Genealogy Chat

Why would a catholic child not be baptised, have a ancestor who had a son Dennis who lived to adulthood but despite hunting through the registers for the local Catholic churches I could find no baptism, found his 2 sisters in the same register one before him and one after him. Went thru the register twice in case I missed him, was this common/unusual? Can only think that he was baptised out of the area that they lived in but this seems unlikely to me.

It's certainly possible he was baptised out of area. Or he may have been baptised privately at home - not sure how catholics record this or do this, but I think it more likely that he was baptised somewhere than that he wasn't. When was this? nell

It would have been in late 1891 in Middlesbrough area, his birth was registered in Middlesbrough, have his birth cert. I'm stuck on his baptism though. Think next time I go to Teeside Archives I'll have to just go as many catholic church registers as possible on the off chance he may appear

Perhaps he was baptised when staying with relatives - did he have grandparents or aunts/uncles in another area? nell

Another thought - were both parents Catholics? It's possible that the sisters were brought up as Catholics but maybe he was baptised in C of E church? nell

I have something niggling in the back of my head that says if he was handicapped he may not have been baptised.

He would probably need proof of baptism if he was married in a Catholic church.

Father was definitely Catholic, no idea about his mother yet, nor what church Dennis was married in. I'll crack the nut eventually :~)

We have found baptisms in unexpected parishes and when we delved further we found that the 'home' parish church was being repaired, at that time. Just a thought- and I do sympathise. My great great grandfather does not seem to have been christened, so I can't find parents,(He was b.c 1813) Even though I can find a family with the correct unusual surname in the right village, with a nice gap between other children, Henry is not found. If only he'd married later in 1837 than springtime, I'd know his father.

George would be interested to know if you do find him, as i have a simliar problem. The couple had 8 children, number 3 and 8 died young but i can only find the bapt records for the middle four. All four were christened about a month or so after their birth ( the vicar kindly put the date in the margin) but the eldest two and the youngest two no sign and have no idea why. My problem is that it's the East End of London, so have many churches to search thru, although i have looked in the more local churches with no luck. Hope you find them Shell

Sue do you know where he was born??? I have an address for when the eldest child was born, so as he and his sister, the next child aren't in the right church, am slowly working ever widening circles. But the annoying thing is i knwo the family didn't move as I've electrol rolls. Have you been to LMA??? as they hold parish maps for all of London. Maybe you can narrow it down this way, if nothing else at least you know which church was standing and the name to start searching Shelli P.s. george sorry to hijack LOL

George, My first thought was that, as he was the first son, he may have been baptised in the same church/ area his father was baptised in. maggie