RootsChat.Com

Old Photographs, Recognition, Handwriting Deciphering => Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition => Topic started by: Naizam on Saturday 16 November 19 03:18 GMT (UK)

Title: Need help clearing up a birth vs baptism date please.
Post by: Naizam on Saturday 16 November 19 03:18 GMT (UK)
Hello all,

I've been searching for information on Agnes Hepburn - her marriage to a weaver named John Graham occurred on 20 Jan 1817. On the marriage record, her father is named as Robert Hepburn, also a weaver. The marriage was registered in Forgandenny, Perthshire, Scotland.

So I checked Ancestry and found a match (attached) that indicates:

Birth Date:   27 Jul 1788
Baptism Date:   3 Aug 1788

I then searched Scotland's People for an Agnes Hepburn, born to a Robert Hepburn in or around Forgandenny and found a match (attached). The problem is that the record from Scotland's People doesn't have film numbers so I can't confirm that it's the same document cited by Ancestry, but the baptism date matches. I just can't make out the date of birth because of the quality of the image? I can't even say that the month of birth is July also as indicated on the Ancestry record? Any insights would be most appreciated.
Title: Re: Need help clearing up a birth vs baptism date please.
Post by: horselydown86 on Saturday 16 November 19 03:53 GMT (UK)
If you look at the previous entry, the child Peter was baptised on August 3 and born 28 Ult(im)o.

Ultimo means in the last month before the present one.  So Peter was born 28 July.

Your Agnes - baptised on the same day - also has the Ult(im)o, so her month of birth is July.

In this image the day isn't readable.  I suspect that if you had the original, or a lighter scan were made of the original, it probably would be.

ADDED:

This record states that Robert Hepburn is a weaver.  If you have found no other Agnes Hepburns of the right age and father's name in the area, then it's highly likely you have the correct baptism.
Title: Re: Need help clearing up a birth vs baptism date please.
Post by: Naizam on Saturday 16 November 19 19:56 GMT (UK)
Brilliant - thank you!

Does it look like there's a st or a th before the Ultimo?

The image is original from Scotland's People :( can't do much more with it - not matter how much I try in Photoshop I can't tease out a number.
Title: Re: Need help clearing up a birth vs baptism date please.
Post by: horselydown86 on Sunday 17 November 19 04:15 GMT (UK)
Does it look like there's a st or a th before the Ultimo?

It looks very like the th as seen in the Drummond and Archer entries above.

I'm not surprised you can't tease out a number in Photoshop.

However, if the original were re-scanned with the scanner set to produce a lighter image, I would expect the darkness of that area to be reduced enough to make out the number.
Title: Re: Need help clearing up a birth vs baptism date please.
Post by: janan on Sunday 17 November 19 15:23 GMT (UK)
His 7s have a very long down stroke which I'm pretty sure I can see before the th
Title: Re: Need help clearing up a birth vs baptism date please.
Post by: Naizam on Thursday 05 December 19 04:21 GMT (UK)
thank you all - that's it. 27th Ultimo!