Genealogy Chat

Can someone please tell me what these two notes mean on baptism registers.

1) Just "C" noted in the margin
2) Base born - does it mean out of wedlock

Also has anyone come across instances where at a baptism where all other information fits the mother has been listed as the same name as the baby. I have two baptisms where mothers maiden name fits, father fits, location fits but mother for some reason has the same name as the baby. (Obviously I have only had this on female baptisms.
Your thoughts and input would be appreciated.

Happy New Year to All
Maria

I just googled "Base Born" and it does mean a child born out of wedlock/illegitimate. Sorry I don`t have aclue about the "C".

As for mothers having the same name as their children, that is very common , often the 1st sons and daughters are named after their parents in my tree.

Nicky

Hi Nicky
Thanks for that. Don't know why I didn't google it myself (lol)

You misunderstand me about the mother
Her name was Martha but in two instances where all other information fits she has become and Ann on one instance and a Jane on another.
Maria

So Martha was the mother........ well i would imagine its either been transcribed wrong { i presume your talking about IGI} and I would also be inclined to check for marriages of Ann and Jane to the same name as Marthas husband. In these small villages youv`e often got quite a few with the same name, these children could belong to different families.

Nicky

Hi Maria,

Was this then the same woman in both cases? It does seem to have been easier for women to lose their forenames than the men.

The custom of calling (say Mary Johnson married to William) Mrs Johnson, or indeed Mrs William Johnson, together with all members of the family calling her Mother (including the husband) seems to lead to more mistakes with the wife's forename than that of the husband.

An example recently was a wife Sarah Jemima on the 1841 census becoming Mary on the 1851 (suggesting a second wife), but thereafter reverting to being called Sarah Jemima again in 1861 and 1871.

What date is your example? Before 1812, there were no pre-printed baptism registers, and each curate/vicar followed their own pattern. I was very cross the first time I came across a baptism where the mother's name was (for example) Mrs Johnson.

The burial registers are often invaluable in these situations, since the marriage record may be the only time the wife's name is used.

All the best

(waves to Nicky on just finding your message)

Hi Maria,

I suspect that C is a code used at the time. The type of additional information the clergy might want to add to the entry includes whether the child was later confirmed, whether the baptism has been included in the bishop's transcripts, whether it was the curate or the vicar who baptised the child, whether a father has been identified for a child born out of wedlock, whether the baptism was in church or a quick early baptism where it was feared the child might die....there will undoubtedly be other reasons.

All the best

Thanks Nicky and Ivy.
thats sort of cleared things up for me.
Ivy I was looking at baptisms between 1801 and 1815 where there seem to be six children in the family the mothers maiden name which was Sewell was listed and it was only that her Christian name seemed to mirror the girl child at the time. Myself I was leaning towards a misinterpretation of information by the member of the clergy filling out the details, the fathers names, location and mothers maiden name still fit in with the equation and no other families of that name fitting in with general age for the era I was searching.
thanks again.
Maria