Baptism at age 22 for marriage?

[JennyMarieGradwell]

I'm looking into my great-great-grandfather, Matthew Gradwell.

He was born late 1847 in Newton Heath to Richard and Ellen Gradwell.

There is a baptism record, 31 July 1870, for Matthew Gradwell, son of Richard and Ellen Gradwell, in Newton Heath.

There is a record of Matthew's marriage to Alice Gillibrand in Newton Heath on 3 Sept 1870.

Is it possible/likely that Matthew was baptised as an adult in preparation for/advance of his wedding? I have no idea if this would have been the norm!

Thanks

[avm228]

Ys, perfectly possible.  Not the norm, but it happened (and still does happen sometimes - a friend of mine was baptised in preparation for her marriage, in the late 1990s).

[stanmapstone]

The Book of Common Prayer, has this comment: "It is convenient that the new-married persons should receive the holy Communion at the time of their Marriage, or at the first opportunity after their Marriage." You had to be baptised to receive Communion, so this is why, sometimes, people got baptised before their wedding.

Stan

[JennyMarieGradwell]

Thanks all. Everyone else I've come across so far was baptised at birth, so I wasn't sure. Maybe there's a reason why this chap wasn't

[BashLad]

Thanks all. Everyone else I've come across so far was baptised at birth, so I wasn't sure. Maybe there's a reason why this chap wasn't

Most likely his parents were non-conformists of some description.

There's probably a baptism record of some description somewhere - just not a C of E one.

[Maiden Stone]

Were his parents alive when he married? If not, he may have been unsure whether he'd been baptised as an infant and there was no one alive to ask. His family might have moved a few times so he had no idea at which church he was baptised and no way of checking. The adult baptism may have been "belt & braces".  As Bashlad said, his parents may have been of another Christian denomination. Not all have infant baptism.
His parents may have subscribed to no religion.

[stanmapstone]

It could have been a Hypothetical baptism. In the Church of England this is a baptism administered to persons in respect of whom it is doubtful whether they have or have not been baptized before.

Stan

[Maiden Stone]

Also known as conditional baptism. There's a RootsChat thread from 2012 from jane l "Hypothetically on a baptism record" about a "hypothetical " baptism of a 17 year-old in 1880s.

[stanmapstone]

It is Conditional Baptism in the Catholic Church: Conditional Baptism If it be uncertain whether the convert's baptism was valid or not, then he is to be baptized conditionally. In such cases the ritual is: "If thou art not yet baptized, then I baptize thee in the name", etc. Usually entered as "sub conditione baptized"  www.newadvent.org/cathen/02258b.htm
In the Church of England it is called a Hypothetical baptism.

There are a many posts on this subject in RootsChat. Just put Conditional Baptism or Hypothetical Baptism into Search.

Stan