Author Topic: Parish Register 1752-1812 St Clement , Sandwich  (Read 9743 times)

Offline johnfilmer

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Parish Register 1752-1812 St Clement , Sandwich
« Reply #1 on: November 03, 2019, 06:27:02 PM »
No doubt many of us who are researching family history have struggled with the hand written Registers (mostly in no particular format) that are common before 1830s.
I must therefore comment on the those from St Clement, Sandwich. The Vicar, Wheler Bunce, copied the earlier records from 1752 in his immaculate copperplate handwriting in a clear, easily read format that includes both birthday date as well as Christening date. Note that he uses the word Christening, not Baptism. They also include added details of the father's rank and regiment if in the military, and there are a few of those given the number of soldiers stationed around that area, or as noted in one entry, while marching through.

There is even a detailed footnote about the origin of one mother's biblical name.
Each page has a footnote as to the number of entries on that page, signed off by the Vicar and the Churchwardens. By the early 1800s the writing gets a little less confident as he approaches his 70s. He died in 1809, and his burial on Sept 8th is towards the end of the Registers.

The year of 1752 is significant as this was when the calendars changed and the year change for these records became 1st Jan instead of April - we still have the tax/financial year starting on 5th April.
If you skip to the beginiing pages there are comments by Rev Bunce on the charging of tax on Baptisms, as well as an Index to the Christenings and explanations of the sources of Charitable monies.
At the end of the registers there is a what can only be described as a statistical analysis of Births, Marriages and Deaths, by date and gender. A layout of the church as at 1767, and where, and to whom, the pews were allocated.
A piece of social history well worth a look - I found it by accident on Find my Past.
Illegitimus nil carborundum