What's going on here?

[Jenny M Benson]

According to the Parish Register of Baptisms for St James's, Accrington,
Rebecca Rushton, daughter of Robinson Rushton (an Inn keeper in
Accrington) & Ellen was born on 11 August 1843 and baptized on 16 August
1843.

According to the Parish Register of Baptisms for St Bartholomew's, Great
Harwood, Rebecca Rushton, daughter of Robinson Rushton (an Inn keeper in
Accrington) & Ellen was born on 24 July 1843 and baptized on 06
September 1843.

I think we can safely rule out this being 2 different children.
Robinson and Ellen had all their other children baptized at Great
Harwood so why was their last baptized in Accrington AND in Gt Harwood?
And who made the mistake in the birth date?

[john]

Post by Jenny M Benson
According to the Parish Register of Baptisms for St James's, Accrington,
Rebecca Rushton, daughter of Robinson Rushton (an Inn keeper in
Accrington) & Ellen was born on 11 August 1843 and baptized on 16 August
1843.
According to the Parish Register of Baptisms for St Bartholomew's, Great
Harwood, Rebecca Rushton, daughter of Robinson Rushton (an Inn keeper in
Accrington) & Ellen was born on 24 July 1843 and baptized on 06
September 1843.
I think we can safely rule out this being 2 different children. Robinson
and Ellen had all their other children baptized at Great Harwood so why
was their last baptized in Accrington AND in Gt Harwood? And who made
the mistake in the birth date?

Perhaps Ellen was visiting parents or close friends at the time of birth?

The Accrington baptism may have been because Rebecca was a weak baby and
they wanted her baptised (Wed 15 Aug) before she died?

Then baptised again (Sun 10 not 6 Sept) when back at home with all
family and friends?

So I'd suspect the birth was on Fri 11 Aug and the Mon 24 July given
later was just due to wrongly counting back weeks. But the birth
certificate would, hopefully, confirm?

[Charles Ellson]

On Mon, 31 Oct 2022 13:36:30 +0000, Jenny M Benson

Post by Jenny M Benson
According to the Parish Register of Baptisms for St James's, Accrington,
Rebecca Rushton, daughter of Robinson Rushton (an Inn keeper in
Accrington) & Ellen was born on 11 August 1843 and baptized on 16 August
1843.
According to the Parish Register of Baptisms for St Bartholomew's, Great
Harwood, Rebecca Rushton, daughter of Robinson Rushton (an Inn keeper in
Accrington) & Ellen was born on 24 July 1843 and baptized on 06
September 1843.
I think we can safely rule out this being 2 different children.

Only if I could be absolutely sure there aren't two innkeepers
(cousins?).

Post by Jenny M Benson
Robinson and Ellen had all their other children baptized at Great
Harwood so why was their last baptized in Accrington AND in Gt Harwood?
And who made the mistake in the birth date?

Usually the parish clerk. Maybe a second baptism at the other spouse's
parish with an incorrect calculation of the birth "x weeks ago" or
simply fouling things up by trying to do the dates from memory. The
latter can be fun if something else (e.g. a birth registration) shows
a baptism to be premature to birth.

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

Post by Jenny M Benson
According to the Parish Register of Baptisms for St James's,
Accrington, Rebecca Rushton, daughter of Robinson Rushton (an Inn
keeper in Accrington) & Ellen was born on 11 August 1843 and baptized
on 16 August 1843.
According to the Parish Register of Baptisms for St Bartholomew's,
Great Harwood, Rebecca Rushton, daughter of Robinson Rushton (an Inn
keeper in Accrington) & Ellen was born on 24 July 1843 and baptized on
06 September 1843.
I think we can safely rule out this being 2 different children.
Robinson and Ellen had all their other children baptized at Great
Harwood so why was their last baptized in Accrington AND in Gt Harwood?
And who made the mistake in the birth date?

I doubt whether there is any mystery about how the errors came to be
made. We need to remember that the people responsible for preparing the
entries may not be very intelligent, well educated, and highly trained
(or well paid), and in most cases they don't know the families
concerned.

Not long ago I needed a copy of my father's birth certificate for some
French administrative purpose. He was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, in
1908. I suspect that at that time Nova Scotia was more primitive than
England, but maybe not all that much. They didn't issue birth
certificates in 1908, but I obtained a photocopy of the entry in the
official register. There I found:

1. My father's second given name was so garbled as to be unrecognizable;

2. His mother's name omitted the given name she actually used;

3. His father was listed as a steel worker, which he never was, not
even approximately;

4. His place of birth was misspelt;

5. The name of the person making the return (my grandmother) included a
phantom initial.

[MB]

Post by Athel Cornish-Bowden
I doubt whether there is any mystery about how the errors came to be
made. We need to remember that the people responsible for preparing the
entries may not be very intelligent, well educated, and highly trained
(or well paid), and in most cases they don't know the families
concerned.

I suspect that in the French speaking areas of Canada there might be a
bit of blody-mindedness.

My Great Great Grandparents married in Quebec in the 1840s. Just about
every detail is wrong, perhaps the French speaking clerk could not
understand a Yorkshire and possible an Irish accent but my suspicion is
that it was bloody-mindedness.


<https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/1091/images/d13p_1690A0621?pId=7235896>