**Completed ** "Becoming a Sponsor" shown on OPR Baptism - what does it mean?

[Clare Fowler]

Hi there,

I was looking at an OPR baptism today and noticed some wording that I didn't understand.  Can anyone help?

Wording as as follows
"Robert Watson Servt in Wester[...] had his child born and baptised & named Margaret (which he had by Charlotte Elder) upon his becoming a sponsor and making satisfaction here"

All help gratefully received - my cursory google search didn't yield anything that looked useful.

Cheers,
Clare

[sancti]

Maybe he became a member of the church


Baptism
Baptism is one of the two sacraments recognised by the Church of Scotland, the other being the Sacrament of Holy Communion. In the case of infant baptism the Church expects at least one parent or other close family member either to be a member of the Church or willing to become a member. If the parent(s) or sponsor of the child have not been baptised themselves then they would need to undergo adult baptism before they could act as a sponsor. Ideally this would normally be done at a separate service.

In the baptismal service one of the parents or both, or a sponsor would be required to profess their own faith and promise to give the child a Christian upbringing. In the case of adult baptism the person himself or herself makes the appropriate promises.

Baptism is normally administered at Sunday worship in front of the congregation. This emphasises the nature of the sacrament as incorporation into the body of Christ and the life of the Church. There is some flexibility in the case of genuine emergencies, normally in a hospital situation or the health of the parent(s). ~~~~~~~~


http://www.cullen-deskford-church.org.uk/cullen-deskford-church-baptism.php

[GR2]

Were the parents married?

Graham.

[Johnner Kid]

Wording as as follows
"Robert Watson Servt in Wester[...] had his child born and baptised & named Margaret (which he had by Charlotte Elder) upon his becoming a sponsor and making satisfaction here"

You have emphasised the key words.
Simply translated they mean that the child was illegitimate and that, although Robert Watson was not married to Charlotte Elder, he acknowedged the child as his and thereby took financial responsibility for mother and child.
It doesn't necessarily mean he married her but may have agreed that too.
Sy

[GR2]

You don't say where the baptism took place. Check the on-line catalogue of the National Archives of Scotland to see if there are minutes for the kirk session or a book of discipline for the parish covering that year. If so, there will be more information about the "fornication" there. The minutes can be consulted on computer in the Historical Searchroom at the National Archives and at certain local archives in Scotland.

Graham.

[Ringrose]

I have baptism records from the Guernsey and the sponsors appear to be members of the family .Often they were aunts and uncles and sometimes grandparents.I assumed that it was like having godparents burkina I'm wrong.
Ringrose

[behindthefrogs]

Many churches particularly non-conformist churches had sponsers at infant baptisms who took on the same responsibilities as godparents in the Church of England.  These usually amounted to taking on a responsibility for ensuring the child's christian upbringing.  This would require the sponsors to show that they were commited christians.

[Johnner Kid]

I was looking at an OPR baptism] .....
...... "Robert Watson Servt in Wester[...] had his child born and baptised & named Margaret (which he had by Charlotte Elder) upon his becoming a sponsor and making satisfaction here"

had his child   --- which he had by
Let's try a bit more emphasis to show that this OPR entry clearly refers to an illegitimate birth.
The Kirk Session record, which is separate from the OPR, would likely have references to this case. The mother of an illegitimate birth would face a lot of scrutiny by the kirk authorities to determine the identity of the father.   The term sponsor is not paticularly unique to such a case as this .  Sponsor references are sometimes used in other cases, e.g. if the father is deceased and another person accepts the reponsibility to bring the child up in the faith he/she is being baptised into.  But that is clearly not the context in this particular case.
Sy

[ev]

hi all 

going by the IGI it looks like the birth/baptism was logie fife in 1797

ev