Illegitimates baptised after the parents wed.

[benny1982]

Hi

I have had a couple of instances in my family tree where the parents of an illegitimate child wed within the year of the birth and then they baptise the child once they wed.

Ie Jane Jones gives birth to an illegitimate child in May 1852 called Henry Jones. Jane marries later in the year to Henry Taylor and the baby is baptised at say Christmas 1852 as "Henry, son of Henry and Jane Taylor".

I wonder how common it was for parents to wait until they married to baptise their firstborn child or children which were initially born just before the parents wed?

Ben

[Jan1954]

Oh Ben - I have a few of those, too.

For example, my great grandmother, Ann Mascall Cowling, was born to Lydia Cowling on 27 May 1855. Ann's father, John Webb Mascall, and Lydia did not wed until 16 December of that year, and Ann was baptised on 25 December, a full 7 months after she was born. She was baptised as Ann Mascall although her birth certificate says Ann Maskell (sic) Cowling.

As it was the norm in that village for babies to be baptised fairly soon after being born, this was certainly an example of wanting the baptism to show respectability.

[benny1982]

Hi

I think the baptism alone can hold a good clue. I think if the parents of an illegitimate child wed soon after the birth and the baby was then baptised then that was also probably a way of showing that the father was admitting paternity.

Ben