St Martin in the Fields Baptism Registers 1810-1825 dataset documentation
The dataset ‘St Martin in the Fields Baptism Registers 1810-1825’ contains a transcription of all baptism
entries from the baptism registers for the period October 1 1810 – December 30th 1825 (12,153 unique
entries) (see ‘Sources’ below). This dataset complements the ‘St Martin in the Fields Baptism Fees 17511810’ dataset and covers the period after September 1810 when baptism fee books were unavailable
(making together a database of baptisms in the parish covering the same period as the sextons’ burial
books transcribed in a previous project).
The datasets are provided as flat files in comma-delimited text format.
The Sources
The parish register dataset is derived from the St Martin in the Fields Parish Baptism Registers 18081830 (City of Westminster Archive Centre). The details of each entry include: the name, baptism and
birth date (for baptisms before 1813) of the baptised child; the names, social status, occupations and
abode of the parents of the child; and in some cases whether the child was baptised publicly in church
or in private. In addition the name, occupation and title of the clerics who performed the baptism were
also recorded. Rose’s Act of 1812 for the improvement of registration of baptisms and burials required
the use of pre-printed forms for baptism registration that lacked space for the recording of birth date,
and so the baptism registers lack this information from 1813 when the Act came into effect.
Variables
id (integer). A unique identifier variable for each baptism. Note that baptism IDs are not unique between
baptismal datasets for 1751-1810 (described in the file ‘St Martin in the Fields Baptism Fees 1751-1810
dataset documentation’) and 1810-1824. If you merge the two databases you will need to create a new
ID or use id and year of baptism in conjunction to identify unique baptism entries.
sourcedescription (string). Source description information is taken directly from the archive catalogue of
the City of Westminster Archive Centre.
cowacreferencenumber (string). Source material reference numbers are as quoted in the archive
catalogue of the City of Westminster Archive Centre.
baptismdate (string). The calendar date of baptism e.g. ‘08/March/ 1813’. In one case the baptism date
was illegible and so the baptism date is given as ‘01/January/1000’.
birthdate (string). The calendar date of baptism e.g. ‘08/March/ 1813’. This variable can be used with
date of baptism to calculate age at baptism and the birth-baptism interval for baptisms registered
before 1813. Where date of birth was not given birthdate is recorded as ‘01/January/1000’.
address (string). The abode (street address) of the mothers and fathers of the baptised, transcribed as
entered into the original source.
standardisedaddress (string). Variations in the spelling and abbreviation of street names found within
the boundaries of the parish of St Martin in the Field have been standardised with reference to the
gazetteers derived from three London maps produced by John Rocque (1746), Richard Horwood (1799),
and John and Christopher Greenwood (1830), as published in digitized editions by Motco Enterprises
Ltd. Those baptisms listing the abode of parents as outside the parish have not been standardised but
have been entered into the standardisedaddress field as ‘outside St. Martin's’.
infantforename (string). The forename of the baptised child as recorded in the original entry.
standardisedinfantforename (string). Standardised form of infant forename.
infantmiddlenames (string). Infant’s middle names transcribed into database field as recorded in the
original source.
infantsurname (string). Infant’s surname as recorded in the original source.
sex (string). Gender was not explicitly recorded in Baptism Registers or Baptism Fee Books. Gender of
the baptised child was ascribed according to the forename of the child recorded in the original sources
(‘M’ for male, ‘F’ for female). Where it was not possible to designate the gender from the forename then
the sex variable takes the form ‘U’ for unknown.
fathertitlesocialstatus (string). The titles of the gentry and aristocratic fathers of the baptised as well as
occasional records of occupations such as soldier, reverend, medical doctor and watchmaker. All entries
are transcribed as noted in the source.
fatherforename (string). The forename of the baptised child’s father as recorded in original entries.
standardisedfatherforename (string). Standardised form of father’s forename.
fathersurname (string). Father’s surname as recorded in the original source.
mothertitlesocialstatus (string). Titles of the mothers of the baptised child as recorded in the original
source. Aristocratic titles with the single exception of ‘Widow’.
motherforename (string). Mother’s forename as in original entry.
standardisedmotherforename (string). Standardised form of mother’s forename.
mothersurname (string). Mother’s surname as recorded in the original source.
p (integer). Some entries in the Baptism Registers were annotated ‘P’. This annotation seems to have
referred to ‘emergency’ private baptisms where the infant’s life was in danger in the baptism fee books.
However in the baptism registers this annotation seems to refer simply to private baptisms, and these
have similar characteristics in the period 1810-1825 to those labelled ‘H.C.’ in the baptism fee books
(note that ‘H.C.’ did not appear in the baptism registers). This variable is coded 0 (no annotation) or 1
(entry annotated ‘P’).
poor (integer). Some baptism entries in the original baptism registers were marked as ‘Poor’. This
variable is coded 0 (no annotation) or 1 (entry annotated ‘poor’).
notescomments (string). Notes made by transcribers regarding the quality of or ambiguities in the entry.
parentsoccupation (string). The occupation of parent recorded as entered in original. Aristocratic and
gentry titles also stated.
standardisedparentsoccupation (string). Standardised form of parent’s occupation.
Titleofwhoperformedbaptism (string). Clerical title of official who conducted baptism ceremony as in
original source.
forenameofwhoperformedbaptism (string). Forename of person who baptised child as found in the
original.
surnameofwhoperformedbaptism(string). Surname of person who officiated at baptism as recorded in
original source.
occupationofwhoperformedbaptism (string). Clerical occupation of official baptising child, as entered in
baptism register.