John Bassett and Martha Carbis in St Hilary between 1815 and 1820
kerbent
After John Bassett and Martha Carbis got married by Banns in the Paul parish church on the 15 Mar 1812. Their first born, John, arrived sometime in 1814, however I have not yet been able to locate where he was christened but I do know that he died in 1815 at the age of one and was buried in St Hillary. It would appear soon after that a second son was born in 1816, William, he was christened in St Hilary at the time the family were living in a tenement called Rosedown. He was their only child to be christened in the St Hilary parish church. William was christened in a private ceremony. The next time I find the family is when they have moved out of the area to Breage (by 1820), perhaps to seek work in the mines there. I am thinking that the family were in St Hilary between 1815 and 1820.
If any one has any information or any theories as to why they moved when they did to various places eg mines closing down, new mines opening up or any information on the family and/or why they were in St Hilary would be great. I would also be interested in information about the tenement called Rosedown
I also seem to remember that if a christening was done in a private ceremony, it had to be paid for and this was somehow significant but I can?t remember why, so I am hoping that perhaps someone can let me know
Sandra
Comments
Heather_Carbis on 2008-10-21 12:46:08Hello Sandra
Often a private baptism was performed at home when it was thought that the baby was not going to survive.
You then sometimes find at a later date in the parish register a record that reads something similar to "admitted to Church" or "Brought to Church". This means that the child survived and was later brought to the church for the public celebration which the original baptism was meant to be.
kerbent on 2008-10-23 02:56:25Thank you Heather,
since writing about John and Martha's family and their eldest son's private baptism I've discovered that for the Bassett side of the family this was a not a new practice. Several of John's (Martha's husband) siblings were also privately baptised. So I have collected possible reasons why it might have happened see my current theory why, below. I haven't yet come across the phrases "admitted to Church" or "Brought to Church" but I'm sure I'll come across it eventually. I'll work this little snipet into my explaination when I get a chance (hope you don't mind)
One of John Bassett Siblings was also had a private ceremony, Mary was christened 8 Mar 1792 ? possibly died 18 February 1793. She probably died young as often a private baptism was performed on babies where it is feared they might die before being christened in church. Two years later the next child of William was also christened with the same name which reinforces the idea that this Mary died before 1794 ? although as yet we do not have any firm evidence to support this. According to the OPC site there is Mary BASSET, pauper who died as an infant and is buried on the 18 February 1793
"There were a number of reasons, as I understand it, why a private baptism would be performed for a family including maintaining social status, however with William's (John's dad) family I am sure the reason is a lot more straight forward than that - possibly that when the children were born and showed limited chance of survival beyond the first few years they were privately christened to ensure that they became part of the faith and that they would go to heaven. It is possible that a ?private baptism ? was performed by a lay person such as a midwife or concerned member of the family or close friend, however as the entries for the these pauper children are all full entries in the parish registers, sequenced as you would expect it is most likely that the baptisms were performed by the parish priest and recorded at the time (or soon after) the event. If the ceremony had been performed by another person they would have submitted the details to the priest for inclusion in the church records and this could mean that the entries in the church register would have sometimes been out of sequence ? which for this particular church does not seem to have happened."
It all adds a little colour to the family story, helps to infer details that make the story an interesting one.