Post by Zenobia on Jul 23, 2007 21:33:19 GMT -5
Some of the spirited discussion involved on the Zennor board regarding 'godchildren' vs. 'grandchildren' seemed to cry out for a new discussion topic here... 
Would be interested in any information, opinion, discussion regarding customs (or lack thereof) of baptismal sponsorship in Cornwall.
The main problem, of course, is that in English parish registers, the sponsors names are almost never given. This leaves us to glean most of our info from bequests left in wills.
I do have some experience with Swiss and German baptisms, as well as Dutch and German American baptisms, and my experience there is that the customs seem to differ from place to place.
The only constant is that generally, there are two sponsors for each child, one male and one female, altho' I have seen cases of just one.
A few points of interest that I have encountered in non-British baptisms:
In one German parish I researched (Gross-Gerau in Darmstadt), every child baptised was given the exact name of their baptismal sponsor of the same sex. This never deviated!
In Ursberg in Swabia, the majority of children of a single set of parents would all have the same set of sponsors (this must have been spiritually exhausting! ;D )
In German-American baptisms, it is common for one sponsor to be a sibling of one or another of the parents, young unmarried siblings being the most common choice. Grandparents got into the act too, but generally for only one grandchild of each of their children.
It was also not uncommon in German-American baptisms for the sponsors to simply be good friends or neighbors of the couple.
The examples above might suggest that the question of who were chosen as baptismal sponsors was pretty fluid, at least in non-English speaking communities.
Now, as for Cornwall; specifically the question of whether a grandparent would also be a godparent, I am sure that on occasion they would be. In 99% of such cases, however, if they named said child in a will, I suspect they would use 'grandchild' as opposed to 'godchild'.
Of all the Cornish wills that I have seen over the last 15+ years, of those that involve my own families and can be independently verified, I know of only two cases where 'godchild' was used to describe a grandchild, and in both cases, the verdict may actually be still out... (more on that tomorrow in another thread).
Looking forward to more discussion!
Would be interested in any information, opinion, discussion regarding customs (or lack thereof) of baptismal sponsorship in Cornwall.
The main problem, of course, is that in English parish registers, the sponsors names are almost never given. This leaves us to glean most of our info from bequests left in wills.
I do have some experience with Swiss and German baptisms, as well as Dutch and German American baptisms, and my experience there is that the customs seem to differ from place to place.
The only constant is that generally, there are two sponsors for each child, one male and one female, altho' I have seen cases of just one.
A few points of interest that I have encountered in non-British baptisms:
In one German parish I researched (Gross-Gerau in Darmstadt), every child baptised was given the exact name of their baptismal sponsor of the same sex. This never deviated!
In Ursberg in Swabia, the majority of children of a single set of parents would all have the same set of sponsors (this must have been spiritually exhausting! ;D )
In German-American baptisms, it is common for one sponsor to be a sibling of one or another of the parents, young unmarried siblings being the most common choice. Grandparents got into the act too, but generally for only one grandchild of each of their children.
It was also not uncommon in German-American baptisms for the sponsors to simply be good friends or neighbors of the couple.
The examples above might suggest that the question of who were chosen as baptismal sponsors was pretty fluid, at least in non-English speaking communities.
Now, as for Cornwall; specifically the question of whether a grandparent would also be a godparent, I am sure that on occasion they would be. In 99% of such cases, however, if they named said child in a will, I suspect they would use 'grandchild' as opposed to 'godchild'.
Of all the Cornish wills that I have seen over the last 15+ years, of those that involve my own families and can be independently verified, I know of only two cases where 'godchild' was used to describe a grandchild, and in both cases, the verdict may actually be still out... (more on that tomorrow in another thread).
Looking forward to more discussion!
