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Birmingham, Saint Martin parish records for 1736?
- Thread starter Virginia
- Start date
Yes, I found those & have been going through the original parish registers thank you but can't get far enough back (I think Saint Martin's goes back to the mid-1500s & that's what I'd need). And since I live in Canada, I can't take a trip to the Birmingham Library unfortunately. Oh well, will figure a way out to find them!
pjmburns
master brummie
There are records on Ancestry starting 1554 but at that time Births, Marriages and Deaths were all recorded together - no special forms - it is like a diary.
As MWS said - a name might mean we can help.
I'm trying to find the baptism of Thomas Bowen born 1736 with the good chance that it was in Birmingham & again a good chance that it's Saint Martin's parish. I don't have his parents' names unfortunately but would be able to narrow things down if I see the records! Let's face it, if you've had Thomas & Jonas throughout the generations, when you hit a "Archibald" you know you're looking at the wrong family! At least that's what I've found after 25 years of research!!
Wanted to mention that I don't want anyone to have to wade through pages & pages of records finding this info!! I do that quite often & I know it's a pain. If there's a link or something I could use I can do all the trolling through records! On Find My Past they have the Birmingham, Saint Martin's parish records but only back to 1813. I went through those as best I could but it's the records before 1812 I need to access to find some dates. All I know about Thomas Bowen b. about 1736 is that he was a "glass pincher" and married Sarah Gardner March 5, 1764. Sarah was born about 1742 but again, I don't know her parents!
I just found some online registers for Birmingham, Saint Martin's so I'll go through those. The Thomas Bowen b. 1734 is the Bowen who ended up as "Rev" Thomas Bowen I think. Not mine. Mine was a "glass pincher" later in life. The Dec. 28 1779 one is not "my" Bowen's unfortunately! That Thomas + Sarah Bowen combination kept me busy for quite some time before I figured out it was a different family!! Thanks for the look-up!
I just went through some for Saint Martin's as well with no luck as well so I'll start circling wider in the countryside! I have to go by the date on the marriage bond which is around about 1736 so Thomas may just be the ancestor that breaks the "10 mile radius" theory I use to search!! My ancestors never strayed much more than 10 or 15 miles from where they were born to find their spouses & to date, it's always worked! I'll search out the 1750 or so map of the area & go from there. Thanks again for checking!
I've wondered why they needed a marriage licence as well. We'll never know now. Can't see that it was b/c she was pregnant however how would a still birth or miscarriage be noted?? On my mother's side of the family a number of ancestors married by licence bless their hearts because in Devon at least, the marriage bonds gave ALL sorts of information - so much so that one absolutely knew whether this was the correct "George William" or not!
I combed through the original Birmingham, Saint Martin's parish registers & actually found a Thomas Bowen born in 1734 to William Bowen. I'm going to take yet another look at the 1735-37 registers just in case I find a better match. Just puzzled WHY a person taking the details for a Marriage Allegation & Bond would make such a significant birth date error. I could see a year if a person was born in December of a year & baptized early the following year but 2 years makes me uncomfortable!! Thanks to everyone for their look-ups & keep me in mind if you happen to come across a Thomas Bowen b. 1736 in Birmingham, Warwickshire!!
pjmburns
master brummie
Don't forget people could only record what they were told. In the past exact dates were less important - no pensions to collect or school exams to take etc.
Baptism were usually fairly accurately dated because of the proximity to a birth. Other dates were often less accurate.
Baptism were usually fairly accurately dated because of the proximity to a birth. Other dates were often less accurate.
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We have to hope though that the children were baptized within a month or two however, I've just come across some ancestors who waited a year, two even THREE years to baptize their children. My grandfather & his siblings were actually baptized DECADES after their birth when the family had already moved from Birmingham, England, to Montreal, Quebec. Guess it might have come down to whether there was enough $$ for the parents to give the curate a "token" ??? Just speculating here - hope I live long enough to track down all these questions needing answers that I'm writing down.....
Radiorails
master brummie
In some cases people were baptised when joining a church or religious sect, which could be in their adulthood.
I also have to give a huge thank you to all the people who helped me out here because I MAY have found the "Thomas Bowen" I'm tracing. In my bins of The Bowen Hoard that was passed down through the generations, there's a letter to my grandfather who in 1939 wrote relatives who lived at "Imperial works, Vesey Street, Birmingham" about what they remember of the family ancestors. This uncle with other family in tow actually trotted off to the cemetery & got some death dates & year-of-death (i.e. March 12, 1807, age 75 years - pretty much a no-brainer to figure out the birth year within reason eh?!). He also had memories of visiting ancestors' graves in Elmdon, Warwickshire which today has been absorbed into Birmingham proper I believe but which back in their day was a hop, skip & jump south of Birmingham. Anyway, will be trying to trace that today. Unfortunately, if memory serves me, the only "Thomas Bowens" around 1732 were born in Shorpshire. Oh well, since I'm lucky enough to have all this first-hand documentation from relatives I shouldn't crab about the fact that an ancestor wasn't born where I wanted them to be should I?
Oh yes indeed - "religious sects" is a term I know much about since one paternal ancestor in Ontario, Canada, belonged to what is nowadays considered to be a "cult". It was the "Plymouth Brethren". My great-grandmother was the daughter of a Unitarian minister & the baptisms in Canada were in the Methodist Church which, along with the Unitarians & Presbyterians, formed the United Church of Canada. Will have to check the date b/c perhaps after the amalgamation of the religions a baptism was in order? (Update: Just checked & the United Church of Canada was formed June 10, 1925 & my ancestors' baptisms occurred in 1929)
