From: NemoNews@hotmail.co.uk
On 23/10/2020 12:03, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
> Looking at baptisms in Bebington (Wirral, Cheshire, England), 1679.
>
> Most - all, I think - of the other entries on the page are of the form:
>
> filius/filia de
> ____
>
> (forenames Latinised), which I of course understand to mean
>
> son/daughter of of ____ .
>
> However, the one I think are my ancestors says (under Mensis Augusti
> [month of August]):
>
> Johannes filius Johannis Mason Alieni <>____________________________3ยบ.
>
> Which I take to mean John son of John Mason (the <> is a little diamond,
> which I take to be a foible of the scribe - it's done without taking the
> pen off the page to draw the line to the date figure [handy, as it makes
> it a lot easier to see which date lines up with which line]).
>
> I am pretty sure "Alieni" just means "of elsewhere" - but why? Most of
> the others on the page are "de Bebington" or "de Beb: super" (Higher or
> Upper, I presume), but there are some from other villages - Watsheath or
> Wats Heath, Stourton, Poulton, Brombrough, Hony-Greave, Hinderton,
> Tranmore, and Holt Hill. Sure, one might guess the clerk didn't know,
> but hang on: if you're having a baby son baptised (especially one named
> after you, so quite likely the first one), it's not like just having
> your passport stamped - it takes a while; surely someone would have
> asked? (Would they even _do_ a baptism for a stranger?)
Can't imagine a Priest refusing to baptise a child.
One of my ancestors was described in a Baptismal record, as "a poor
travelling man" so maybe John Mason was of no fixed abode and didn't
know himself where he was actually "from."
--
Jenny M Benson
Wrexham, UK
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
|
