My grandfather Jesse Giddings was baptised on 11th January 1880 in Newnham. At the time the family were living at Boadoak. The image of the actual parish record shows that the minister was T.J. Weight no mention of the church or chapel. The transcription of the baptism record for Jesse Giddings on this site says 'Parish-Chapel" - Newnham. Is there a way of knowing if my grandfather was baptised in St. Peters Church or the old chapel which I believe is now a private residence. Any help would be very much appreciated. Thank you. Ros.

I have tried to find a definitive answer for you, but without success. My great grandparents were married at St Peters in 1857. One of my grandfathers brothers is buried there (1940). I know it burnt down subsequently to 1857, but was rebuilt and is the church now. I don't know of any other building as you mention now being a private residence. Hopefully someone else will know.

Like you Roger I can't help much either. Unlike some of the churches in the inner Forest which were built in the late 1800s, St Peters originates long this, so no clues there regarding Baptisms in 1880. Here's a very extensive history of St Peters, which tells us the fire took place a year after that Giddings baptism, so again no clues in that respect.

"The church of ST PETER, so called in 1310, originally stood on the Nab by the river's edge. In the 14th century it was replaced, on a new site at the top of the town, by a church that was largely rebuilt in 1875; the new building was mostly destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1881."

From https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol10/pp46-49

Based on this history I suspect the Baptism took place at the "later" aka current Church site, but it's really just a guess, hopefully the site Admin can help clarify.

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I'm sure this question of "Church or Chapel" has been asked on the forum in the past, I know I wondered when I first saw the word "chapel" used when I thought the word should be Church (albeit based only on my limited personal CoE experience and not any expert knowledge!), but that was before this site made me aware of the huge number of non-Conformist etc chapels that were once prolific through-out the area.
However I cannot now find that old post again. I believe I'm right in saying the word "Chapels" is used in the PRs Database as a "catch-all" for both "Parish Churches and Non Conformist Chapels", and I think that any cases that differ from this are highlighted within the transcription of the PR concerned.

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Searching the net for "old Chapel Newnham" suggests it is indeed now a private residence. Hopefully this is the same building Ros refers to ?
http://churchdb.gukutils.org.uk/GLS897.php

If so, judging by the history on that link, I'd say this Chapel is referred to within this site's PRs as "Newnham & Blakeny Tabernacle", thus leaving those PRs described as "Newnham" to be at St Peters.

If the church/chapel in the transcript is said to be a place such as Newnham and does not add the name of a denomination such as Baptist, Methodist etc then it will be a Church of England Parish Church. The Parish Church in Newnham is know as St Peter. Looking at the Baptism Record on Ancestry you will see at the top of the page "Church of England Baptisms" and the words "Baptisms solemnized in the Parish of Newnham".
Other denominations such as Baptist, Methodist etc are known as Non Conformist.
Hope this helps

Admin

Thankyou.

I have tried to find a definitive answer for you, but without success. My great grandparents were married at St Peters in 1857. One of my grandfathers brothers is buried there (1940). I know it burnt down subsequently to 1857, but was rebuilt and is the church now. I don't know of any other building as you mention now being a private residence. Hopefully someone else will know.

The following is the link to the old chapel in Newnham which caused me to pose the question.http://churchdb.gukutils.org.uk/GLS897.php

On further investigation it does look as if it was for Non Conformists.
Thank you so much for taking the time time to reply. Ros.

Like you Roger I can't help much either. Unlike some of the churches in the inner Forest which were built in the late 1800s, St Peters originates long this, so no clues there regarding Baptisms in 1880. Here's a very extensive history of St Peters, which tells us the fire took place a year after that Giddings baptism, so again no clues in that respect.

"The church of ST PETER, so called in 1310, originally stood on the Nab by the river's edge. In the 14th century it was replaced, on a new site at the top of the town, by a church that was largely rebuilt in 1875; the new building was mostly destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1881."

From https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol10/pp46-49

Based on this history I suspect the Baptism took place at the "later" aka current Church site, but it's really just a guess, hopefully the site Admin can help clarify.

---

I'm sure this question of "Church or Chapel" has been asked on the forum in the past, I know I wondered when I first saw the word "chapel" used when I thought the word should be Church (albeit based only on my limited personal CoE experience and not any expert knowledge!), but that was before this site made me aware of the huge number of non-Conformist etc chapels that were once prolific through-out the area.
However I cannot now find that old post again. I believe I'm right in saying the word "Chapels" is used in the PRs Database as a "catch-all" for both "Parish Churches and Non Conformist Chapels", and I think that any cases that differ from this are highlighted within the transcription of the PR concerned.

-----

Searching the net for "old Chapel Newnham" suggests it is indeed now a private residence. Hopefully this is the same building Ros refers to ?
http://churchdb.gukutils.org.uk/GLS897.php

If so, judging by the history on that link, I'd say this Chapel is referred to within this site's PRs as "Newnham & Blakeny Tabernacle", thus leaving those PRs described as "Newnham" to be at St Peters.

Thank you so much for all the information. I also wondered about the word "Chapels" being used for both Parish Churches and N.C. Chapels. After more research, I now realise the Old Chapel I was querying, also featured in your link, was for non conformist worshippers. It looks as if my grandfather was baptised in St. Peter's Church after all.

If the church/chapel in the transcript is said to be a place such as Newnham and does not add the name of a denomination such as Baptist, Methodist etc then it will be a Church of England Parish Church. The Parish Church in Newnham is know as St Peter. Looking at the Baptism Record on Ancestry you will see at the top of the page "Church of England Baptisms" and the words "Baptisms solemnized in the Parish of Newnham".
Other denominations such as Baptist, Methodist etc are known as Non Conformist.
Hope this helps

Thank you very much for clarifying the information for me. My grandfather Jesse Giddings was one of 7 siblings, two of which were baptised at the Rodley and Walmore Hill Methodist Chapel. The eldest Joseph Guy was baptised C. of E. in Newport and the other 4 including my grandfather were baptised in Newnham. All 4 records say "Church of England Baptisms" so now I know it was St. Peter's Church. I did get confused with the definition of "Chapel".

My great grandfather William James Giddings is also mentioned on your website in the inquest section. He was a signalman at Newnham Station. On 27th March 1898, William was found dying in his signal box. Age 55 he left a wife and 5 surviving children.

This is my first post on your forum. I very much appreciate all the replies. Ros.

Gloucestershire Non-Conformist Reg

Gloucester Rycroft Prebysterian 1850-1891

Thomas GIDDINGS - baptism 21 February 1884, born 22 December 1883
parents: William 7 & Sarah, Broadoak Newnham

Mary GIDDINGS - baptism 5 February 1891, born 17 December 1890
parents: William James & Sarah, Broadoak Newnham

Gloucestershire Non-Conformist Reg

Gloucester Rycroft Prebysterian 1850-1891

Thomas GIDDINGS - baptism 21 February 1884, born 22 December 1883
parents: William 7 & Sarah, Broadoak Newnham

Mary GIDDINGS - baptism 5 February 1891, born 17 December 1890
parents: William James & Sarah, Broadoak Newnham

Yes these are the records for my great aunt Mary Giddings and great uncle Thomas Giddings. Thank you very much for looking this up, your interest is much appreciated. Thomas and Mary Giddings were baptised at the Rodley and Walmore Methodist chapel, according to the database on this website. I don't know why my great grandparents William and Sarah Giddings had two of their seven children baptised as non conformists and the other five in 'The Church of England'.

Hi Ros,

It's difficult to know why our ancestors chose to baptise/not baptise their children, when and where. It could be as simple as falling out of favour with a vicar or minister, or moving house and preferring a different church/chapel as it was nearer.

In my Forest of Dean family my grandfather (the eldest child) was baptised as an infant at Littledean Independent Chapel in 1908. His sister was similarly baptised shortly after she was born, in 1909. There then followed seven other children born between 1911 and 1921. The youngest was baptised as an infant in 1921 in Newnham parish church (CofE), then a week later the remaining six were all 'done' at Newnham as well.

For part of this time my great-grandfather was in the Army during WW1, but this would only have accounted for a small amount of the ten-year spell overall. Another possible reason was being short of money to pay the fees for baptism, I guess.