until you have the proof' is their daily mantra, but then you go and look at the available evidence, and realise that in the absence of other collateral evidence, such as wills, bastardy bonds, family bibles, and other primary sources, such proof just doesn't exist. Mostly we work with probabilities, rather than certainties, and it vexes the controlling types no end.

Baptisms for illegitimate children do sometimes have a father's name, but not necessarily. Sometimes you can find the father through the courts, if the mother applied for maintenance. But again, not necessarily. nell

If by 'my' you mean 'me personally', I doubt if it would show the name of your father - nowadays vicars are kinder and also it wouldn't be permissable for them to add a father who wasn't on your birth cert. If you're talking about the birth cert of an ancestor from pre 1900 now in your possession, you may find an 'alleged' father given. However, I am assuming you mean the former scenario. Jay