BAPTISMS - ST PAULS: COBBITTY; NARELLAN

 
 
There were 395 baptisms performed at St Pauls Cobbitty during the decade, 
although 21 refer to children born before 1831, plus 10 performed after 1840 
for children born between the years 1831 and 1840. On average there were 
about three baptisms performed per month over the decade.
 
The information recorded for each baptism includes: 
 
 date of baptism 
 date of birth
 child's Christian name
 father's family name 
 father's Christian name 
 father's year & ship of arrival in the colony 
 father's status upon arrival in the colony 
 mother's maiden name
 mother's Christian name
 mother's year & ship of arrival in the colony
 mother's status upon arrival in the colony
 parents' civil status at the time of the child's birth
 parents' marital status at the time of the child's birth
 parents' year & country/church of marriage where applicable 
 child's place of birth
 father's quality or profession 
 officiating minister
 reference number
 
Father's year & ship of arrival in the colony, father's status upon arrival in the colony, 
mother's year & ship of arrival in the colony, mother's status upon arrival in the colony, 
parents' civil status at the time of the child's birth, parents' marital status 
at the time of the child's birth, parents' year & country/church of marriage 
where applicable are all value added details resulting from extensive personal 
research, information which makes this work so valuable for family historians.
 
In the church register the mother's maiden name is only recorded when the birth 
is illegitimate, but again through personal research the maiden name of many of the 
married women has been discovered as well.
 
The list is presented in chronological order by date of baptism then by reference
number. The records in the register are not always in strict chronological order 
but this has been corrected in this work.
 
The Rev.Thomas Hassall continued his chaplaincy from the previous decade and
continued until the end of the decade (in fact he was the incumbant of St Pauls
until his death in 1868). During the course of the decade he baptized three of 
hiw own nephews. Other chaplains who officiated at occasional baptisms included 
the Reverends: Henry Hodgkinson Bobart, Robert Cartwright, William Macquarie 
Cowper (who baptized two of his own nieces), Charles Dickinson, John Espy Keane, 
Samuel Marsden (who baptized two of his own grand-daughters), Henry Tarlton 
Stiles, Richard Taylor, John Troughton, Joseph Kidd Walpole, Frederick Wilkinson 
and Bishop Broughton even performed two baptisms.
 
At this period of time the agreed spelling of the name of the town of "Cobbitty" 
had not been settled.
 
With regard to the fathers only 75% have been identified.
 
Forty five were colonial born plus twenty eight were childhood arrivals, combined 
making up 18% of the total; 148 were convicts or former convicts (36%), 78 arrived 
free in the colony (19%) and eight were in the military (2%).
 
With regard to the mothers only 72% have been identified.
 
One hundred and thirteen were colonial born plus 38 were childhood arrivals,
combined making up 37% of the total; 50 were convicts or former convicts (13%), 
and 90 arrived free in the colony (22%).
 
Assuming listing the mother's surname indicates she was not married to 
the child's father, only twenty four (6%) of the births were illegitimate.
 
Baptisms relating to births prior to 1831 are indicated with a hash sign 
(#), duplicate baptisms are indicated with an asterix (*) and baptisms for 
children born at sea with a percent sign (%).
 
There were five baptisms in the State Archives Pioneer Series file which 
have no entry on this parish register. It is very likely that most of 
these result from typographical errors and relate to post 1840 baptisms.
These are identified with the percent sign (%). 
 
The reference number would direct the reader to the relevant entry in the 
original source document. The numbering system continued from the previous 
decade at 0094 and runs to 0377 by the end of 1838 when the numbers were re-initialized 
to B001 and run to B110 by the end of the decade (Number 0292 was duplicated).
 
Entries on this list have the reference identifier "SPCO" on Lists 1 & 2. To 
locate an entry on this list; firstly an alphabetical search on the name would 
be made on Lists 1 or 2 from which the reference number would be retrieved, 
secondly using the appropriate number, the entry would be located.

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