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Does anyone have any expertise /knowledge on Catholic convents for girls in Liverpool C: 1880's- 1890 ?   I have been informed that My Gt Grandmother was in one during this time & would like to investigate this lead further .

Convents provided schools for girls, orphanages for children in need of care, certified poor law schools for those who came to the attention of a Board of Guardians, and homes for pregnant young ladies.  This means it would help you if you had some idea of why she was in a convent.

The institutions were often large establishments,  The records of institutions that provided care rather than education were kept generally to meet legislation requirements.  The philosophy of such institutions for the care of children at that time was to give them a new start and breakaway from their former life.  Thus when, after WW II, the ideas of Social Services changed to caring for children in smaller units, the old buildings became redundant. They were often sold and demolished or otherwise reused.  In both cases, old records would not be a high priority for preservation.  It was only later ca 1970, that the need for such records was realised and they began to be collected by the authorities.  In the Catholic community, such records tended to be collected by the Diocesan Child Protection Service.  In the Archdiocese of Liverpool, these records were collected by the Nugent Society, now Nugent Care.  This body has a post-adoption service that can access the records it has collected.  Its web-site is - www.nugentcare.org/   In the section about access to records, this site has –

Historical Records
Nugent Care has deposited historical records which relate to Liverpool-based institutions formerly run by us, including British Home Children, with the Liverpool Record Office, Archives & Family History Department, 3rd Floor, Central Library, William Brown Street, L3 8EN. Requests for these records should be made direct to the Liverpool record office.

Files held by the Liverpool Record Office are subject to the 100 year rule and files that fall within this period are closed to the public.
[endquote]

With regard to educational establishments, these are listed annually in the publication “The Catholic Directory”.  There is a Liverpool Archdiocesan Archivist (web-site  www.liverpoolmetrocathedral.org.uk/history-heritage/cathedral-diocesan-archives/  ) who may be able to help with advice.

Hope this helps

Jim Lancaster (Bury, Lancs.)

Hi, Tim,

LancashireBMD (http://www.lancashirebmd.org.uk/index.php ) has -

Lancashire Marriage indexes for the years: 1923 
Surname, Forename(s); Surname, Forename(s); Church / Register Office; Registers At; Reference

EATON, Henrietta; WORTHINGTON William; Walton, St. Mary; Liverpool 2012WD/23/59

This is the only Henrietta EATON marrying about 1920 in Liverpool that I found.  I think that St Mary, Walton, is the Parish Church for Walton-on-the-Hill, (Anglican). 

I also looked for Alice, but there were several so a bit difficult.  There is one Alice C. that MIGHT be the one you seek.  It is a Register Office or Registrar Attended marriage so the only way of getting further information will be to buy the certificate.

Lancashire Marriage indexes for the years: 1931
Surname, Forename(s); Surname, Forename(s); Church / Register Office; Registers At; Reference

EATON Alice C FLEETWOOD Stanley C Liverpool, Register Office or Registrar Attended Liverpool REG_LP/420/89

If it was a Registrar Attended marriage it is likely that at this date it was a marriage in an RC church.  There is an on-line index of RC marriages in Liverpool (http://www.liverpoolhistoryprojects.co.uk/liverpoolrcmarriages/ ), but it only goes to 1901.

Hope this helps

Hi,

CumbriaBMD has indexed the areas covered by the Barrow-in-Furness Register Office.  This includes Dalton in Furness but does not seem to include Ulverston - hence my negative response.   Sadly this site does not seem to be developing at the moment.  The corresponding LancashireBMD site (http://www.lancashirebmd.org.uk/ ) is very useful.

Jim Lancaster (Bury, Lancs.)

This link will be of interest to those who are concerned about the future of the Talbot Library.
 
http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=23831

Courtesy of Chris Storey



Jim Lancaster (Bury, Lancs.)

I think that the larger example provided clearly shows that that this was an integrated register of the priest's sacramental work.  It is divided into months and the priest is keeping a running total of events. 

At the date of these events, 1705-6, there would have been considerable pressure on people to leave the Old Faith and conform to the Established Church, particularly where inheritance was involved.  Thus, I would agree with Roger that the abbreviation is likely to mean 'Reconciled', in the sense of being received back into the Church having had a spell as an Anglican or non-conformist such as Baptist.

Reconciliation as the name of a sacrament only came into common use after the Second Vatican Council with its emphasis on mercy and forgiveness rather than punishment and damnation.

Churching is a different term.  It was used, as has been said, as a service of cleansing after the birth of a child.  After the Second Vatican Council, it was recognised that the birth of a child should be a celebration and 'churching' as a cleansing was abandoned.  In its place prayers of thanksgiving for the birth of the child and for the parents are now part of the Baptism Service.

Hope this helps

Jim Lancaster (Bury, Lancs.)