On the IGI, under batch number C018278, there are 200+ entries relating to baptisms at the church of St John the Baptist,Lewes. I haven't looked at all of them but have viewed a good sample....and every single person appears to have been born in Michigan,USA in 1877. What possible reason could there be for so many Americans, all born in the same state in the same year, to be baptised in a parish church in a small Sussex market town,albeit an important one locally? Was there a mass absentee baptism - can you have such a thing in the Church of England? - and if so, why? Or a mass descent of people from Michigan on Lewes at some time? Or is it a classic case of an error on the IGI?
My interest in this church is that it is very significant in my family history as lots of past generations of my mother's family were baptised,married and buried there. My mother was a Sunday School teacher at St John the Baptist and my parents were married there...so this mystery regarding it greatly intrigues me.
The batch number suggests the PRs have been filmed but the whole thing seems so unlikely to me.There don't seem to be any dates of baptism recorded,only dates of birth, which makes me suspicious of the fact that these records are from the register.
Can anyone come up with an explanation?
Ann
