Wolff birth/baptism 1792 or 1794?

[pergamond]

I have been researching Helena Sarah Wolff b 5 Aug 1794, married to Willem Frederik Berning. She was the daughter of Michael Wolff and Margaretha Maria Berning b 1779.

However in looking for data I have found that a Helena Sara Wolf was baptised on 9 Sep 1792, mother Maria Geertruyda Helmond, father Michiel Wolf. The register says "Onegte" and I think this was a birth out of wedlock.

A baptism for Maria Geertruijda Antoinetta Magdalena Berning was held on 24 Feb 1828, mother Helena Sara Wolff, father Willem Fredrik Berning. So amongst her other children she named one of her daughters after her birth mother perhaps.

I am wondering where the first date I had for Helena's birth/baptism of 5 Aug 1794 originated.
Can anyone help with this please - are these two Helenas the same person?

[fastfusion]

i am going to attempt to answer this post on a few grounds...

1. with south african records there is a tendancy to put birth date and christening on the entries and when fragmented  by the latter day saints into the fs.o site both entries are listed if the entry was filmed for the International Genealogical Index Microfische of 1984.

2. sometimes and quite well noticed by most genealogists doing Sud Africaan materials , a child may be born and die in infancy and those diseases were varied from SIDS through to "German Measles" , cholera and a raft of other nasties as a lot of early settlers or folk in SA were in the maritime circles... so a second child born thereafter is named identical to the first.

3. The Dutch Reform Church of SA has fairly good records in as far as they do list out of wedlock or other comments....   some of the images are available on fs.o but remember only partial materials exist on the website and without comphrehensive research of all the parishes you may not have the entire story of the family you are doing....

4. the period in which you seek is usually backed up with probates or land documents in the most part if not distroyed in the various factional wars......

now one problem with the post is that you dont tell us any details of the church concerned or the region.......  so if you put that information up please because at the moment an answer of affirmation cannnot be done or cross references made to various materials

and finally .......  i have just "completed" a huge jigsaw puzzle of a genealogy for SA that has taken about 20 folk accross the world to put together and after all the work done we still have a hole in the tree because the records simply were put out to pasture...... so please try to build the profiles on what you have with historical context of events in the areas you find your kin......  ie free settlers in Orange Free State or Zulu Wars or whatever .............

good luck

[pergamond]

Thank you so much for your full reply! You've obviously been doing this for a long time, and are very familiar with South Africa, so everything you say is extremely helpful.

All that is stated for the location of the 1792 baptism/Christening for Helena Sara Wolf is Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope. Dutch Reformed Church Registers. Plus the reference numbers.

The 1828 baptism for Maria Geertruijda Berning says the same. Cape Town.

I presume that isn't very helpful, as that wouldn't be the actual parish they attended, would it? Or maybe it was, and there was one big main church. I wasn't able to tell from the film of the registers anything more about the location, and I live too far away to do closer research.

[pergamond]

Just to clarify - I can't find any evidence for a Helena Wolff being born in 1794, so I must have copied it directly from somebody else's tree without checking at the time. It was when I was checking my dates yesterday that I found the 1792 birth.

I don't think it's a case of an earlier child's death.