[Semi-OT] Baptismal registers post-1837

I've recently been given a photocopy of an extracted copy of my
maternal grandmother's 1909 certificate of baptism. I'd not thought
about this before, but is there a reason for the Church to continue to
maintain baptismal registers? As an established church, is there still

Eve McLaughlin...

Purely as a membership record for their own members. No one can be
forced to baptise in church, not even theoretical members of the CofE.

Charani...

Just to turn the question around: is there any reason for them not to?

A. Gwilliam...

Ah, but since I know just about nothing about this church stuff, I had
no way of knowing the answer to that! {grin}

:)) I believe they are reuqired to do so.

some sort of legal requirement on CofE churches to record baptisms in a
prescribed manner? I freely plead ignorance about such things, but the

Charani...

Again, I believe it is still a requirement. AIUI all churches/chapels
record their baptisms.

CofE doesn't ever actual insist that its members prove they've been
baptised, does it?

Eve McLaughlin...

I think clergy asked to perform a marriage in a CofE church can ask for
proof that the parties have been baptised, but often they settle for
having them attend church a few times before the wedding.

John Cartmell...

Yes. Confirmation requires baptism. Sometimes baptism happens just before
Confirmation where Infant Baptism was missed.

D Marshall...

Interestingly, I was confirmed without having been baptized. No one
asked after all, so it can happen

John Cartmell...

AFAIK it shouldn't happen - but then this is the CofE we're talking about!!

myths...

Acts 10, 44-7

;-)

Charani...

I've never been asked to prove I've been baptised. I could do if
necessary though.

Fenny...

I have my baptism cetificate, along with everything from 25 yards swimming
and Queen's Guide to degree and Fellowship certificates either in a book
upstairs or in frames somewhere. I really ought to scan them and make
digital backups.

My brother was baptised as an infant and for years his certificate was one
of those things we occasionally stumbled across in the jumble of stuff in
my father's desk, along with our birth certs and medical cards. I bet Bro
has no clue where it is now.

Fenny...

IIRC, you have to have been confirmed to be on a Parish Electoral Register
to vote for PCC matters. You have to have been baptised in order to be
confirmed. My brother was married in an RC church and was asked to
produce his baptism certificate beforehand. It is no longer a requirement
of the CofE that people prove they were baptised before they can be
married (although I believe some vicars ask).

Ruth Wilson...

I'm not C of E nor any sort of expert on these matters, but I used to attend
one regularly with my husband who WAS C of E, and we were put on the
electoral roll (even though I'm a non-conformist, and baptism wasn't asked
about). The Vicar said it was worth doing (and didn't stop membership of
the non-conformist church I also attended) as only those on the electoral
roll would have a right to be married, baptised etc at that church - I
suspect it was to put a hurdle in the way of weddings at purely photogenic
churches?
I do have my Methodist baptism certificate though, tucked away safely.

Just my observation, for what its worth!

Does the CofE still maintain these registers today?

Eve McLaughlin...

The number of entries has diminished greatly and they are not in general
a sensible source for information, unless you are totally sure your lot
were devout CofE. In any case, they lack any useful information of the
maiden name of the mother, possibly of the street address and frequently
of the birth, as opposed to the baptismal date, which could be long
after the event.

John Cartmell...

Yes. So does the RC church and many (most/all?) Free churches.

Charani...

Yes, they do. That's why some registers are still in the incumbent's
keeping and not yet with the record offices. (Apart from those where
the incumbent needs a prod or two from higher up to deposit them.)

Fenny...

The records may only be for internal purposes these days, rather than
anything more formal, but I got a baptism certificate in 1981. I assume
the Vicar made a note of it in some register or other.