Foston Parish Baptisms 1850-1900

FOSTON:
The Parish Baptism Registers for Foston, 1850-1900

1. Birth dates are only very occasionally recorded.
2. There are numerous occasions where baptisms only take place some years after birth. These are often triggered by the subsequent birth of another child in the family and either the family feels more prosperous and can afford the fees or perhaps the local priest looks further into the family and the absence of other baptisms becomes apparent. This table is not adjusted to accommodate such incidents.
3. A few entries do not indicate a day or month perhaps another indication of late baptism.
4. One is recorded with the parents christian names but without the father's surname. Instead it reads 'Nelson's foreman at Coates's farm'.
5. Unexpectedly some of the baptismal registers may be incomplete. During the rectorship "of Sydney Smith he failed to record the baptism of at least four children, three from the" same family. Later sworn affidavits approved by the Magistrates allowed correcting entries to be made but these related to people with the means to engage a lawyer and to meet any court fees. Whether the labouring poor suffered from similar carelessness we can never know.