Need Kilmarnock (Ayr) baptism help

ksyoung · Post by **ksyoung** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 3:19 am

I downloaded a page of Kilmarnock births and am trying to figure out when the entries were actually written. There are 4 entries on the page, giving birth dates but not mentioning baptism. The first 3 entries are children from the same extended family and the 4th is a different family. The birth dates are 1831, 1834, 1843, and 1808, in that order.

I am guessing that these entries were written when a batch of children were baptized. Can SKS tell me if a previous page gives the date that the baptisms took place, so that I know when the entries were written? The reference is:
OPR Births 597/0090 0334

Thanks,
Katherine

JustJean · Post by **JustJean** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 12:32 pm

Hi Katherine

If you give me a name to find the record by I'll have a peek online.

Best wishes
Jean

ksyoung · Post by **ksyoung** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 3:50 pm

Take your pick of names:

John Peden, parents William Peden and Anges White, born 1831
Margaret Peden, same parents, born 1834

Thanks,
Katherine

Post by **emanday** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 4:36 pm

Hi Katherine,

Did a search on BIVRI discs for births to those parents (bearing in mind these names could be spelled all sorts of ways). Strange result...

PEDDEN, Robert Christening
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 27 Nov 1822 Birthplace: , Kilmarnock, Ayr, Scotland
Recorded in: Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland
Father: William PEDDEN
Mother: Agnes WHYTE
Source: FHL Film 1041388 Dates: 1776 - 1830

PEDDEN, William Christening
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 18 Oct 1824 Birthplace: , Kilmarnock, Ayr, Scotland
Recorded in: Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland
Father: William PEDDEN
Mother: Agnes WHYTE
Source: FHL Film 1041388 Dates: 1776 - 1830

PEDDEN, Agnes Christening
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 14 Jul 1827 Birthplace: , Kilmarnock, Ayr, Scotland
Recorded in: Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland
Father: William PEDDEN
Mother: Agnes WHYTE
Source: FHL Film 1041388 Dates: 1776 - 1830

JustJean · Post by **JustJean** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 7:06 pm

Hi Katherine

Well I've looked backward and forward several pages from your PEDEN OPR entries and it is a might bit confusing! THere are no actual dates of when the records were entered but there is for example 3 pages earlier an unrelated birth entry that occurred in 1844 with the added notation...."Per statement of father 31st December 1855". This date is repeated a few times on other entries and is the most recent date I can find. Whether this whole section of the register was recorded around this time I can't be sure but it at least gives an indication....trusting they were entered in the order received by the registrar.

Best wishes
Jean

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 10:54 pm

Hi Katherine
Based on what Jean has found, I've certainly seen OPRs were there was a rush to have children entered in the parish records immediately prior to the introduction of Statutory Registration in 1855 - maybe that is what is going on here?

Also, I do have in my own tree OPR entires which only mention the birth date, not any date of christening. e.g. (names and address have been altered) in South Leith OPR, 1837 :
"John Smith carpenter 1 Main Street and Margaret Brown his spouse had a lawful son named George born November 24th 1837"

Best wishes
Lesley

Post by **AndrewP** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 11:27 pm

Hi Katherine,

I too have seen the family groups in the OPR baptisms. These appear to have been done in the 1850s in the period leading up to statutory registration.

One of my lot had the family group written up at this later date, but one of the sons also appeared in his baptismal year in the 1820s. The listed dates were three years apart. So the moral of the story is that these late baptismal listings may not be accurate as 20 or 30 years or so have gone by since the original events.

All the best,

AndrewP

Post by **emanday** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 11:34 pm

Was this caused by some kind of misunderstanding of the new legislation?

Were some people under the impression that all (living I assume) people had to be registered, rather than just those born after the 1855 deadline?

If that was the case then I might have a few in my "mistakes" folder, (i.e. right names and parent's names but wrong years), that could very well actually be my "folk".

Post by **AndrewP** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 11:52 pm

Hi Mary,

The one that I have in front of me just now is Peter Paterson, born 11-Jan-1828 in Ratho. In the family group he is listed as born 11-Jan-1831 in East Calder (Kirknewton parish). So the two listings are a few miles apart in neighbouring parishes as well as being three years apart.

Technically these could have been two separate Peters born to the same couple, but exactly three years apart - I am not convinced of that.

All the best,

AndrewP

Post by **emanday** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 11:53 am

Thanks Andrew,

I think a review of some of mine might be worth it, especially some where following siblings were all entered in the OPR's.

I'd wondered why they were registered, but not the older one/s. Could very well be that they were, but much later, hence the "wrong" dates.