It Pays to Check the Original Records!

[Lodger]

This is an entry from the parochial records of the parish of Fowlis Wester in Perthshire.
The page has baptisms and Banns of marriage from 1742. This particular entry caught my eye, although it wasn't what I was looking for on the page.
It is an entry for Banns of marriage dated 25th November 1742. The ink is different in the second part of this entry because it was added sometime after July 1743.

It reads - "William Thomson in ye parish of Methven & Ann Haly a native of this parish".
(and there it should have ended).
"He was execute(d) July following for murdering his brother David coming from Edinburgh".

How many times have most of us checked the OPR's on the Scotlandspeople free pages without spending 6 credits to check the original entries? I know that I've done it so many times!

[Rosinish]

Hi Lodger...

You're absolutely right as there are often added comments to OPRs.

However, many people seem to go on what's written here by others about OPRs, from different areas/times etc. & believe the tradition is often, the names of the couple & nothing more.

The truth is, each & every Parish Minister/Priest had different writings & nobody can foresee what was written at any given time.

I've had baptisms which give 3 or more generations of paternal forenames, quite something!

Annie

[wivenhoe]

Thank you for passing on this find and demonstrating the benefit of viewing a record.

"The ink is different in the second part of this entry because it was added sometime after July 1743".

* The presentation of the information is just as important as the substance.  That holds true for written information, inscriptions on a headstone, notes on the back of a photo etc.

* Church records for BDM events are a wonderful source of information. Where people were active members of their church community, these records are often cross referenced, so baptism record will be amended to show later marriage of that person at same, or another church.

* Burial record with information about dead persons life, and that of close family.

* I have seen these additions made  to church records well into the 20th century.

[Lodger]

* I have seen these additions made  to church records well into the 20th century.

This is still the case with the Catholic Church. If someone who is a Catholic wishes to marry in a Catholic Church anywhere in the world, that person must contact the parish of his baptism so that the original entry can be scrutinized to ensure he/she was not already married.  I traced a second-cousin who had left Scotland as a teenager, to Toronto, Canada after checking his baptism entry. It gave me his wife's name and the name of the Catholic church where they were married.

[Forfarian]

Excellent find, Lodger. Best example I've ever seen of why to check the originals.

But even before that there is a tiny detail that would never appear in any index: she was described, not just as 'in this parish', but as 'a native of this parish'.

[grendlsmother]

Yes - always look.  One of mine:

“John McDonald and Bessy Neilson in Netherabbingtoun had a son baptised 22 June 1740 held up Michael Neilson named William”

Commercial sites make no mention of "named William" and have the child's name recorded as Michael.

[bikermickau]

I found today in the parish records for 2 consecutive marriages at the parish church in Brailes, Warwickshire.
In the Father Name and Surname field had "Illeg son of "mother's name". One had both her married and maiden name.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-62RS-MPT?i=538&cc=1462403

[garden genie]

My favourite is one I saw many years ago in an 1880's baptism register for a suburb of Manchester, which had a blank space where the mother's name should have been. An asterisk sends you to the bottom of the page where the vicar has noted "the mother of this child is known as Susan but she has not been baptised" One day I will find which parish I recorded it from, so that I can check what the online version says!

[Rosinish]

Indexes don't tell you if a child is illegitimate although the father is named.

Indexes don't tell you the names of Sponsors/Witnesses on Baptisms/Marriages.

There are numerous reasons to purchase Scottish Statutory records too.

Scottish death certs. will give info. on previous/later marriages, if known to the informant.

Scottish illegitimate births will sometimes give info. on the mother other than her name...I have posted an image of an example although I've covered up what's not essential for obvious reasons.

Annie