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From: "Pickard - Hungary" <>
Subject: Re: [WAR] re: Christening dates
Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2000 09:38:53 +0100


Hi Pat,

It was quite common to 'save up' christenings and have more than one
child 'done' at the same time. So this fact does not guarantee that
the two were twins.

Reasons for delays may be:
The Father was away somewhere working (Navy, working elsewhere, etc.)
The Parents were working all hours, and were not allowed much time
off
(Note the above is a reason so many ceremonies were held at Xmas)
The parents were poor, and couldn't afford the ceremony every year
The parents wanted someone else to attend, and they were busy
The parents were away from home at the time of birth, and wanted to
use their 'local'
The sole fell off the father's shoe, and he couldn't make it to the
church etc.........

Of course there is also the possibility of twins, which can be a
hereditary factor, so yours may be that cause. It would certainly be
worth looking at the church register itself (or a microfilm),
sometimes there are notes in the margin as to the age of the
children, and even date of Birth, if you are lucky. If all else
fails, buy a birth certificate for the two, if they were born after
civil registers were mandatory.

Happy Hunting

Pickard Trepess
Nagykanizsa, Hungary
(I can count several of the above reasons for the delay in
christening my own daughter - She was born in Hungary, we lived in
the Muddled East, the Godfather lived in England {and I was very poor
<g>}. The result was she was nearly three at her christening. It was
amazing how the church welcomed having an older child present, who
could join in the hymns and ceremony !)

----- Original Message -----
From: Pat Baker <>


| Several of the christenings that appear on the IGI for members of
my family
| have the same date - was it usual to "save up" and have 2 children
of
| different ages christened on the same date or is it more likely
they were
| twins? (I have a personal interest having twins of my own.)

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