Births and Baptisms

Baptism Records

The records in the registers are supposed to be for baptism dates, not birth dates, although occasionally both dates are recorded in the register. These records from 1658 clearly show 'borne' instead of baptised.

In the 1600s and 1700 baptisms often took place fairly soon after the birth, typically lesss than 2 weeks. This was because of the high mortality rate for infants. However, this gap grew longer during the 1800s, typically about a month or more. There are also occasions when adults are baptised.

The following record shows that several children of Ayliffe Gale were baptised together in St James's Church, Draycot Cerne on 7 September 1759; the register also records that their mother, Jane (but not their father) was a Quaker.

Annotations sometimes appear in the register to show that a child was illegitimate; for example 'base born'. If the child was illegitimate the father’s name is usually not recorded. The following record shows that Mary, the base born daughter of Ann Keen, was baptised on 1 July 1702.