George Johnston Berwickshire

[gajjer]

Got it. Thanks. 'Old Parish Registers - Births'  - not under Baptisms..
Many thanks

[Forfarian]

Got it. Thanks. 'Old Parish Registers - Births'  - not under Baptisms

It's all the same database, but if the date in the original document is (as is the norm) is the baptism date, that's the date in the index. Before the start of civil registration in 1855 there is no separate index of births as opposed to baptisms or vice versa.

[gajjer]

Good grief. The date for his birth in the Met Police Pension Register is the 9th of July. So he was baptised when he was only 8 days old! They must have been made of sturdy stuff!
Thank you for the insight. This is all new to me.

[Forfarian]

So he was baptised when he was only 8 days old!

Not unusual. Sometimes they were even baptised on the day they were born.

I suppose in those days it was thought more important to ensure the child's eventual place in the afterlife than it was to organise a party around the baptism.

[gajjer]

Indeed. We are a long way from the days where families were 10 or more, and where a death in the family was common. My mother had a sister that died at birth and she never mentioned it. My father had a sister who died at the age of 10 and he never spoke about her. I just can't imagine what that would be like.

[rosie17]

So he was baptised when he was only 8 days old!

Not unusual. Sometimes they were even baptised on the day they were born.

I suppose in those days it was thought more important to ensure the child's eventual place in the afterlife than it was to organise a party around the baptism.

And a lot cheaper

[gajjer]

Well it appears he was illegitimate. The father was William Johnston from Middlestots and it says that he was BORN on the 17th July 1849. Which is different to what George himself has recorded.

[rosie17]

Most possible made him self a few years older to join the police force at least you have the correct date now

Rosie

[gajjer]

That's an interesting thought. I never take dates in a census too seriously but as it was a date in a Police record tended to believe it.
His joining the Met has me wondering too. I don't know why but I would have thought it unusual for a young man to come down from Scotland and join the Met. I am assuming that he had no previous experience. Are there records of people serving with the Scottish police? Could he have been a mason, with connections?
So many questions.

Thanks everyone for your help. I think I have a reasonable idea of the facts now.