Where Do I Go From Here?

[Lesley Robertson]

Terry, several people have now asked. How do you know that the man in the register was not the father? Why do you think that the Minister would agree to a lie in his Church register?

[TerryJ]

Is it possible to send you a private message as I'm not familiar with this kind of thing.

[Lesley Robertson]

Yes. If you click on my name, it should give you a drop down menu including "send private message".
It does take time to learn the system - I'm still finding new aspects all the time...

[Peter Goodey]

Terry sent me a PM. I won't repeat the details given but from the few clues given I've worked out which parish was involved and from what I know of the district I wouldn't call it a small village where everyone knew each other - more of a rambling parish of horticulture, some industry and a number of hospitals and other institutions.

I've looked at the parish register. It shows the father's and mother's forenames and one surname. Interestingly the preceding entry in the register shows an identical father's forename but crossed out! This does make me wonder about the standard of record keeping at that church. I feel now that the baptism entry is a red herring.

I hope Terry will post more details because that's usually the best way to encourage people to dig around and come up with new ideas.

[TerryJ]

Peter,
Yes, I know what you mean about more details so I've emailed my cousin's daughter to see what she thinks-hopefully she'll agree! I agree with you ref Father's name entry-just an understanding vicar. I see you live in Kent, have you ever visited the church?
The standard of record keeping leaves a bit to be desired-burial records are poor. It would seem that the majority of graves don't have a plot location.
Regards
Terry

[Peter Goodey]

I agree with you ref Father's name entry-just an understanding vicar.

I didn't say that. I would suggest a simple mistake or misunderstanding or having been misled. I don't think vicars have the freedom to knowingly make incorrect entries in a baptism register.

Someone will know what regulations govern the completion of baptism registers. Church law? Civil law?