Baptism Record, 1910

Taken from the British India Office collection on findmypast.co.uk

1 LOCATION

This record, which is held by the British Library, shows the returns of baptisms solemnised at the Old (or Mission) Church at Fort William in the Bengal Presidency in 1910. It is also known as St Peter’s Church. Fort William was the main military garrison in Calcutta.

2 DATES

The birthdate is given, as well as the date of baptism. Take care to note both, and use this information when you search additional record sets. For example, do any of these children appear in the 1939 Register?

3 CHILDREN’S NAMES

Helpfully, the full forenames of each child are listed in the Christian name column. This is useful for finding the relevant individual in other documents.

4 PARENTS’ NAMES

The parents’ names are also given in full. The next step for a genealogist looking at this would be to search for a marriage for the respective parents.

5 ADDRESS

Another helpful detail is that the priest has included the address of each child’s parents, although it’s unfortunate that often only a town or area is given. These addresses can be used in a residence search in directories, such as Thacker’s which is widely available online (see bit.ly/ fibis-thackers).

6 JOB ROLE

The occupation column is essential for identifying the father and suggesting further areas of research. For example, Edward William Reynolds and Thomas Edward Daiel Levi Brown may appear in the engineering records on ancestry.co.uk.