LIST 4 - BAPTISMS - DEUXIEME DIZAINE - ST PHILLIPS SYDNEY
This first 'primary source' list contains the details of 853 baptisms
recorded in St Phillip's church register for children born between 1801 and
1810, 451 males and 402 females.
The information recorded for each child includes:
reference number date of baptism date of birth Christian name father's Christian name father's family name father's year of arrival in the colony father's ship of arrival in the colony father's status upon arrival in the colony mother's Christian name mother's maiden name mother's year of arrival in the colony mother's ship of arrival in the colony mother's status upon arrival in the colony parent's civil status at the time of the child's birth parent's marital status at the time of the child's birth parent's year & country/church of marriage where applicable The list is presented in chronological order by date of baptism then
alphabetically by father's surname.
These St Phillips baptisms account for 24% of the "Deuxieme Dizaine".
There were 46 duplicate entries on the register during the period under study
reducing the total of individual baptisms to 807 (428 males & 379 females).
Elizabeth Apsey was actually baptized at St Davids in Hobart Van Diemens Land
before being baptized for a second time at St Phillips.
Where the father's surname has a second name separated by a slash '/', the surname
after the slash is how the name was spelt in the original document or if second
name is substantially different it refers to an alias. Where the mother's surname
has a second name separated by a slash, the surname after the slash is her
married name at the time of the recording being made if she was married more
than once.
The reference number would direct the reader to the relevant entry in the
original source document.
When the Reverend William Cowper arrived to take up the incumbency
of the parish in 1809 he restarted the sequential numbering system of baptisms
(in fact the old numbering system had ceased in 1808 when Louisa Blaxland was
baptized on the 17th January and received the last number - 1078). Thus William Irwin, who was his first baptism on the 27th August 1809, became number one in the new numbering system. This new series is designated on the list with the letter "B".
Not only this, Cowper divided his baptisms into legitimate and illegitimate
categories, giving the latter another new numbering system. Thus Thomas, the son of Thomas Everstaff & Mary Reed, who as baptized on the 17th September 1809,
became number one in the list of illegitimate births. This illegitimate
series is designated on the list with the letter "C". This list is helpful
to the genealogist because it establishes for a fact that at the time of the
baptism, the parents were not married (and conversely, it provides evidence
that parents on list B were married).
For some reason in 1812, Cowper started his numbering system again, thus
James Lane is recorded twice in the register, firstly as the last of the old
series - number B274 and then again as the first of the new series - number D001. Unfortunately in October 1814 Cowper made an error in his sequential numbering system and went from baptism D356 to D257 instead of D357, this error
has not been repeated in the list presented here.
Also in the St Phillip's register can be found a "Memorandum of Private
Baptisms" which presumably means that certain baptisms took place in peoples
private homes rather than in the church itself. This list is also of great
benefit to the historian because in all likelihood, the wealthier people in
society at the time were able to avail themselves of this service. This list is identified with reference numbers starting with the letter "E". Both
Charlotte Smith and Joseph Leighton were given the same number of E035.
This practice led to many duplicate entries in the register because quite
often (45 times in this list) Cowper copied the information from his private
register to his regular register but not always !
In May 1814 Cowper introduced another change in his recording practices when
he recorded the place of birth as well. This is most useful information to
the genealogist. As expected the vast majority were born in Sydney but Sarah
Clarkson was born at Kingsbury in Warwickshire, Margaret Freight on Norfolk
Island, William Rose at the Hawkesbury, Charles Warby at Prospect, George Miller & John Dight at Parramatta.
Cowper started yet another new register in 1819. This series is designated
with the letter "F". The last of the old D series was on the 27th December
1818. Series F was used until the end of 1825.
Interestingly Cowper still kept the old series going for illegitimate
births, in spite of his new register.
Cowper obtained a brand new properly printed church register in 1826, where
the occupation of the father was now added to the data collected and not
unreasonably he started yet another numbering series.
It should be noted that this list contains considerably more information
than will be found in the original church register, being the result of decades of research, principally associated with the Pioneer Register Project. Many
entries in the church register list just the date of baptism and parents
names, sometimes only the mother's name if the birth was illegitimate.
One hundred and forty one baptisms took place after 1810 when older children
came to baptism, the latest being John Cole in 1824 at the age of fourteen.
Thomas Jackson was also baptized late in life but his baptismal record has
not been located at this time.
On this occasion there were more boys baptized than girls. Over 70% of fathers
were convicts, or former convicts, the remainder being mainly marines and
soldiers. Almost three quarters of the mothers were convicts, reflecting the
fact that female convicts were the main group of women to arrive in the colony at this time apart from the wives of the marines and soldiers. Just over half the births were illegitimate.
For the first time the colonial born appear as parents, with two children having
colonial born fathers and thirty three children having colonial born mothers.Table 4.1 - Baptisms St Phillips Sydney
Total Males Females Convict Convict Legitimate Illegitimate
Father Mother
---------------------------------------------------------------------------1801 19 11 8 7 10 12 7
1802 36 21 15 21 23 15 21
1803 40 18 22 30 29 17 23
1804 68 38 30 59 51 23 45
1805 59 23 36 45 53 16 43
1806 64 31 33 40 44 21 43
1807 93 52 41 60 67 33 60
1808 53 31 22 37 33 22 31
1809 102 59 43 74 74 47 55
1810 151 78 73 96 100 90 61
>1810 122 66 56 101 93 49 73
------------------------------------------------------------------Totals 807 428 379 574 587 345 462
Percentages 52.7% 47.3% 70.7% 72.3% 42.5% 57.5%
Entries on this list have the reference identifier "SPS" on List 1. To locate
an entry on this list; firstly an alphabetical search on the name would be
made on List 1 from which the date of baptism would be retrieved, secondly using
the appropriate date, the baptism would be located on this list and finally
an alphabetical search on the name would be made on the baptismal date if
there should be more than one entry for that date.
The abbreviations used in this list are explained below:
d = defacto m = married CF = came free GS = government servant (convict) FS = free by servitude (emancipist) AP = free by absolute pardon CP = free by conditional pardonEX = exile
NE = never emigrated -- = unknownEng = England
Ire = Ireland
Mal = Malta
Sct = Scotland
Wal = Wales
Dub = Dublin
Esx = Essex
Knt = Kent
Ldn = London
Mdx = Middlesex
Ssx = Sussex
Wwk = Warwickshire
NI = Norfolk Island
SJP = St Johns Parramatta
SPS = St Phillips Sydney
* = duplicate entry
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