Private Baptism of Florence Stockham 30/12/1874 (General)

by rookancestrybest , United Kingdom, Friday, August 23, 2013, 22:54 (3898 days ago) @ Paul Andrews

Private baptisms were usually if a child was thought to be near to death before they had had chance to be taken to church to be baptised, but there can be other reasons, e.g. in the days when non-conformist and RC church baptisms were not not recognised by the state. In the latter case, the family might baptise the child themselves rather than take him or her to an Anglican church or might take them to their own denomination to be baptised. Usually though if the latter applied the church or chapel would have kept a record. (I knew a grandma who baptised her grandchildren herself, only twenty-thirty years ago, without telling her daughter she had done it because the daughter did not follow a religion and had therefore not baptised the children. I don't know whether the daughter ever found out that this had taken place!!! I am constantly in the dilemma of wondering whether to ask the daughter or to let sleeping dogs lie! I saw the daughter a month ago and was on the verge of asking her and then decided against it! The grandma died a decade or so ago!!!!!)