Monday, May 27, 2019

Conflicting Baptism Information for Caroline Seymour Sanders

So, it would appear that there are two baptism records for Caroline Seymour Sanders (wife of Isaac Amos Williams).

First there is D04436


Child's Name: Caroline Seymour
Parents: John Arnold & Fanny Sanders
Baptism date: 15 Mar 1826
Birth date: Not given
Location: Bathwick, Somerset, England



Then, there is D03874


Child's Name: Caroline Seymour
Parents: John Arnold & Fanny Sanders
Baptism date: 28 Aug 1831
Birth date: 13 Sep 1825
Location: Bathwick, Somerset, England


You will note that other family members were baptized at the same time.

I can see two possibilities: either she was baptized twice, once on her own and once with other children in the family, or these baptisms are for two different individuals.

Looking into the possibility of them being from two different individuals, given the common names, common parents names and locations, it would seem to be a very unlikely coincidence that there would be two Caroline Seymours born to two sets of parents with the same name in the same location around the same time. They could both be daughters of the same parents, only one died at a younger age. But it is the later baptism that gives a birth date that occurred before the first baptism date. So that doesn't look like it could be the case.

Therefore, the most likely conclusion is that there were two baptisms: one initially as an individual and one with other members of the family.

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