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Messages - Gerry_R

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1
Ireland / Re: A baptism for an unnamed child
« on: Monday 25 June 18 23:35 BST (UK)  »
Thanks, Maiden Stone.

From all the responses I have had to my enquiry, there seem to be a number of possible explanations, some more remote than others.

I guess I have to make a tentative decision towards the one that seems to me most likely, while keeping the other possible explanations open.

The fact that the Catholic Church reserves baptism for the living seems to rule out stillbirth, although Gaffy's point that baptism could be carried out if the child was "at risk of imminent death, including cases of doubt (ie. uncertain if alive, but where there might be the slightest chance)." Further, I note the high infant mortality around that time in Ireland - something over 20% - so I am leaning towards the possibility that the child's death was imminent and baptism was given with no regard for recording the niceties of a name and gender. The fact that this child did not come up in any later records leads me towards that explanation rather than the minister forgetting the child's name, or the parents not having a name chosen.

Thank you everyone for your help.

I am satisfied to close this post now.

2
Ireland / Re: A baptism for an unnamed child
« on: Sunday 24 June 18 01:43 BST (UK)  »
Re my last post: The fourth died at sea.... To clarify, I should have written:  the youngest of the three surviving children who left Ireland.

3
Ireland / Re: A baptism for an unnamed child
« on: Sunday 24 June 18 01:40 BST (UK)  »
Thanks for your thoughts, Maiden Stone.

With regard to birth order, this child was the second of four born in Ireland: 1843, 1845, 1846, and about 1849. The three who survived accompanied their parents to Fremantle, Western Australia, in 1853. The fourth died at sea, just a few weeks from the end of the journey.


4
Ireland / Re: A baptism for an unnamed child
« on: Saturday 23 June 18 09:58 BST (UK)  »
Thank you all for your advice and ideas.

Aghadowey, I hadn't thought of the possibility that the minister might have forgotten the child's name.

Sinann, I was not aware of the NLI site for access to Irish Catholic records, but I'm enjoying looking through years of record and noting old family names! Brilliant!

5
Ireland / Re: A baptism for an unnamed child
« on: Saturday 23 June 18 07:33 BST (UK)  »
Thank you, Hallmark, Sinann and Gaffy.

I accessed my record through subscription site, FindMyPast,, so the link is probably not helpful.
However, I have copied the entry and attached it.


6
Ireland / A baptism for an unnamed child
« on: Saturday 23 June 18 05:25 BST (UK)  »
I am looking at a baptism dated 1 June 1845 at St Mary's Kilkenny City where there is no name provided for the child. Parents' names are there, together with those of two sponsors.
From the fact that the record has not been deleted, I infer that a baptism did actually take place. Why is the child not named? I can only think that the child was stillborn, but can anyone offer an alternative explanation or shed more light on this?
There is no mention of the child in later records involving the family, by the way, which does point to a post mortem baptism. 

7
Occupation Interests / Re: What did a "tulter of pumps" do?
« on: Friday 09 May 14 11:44 BST (UK)  »
Thank you, Stan.

When I can have a close look at my friend's document, I will certainly keep your suggestion in mind. A mistranscription of that kind would be possible!

Regards,

Gerry

8
Occupation Interests / Re: What did a "tulter of pumps" do?
« on: Friday 09 May 14 07:54 BST (UK)  »
Thank you Ruskie!

Your suggestion of a mistranscription was my first reaction.

I will ask for more detail next week when we get together.

It is reassuring in a way to know that you haven't heard of it either.

Regards,

Gerry

9
Occupation Interests / What did a "tulter of pumps" do?
« on: Friday 09 May 14 05:37 BST (UK)  »
A friend has been trying to discover what her Scottish ancestor did for a living as a "tulter of pumps".
It has me puzzled. I wondered if it had something to do with coal mining and keeping the pits free of water, but I'm just guessing.
Since the person is not my ancestor, I know nothing about him. But I am still curious about his occupation!
Can anyone clarify what he was doing - without going to a whole lot of trouble, please?

Gerry

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