Alfred Beale (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Saturday, September 29, 2012, 05:36 (4441 days ago) @ dennisc3

Hi Dennis,
I am NOT an expert in these things, other posters will be, but in my experience no I would not expect a child aged 9 to be referred to as an infant in old PRs.
In the 1960s I went to Bilson Primary School, Cinderford, First in the "Infants" for a couple of years, then moved up to the "Juniors" for another 4? years, and finally moved to Secondary school starting aged 10/11 years. Nowadays these "infants" would be referred to as "preschool", I think. So in this rather non-technical respect "infant" suggests say 8 years at the oldest.
I see the dictionary states the word "infant" is from Latin "infans", meaning "unable to speak", it suggests a modern maximum age of 3 years.

The following reference carries many useful observations wrt Victorian Parish Registers, Church Records and Census data based apparently on a fair degree of experience. It states
"The term infant seems to have been used to describe people, say, 0 to 3 years old, whereas child was used for 3 to 10. I'm not exactly sure on this point."
http://fullerfamilyhistory.users.btopenworld.com/FFH_Information.htm

I'd tend to agree with this definition.

Re the particular Infant Burial you have mentioned, I believe this Baptism more closely relates to it, also from this site's PRs.

Record_ID: 179058
Entry_Number: 1407
Year: 1860
Month: Jul
Day: 8
Parents_Surname: BEALE
Child_Forenames: Alfred
Fathers_Forenames: Charles
Mothers_Forenames: Hannah
Mothers_Surname:
Residence: Knappers
Occupation: Labourer
Officiating_Minister: F. Harrison
Event: Baptism
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P225 IN 1/6
Page_Number: 176
Parish_Chapel: Newent
Soundex: B400

Searching for all Alfred Beales BMD register entries in Newent District on FreeBMD gives these results:

Surname First name(s) Age District Vol Page
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Births Sep 1852
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Beale Alfred Newent 6a 194

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Births Jun 1860
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BEALE Alfred Newent 6a 201

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Deaths Mar 1861
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Beale Alfred Newent 6a 161

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Births Sep 1870
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BEALE Alfred Newent 6a 250

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Deaths Sep 1898
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Beale Alfred 28yrs Newent 6a 150

Now I realise this is not conclusive, as they may have moved in or out of the District, but on the face of it these Records read alongside the above FoD PRs seem to suggest that the "odd" record, ie a Birth with no corresponding Burial, is "your" 1852 one.

I hope this helps. Meanwhile hopefully you or another poster will be able to find your Alfred within the 1861 etc Census, sadly I cannot except via LDS.

Searching Alfred born abt 1852 on LDS I find this 1871 Census return for an Alfred born abt 1853, correct area and mother Ann, could he be yours ?:

name: Alfred Beale
event: Census
event date: 1871
gender: Male
age: 18
relationship to head of household: Son
birthplace: Redmarley D'Abitot, Worcestershire
record type: Household
registration district: Newent
sub-district: Redmarley
event parish: Redmarley
county: Gloucestershire
Household Gender Age Birthplace
self Ann Beale F 67 Redmarley D'Abitot, Worcestershire
daughter Elizabeth Beale F 49 Redmarley D'Abitot, Worcestershire
son Edwin Beale M 21 Redmarley D'Abitot, Worcestershire
son Alfred Beale M 18 Redmarley D'Abitot, Worcestershire
son-in-law John Webley M 34 Dymock, Gloucestershire
daughter Mary Webley F 30 Redmarley D'Abitot, Worcestershire
granddaughter Hannah Webley F 6 Redmarley D'Abitot, Worcestershire
granddaughter Anne Webley F 4 Redmarley D'Abitot, Worcestershire
granddaughter Ellen Webley F 1 Redmarley D'Abitot, Worcestershire
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/V5YF-JLN

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presumably the same lad in 1861, sorry dont have the whole household this time:

name: Alfred Beale
event: Census
event date: 1861
gender: Male
age: 7
relationship to head of household: Grandson
birthplace: Worcester Redmarley D Abitot
record type: Household
registration district: Newent
sub-district: 2 Redmarley
ecclesiastical parish: Worcester
civil parish: Redmarley D'Abitot
county: Gloucestershire

same family ??
name: Mary A Beale
event: Census
event date: 1861
gender: Female
age: 4
relationship to head of household: Daughter
birthplace: Newent, Gloucestershire
record type: Household
registration district: Newent
sub-district: 1 Newent
ecclesiastical parish: Gloucester Bristol
civil parish: Newent
county: Gloucestershire

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This seems most likely fit for the family(less Alfred) from the 1851 Census:

1960 1851 CENSUS HO107/1960 FF.0374-0394 ED.5B REDMARLEY 2
Piece: 1960 Folio: 0387 Schedule: 082
Address: Vellage

BEAL William HD M 59 Carpenter GLS Staunton (c1792)
BEAL Ann WI M 54 Ag Lab GLS Dymock (c1797)
BEAL Joseph SO U 20 Ag Lab WOR Redmarley (c1831)
BEAL Charles SO U 17 Ag Lab WOR Redmarley (c1834)
BEAL David SO U 15 Ag Lab WOR Redmarley (c1836)
BEAL Mary DA - 12 - WOR Redmarley (c1839)

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