Which document is which?

[tfossey]

I am looking for some baptism details for 1834 for the church of St. Mary Whitechapel, the registers etc. are now in the London Metropolitan Archives.

The LMA website lists three different types of document from this church, all covering 1834:

Day Book of Baptisms
Transcript of Baptisms
Register of Baptisms

Can anybody provide me with a description of what each source will contain and what the difference between these volumes is? :confused:

Should I simply search the Register or do I need to check each source document (on microfilm of course) :)

[Rod Neep]

The day book of baptisms: is the original notebook kept by the vicar. This was written at the time of the baptism.

The Church Register of Baptisms: is the "official" register, and was written up from the day book. Vicars often wrote these up yearly from their note book, and there are instances in the Registers where it is obvious that he made a mistake, adding an extra entry out of chronological order. He may have also missed out some of those that were in the original daybook.

The Transcript of Baptisms: is a book that was transcribed from either the day book or the register, and submitted to the Bishop. More commonly known as a "Bishop's Transcript" (BT for short).

Now... this is where things get interesting, as the Register may have entries that are missing in the BTs and vice versa.

Very few original Day Books remain, so in this case you are very fortunate in having access to the original primary document.

Regards
Rod

[Guy Etchells]

To echo Rod's comments I would check all three, Day Books first as these are the original notes but then I would check both the Baptism Register and the Bishop's Transcripts.
It is surprising how often names are left out of one or other of the documents, or the vicars learns further details and adds a note in the message=To echo Rod's comments I would check all three, Day Books first as these are the original notes but then I would check both the Baptism Register and the Bishop's Transcripts.
It is surprising how often names are left out of one or other of the documents, or the vicars learns further details and adds a note in the margin or a name.
Additionally there are other entries in the register by a visiting officiating minister or vicar not contained in the day book.
Cheers
Guy

[tfossey]

Many thanks for clearing this up Rod.

[tfossey]

Thanks for the advice Guy