Dumb question - sponsors & baptism registers

Genealogy, Archaeology, History, Heritage & Folklore

Moderators: Clare Support, Clare Past Mod

Post Reply
kate2013
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Mar 09, 2013 4:26 pm

Dumb question - sponsors & baptism registers

Post by kate2013 » Mon Aug 22, 2016 12:06 am

Can I just ask a seemingly dumb question? I have spent more time than is healthy pouring over baptism registers. I have noticed that the sponsors rarely have the same name ie not married. As they are often male and female, do they put a maiden name if it's a married couple, or are the sponsors from two different families or branches of the same family?

Thanks in anticipation.

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Dumb question - sponsors & baptism registers

Post by Sduddy » Mon Aug 22, 2016 9:13 am

Hi Kate2013

I’m no expert, but what I have found is that sponsors (godparents) were generally young people – often as young as ten years old. A godparent was supposed to be a kind of guardian angel for the child being baptised, and a young godparent was more likely than an old one to see the child through life. The sponsors for the first baby, or first few babies, were usually siblings of the parents of the baby. The godmother's maiden name is what's usually recorded by the priest. Bear in mind that the priest sometimes made mistakes. As time went on, and the young mother became part of the neighbourhood, then neighbours were often asked to be sponsors. Then, as the younger children reached the age of ten, they were very often the godparents for their newborn siblings.

But there is no hard and fast rule. Probably if a relative was visiting she/he might be asked to be sponsor. And sometimes no arrangement was made so the priest’s housekeeper would stand for the child – “to stand for” was the expression generally used, and still is.

Sheila

smcarberry
Posts: 1281
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 4:31 pm
Location: USA

Re: Dumb question - sponsors & baptism registers

Post by smcarberry » Mon Aug 22, 2016 10:12 am

First, there are no dumb questions on godparents. When dealing with an era of scarce records, it is vital to wring all possible significance out of a record reference.

That said, I suspect that pinning down a useful meaning from the context you described might be difficult. With such a broad reach of the RC Church globally, there may be local variations in baptismal protocol. In my part of the world, when I was learning why my aunt and a total stranger (to me) were selected as my godparents, I was told that it is important for those two to commit to ensuring my remaining Catholic in event of my parents ' deaths and that choosing people from two different households furthered that goal.

As a transcriber of over 5000 RC baptisms in the 1800s in E. Clare, I think I saw the priest noting married couples serving as godparents by using the same surname for both but adding the word "and" between their names in the record. My transcription shows that, which I did to preserve that clue.

Hope that helps,
Sharon C.

jimvaughan
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2016 2:22 pm

Re: Dumb question - sponsors & baptism registers

Post by jimvaughan » Mon Aug 22, 2016 10:33 pm

Hi,
I'm no expert but my understanding is that in the majority of cases there was one sponsor from the father's [side*] and one from the mother's [*side]. So you could have any mix, a relative of either parent, a close friend of one, a neighbour of the couple or a neighbour of where the mother was from. If the sponsors were a married couple then generally the married name was used for both.

Post Reply