LIST 3 - BAPTISMS - ST PHILLIPS SYDNEY

 
 
There were 1,541 baptisms performed at St Phillips Sydney during the decade, 
although 77 refer to children born before 1821, plus 46 performed after 1830 
for children born between the years 1821 and 1830. On average there were about 
three baptisms performed per week over the decade.
 
The information recorded for each baptism prior to 1826 includes: 
 
 date of baptism 
 date of birth
 Christian name
 father's family name 
 father's Christian 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 maiden name
 mother's Christian 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 
 reference number
 
Various miscellaneous remarks in the register have been recorded as 'end-notes' 
at the bottom of the list.
 
The list is presented in chronological order by date of baptism then 
alphabetically by father's surname. 
 
In 1826 Governor Brisbane issued a proclamation that a copy of all parish 
records of baptisms, burials and marriages be made by all Anglican Churches, 
that such copies by made on standard pre printed forms and transmitted 
to the Registrar of the Archdeacon's Court at the end of each calendar 
year.
 
The information to be recorded for each baptism was; reference number, date 
of baptism, date of birth, Christian name of child, father's family name, 
father's Christian name, mother's maiden name, mother's Christian name, 
family's location, quality or profession of the father and officiating 
minister.
 
This had the advantage of standardizing a core set of data for each baptism 
and the printed forms greatly assisted clarity and interpretation. The 
disadvantage was that often useful or interesting information, such as 
ship off arrival or date of death or stepparents was no longer able to be 
recorded. Being copies also increased the likelihood of transcription errors.
 
It is not know if some churches continued to use their individual registers but 
even if they did, only the regulation copies are available on microfilm at 
the National Library in Canberra.
 
Thus the information recorded for each baptism post 1826 includes: 
 
 date of baptism 
 date of birth
 Christian name
 father's family name 
 father's Christian name 
 father's year of arrival in the colony 
 father's ship of arrival in the colony 
 mother's maiden name
 mother's Christian name
 mother's year of arrival in the colony
 mother's ship of 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 
 child's place of birth
 father's occupation
 reference number
 
After 1826 the parents place of abode and the quality or profession 
of the father were required to be recorded on the new printed registers. As 
a consequence the arrival status of the mother and father columns had to be 
removed to make room for this new information. The information in the deleted 
columns is available in any case from List 1.
 
Where the description of quality or profession of the father exceeds the 
column width, the information has been moved to 'end notes' at the bottom of 
the list.
 
The list is presented in chronological order by date of baptism then 
alphabetically by father's surname. 
 
With regard to the fathers; the names of 34 were not recorded and the arrival 
details of a further 158 remain unknown whilst in 36 cases the ship of arrival 
remains unknown (14%).
 
Six hundred and five were convicts or former convicts (39%), 305 were soldiers 
or former soldiers (20%), 302 came free (20%) and 125 were colonial born (8%).
 
With regard to the mothers; the names of 162 (11%) were not recorded and 
the arrival details of 219 remain unknown whilst in 35 cases the ship of arrival 
remains unknown (15%).
 
Two hundred and ninety seven were convicts or former convicts (19%), 686 
came free (45%) and 371 were colonial born (24%).
 
One hundred and eighty four (12%) of the births were illegitimate.
 
There were 22 duplicate entries, mainly as a result of the Reverend Cowper's 
private baptisms which he later transcribed into the main church register.
 
The Rev William Cowper continued as resident chaplain throughout the decade. 
In fact he remained at St Phillips until his death in 1858 when the parish was 
taken over by his son Rev William Cowper jnr. At the time of his passing Rev 
Cowper held the oldest Royal Commission of any official in the colony, dating 
back to the time of George III.
 
Archdeacon Scott performed six baptisms in November 1826 when he visited 
Argyleshire and four baptisms in June 1827 when he visited the Morton 
Bay settlement and nine baptisms in September/October 1828 as well as 
baptizing Governor Darling's daughter in August 1828. Rev William Yate 
performed three baptisms in January 1830 and the Rev John Vincent performed 
three baptisms in February 1830 as well as three in June 1830.
 
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. 
The reference number would direct the reader to the relevant entry in the 
original source document. The number G801 was used twice in the numbering system. 
The baptism of William Green on the 14th December 1828 has no reference number.
 
Rev Cowper divided his baptisms into legitimate and illegitimate categories, 
giving the latter a separate numbering system. 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 not on the list were married). 
 
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". 
This practice led to many duplicate entries in the register because quite 
often (22 times in this list) Cowper copied the information from his private 
register to his regular register but not always !
 
Cowper started yet another new register in 1819. This series is designated 
with the letter "F". Series F was used until the end of 1825. 
 
When Cowper received a brand new properly printed church register in 1826, he 
started yet another numbering series. This series is designated with the letter 
"G".
 
Interestingly Cowper still kept the old series going for illegitimate 
births, in spite of his new register.
 
Somewhat surprisingly there are 37 entries in the register referring to 
baptisms performed by Wesleyan Methodist ministers which have been transcribed 
into St Phillips registers. Some even originated in Van Diemens Land.
 
Jane Elizabeth James appears to have been baptized twice or at least  recorded 
twice on the 26th October and 9th November 1828 with her birth date recorded 
as 13th October and 9th October respectively.
 
John Whalan is also listed thrice; firstly on the 10th July 1821 with a birth 
date of 7th July 1821, secondly on the 16th July 1821 with a birth date of 
11th September 1821 (this second entry has no reference number) and thirdly 
on the 3rd February 1821 with a birth date on this occasion of 7th June 1821! 
 
His brother William has a doubtful entry as well. According to one source 
he was baptized in 1823 but with no exact date and was reputedly born in 1810 
but again with no exact date.
 
Baptisms relating to births prior to 1821 are indicated with a hash sign 
(#), duplicate baptisms are indicated with an asterix (*) and baptisms for 
children born at sea with a percent sign (%).
 
Regretfully Rev Cowper did not identify the regiment of serving soldiers in 
his recordings unlike most other chaplains. However further research has 
identified most of them.
 
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. 

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