A possible reason for adult baptism is that the parents were nonconformists when the children were born. It's not clear whether that happened here. If they were Quakers, their births may have been recorded.
Has it not been possible to find a marriage record for Abraham and Margaret? Can the Sussex marriage index help with that?
I had thought of the non-conformist possibility and it's worth investigating. However I know Abraham's son Samuel was married in Nuthurst parish church as I have seen the entry in the parish register at the WSRO. These means I am doubtful of finding the family in Non-Conformist registers, however my Smith ancestors in Faversham were christened in the parish church, and in the Weslyan Methodist Chapel (one appears in the Weslyan Chapel registers, and the Congregationalist Chapel registers!) so I won't discount it. The entries for Abraham's childrens' 'adult christenings' are also in there as are some burials.
After an evening of more digging it looks like the children (some or all) were born and christened Horsham. It then looks like the family moved to Nuthurst and for some reason some [or all] of the children were christened again as adults. The answer might lay in Settlement Papers but I won't be able to view these currently as I can't get to the WSRO for a while.
What Non-Conformist places of worship would there be in the Nuthurst/Horsham area and where can they be consulted?
I haven't found Abraham and Margaret's marriage yet although I know she died in 1694 as I have her burial and I know that Abraham remarried in 1695 or 1696 to Elizabeth Cowper as I have their marriage and Elizabeth is mentioned in his Will as his 'now wife'. I hadn't checked the Sussex Marriage Index so thanks for the suggestion.
Thanks
Matt
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Topic: Adult Christening (Read 1559 times)