Status Animarum symbols and handwriting help?

[Maiden Stone]

Anna Gordon is on extract 1 & 2. If it was the same Anna, the C or Con/Com must be for Communion not Confirmation. I assume extract 1 was 1824 and 2 was 1828? If so, then I would take it to mean that Anna took Communion on the first date but not the second. The dashes in 2nd piece may have meant that she and William either didn't attend church at Easter or attended but didn't receive Communion. Catholics are required to take Communion at least once during the Easter season. The Easter Season lasts until Pentecost/Whitsun.

Customs re Confirmation have changed a few times during last 200 years. Ages and order of Confirmation and First Communion have been different. Individual bishops seemed to adopt a practice when it suited their local circumstances. E.g. I attended churches in England and Scotland late 20thC. English diocese had returned to Confirmation before First Communion; children were being confirmed young - around age 8. Parish priests were administering Confirmation instead of a bishop. The diocese in Scotland had retained the system in practice for much of 20thC. First Communion  age 7-8, Confirmation by bishop at end of last year of primary school, age c12. Custom in that English diocese 50 years ago was First Communion around age 7, Confirmation between approximate ages 9-15 depending on when and how often bishop visited. A large city parish would have annual Confirmation ceremonies; a smaller parish might have them at 5 year intervals. A century ago, the norm was Confirmation around age 10 followed by First Communion.

 I don't know what typical ages for sacraments were 200 years ago or what procedure was. 1820s & 1830s is well before restoration of Catholic hierarchy. Britain was still officially a mission country as far as Vatican was concerned.  Some of my English Catholic ancestors lived in an area which was approximately 30% R.C. in late 18thC. A visit from a bishop was a rare thing. Hundreds of people were confirmed at one go in country house and barn chapels. Many may have been adults.
I haven't seen a Status Animarum for any parishes of my people.
https://en.wikipedia.org.wiki/Parish_family_book   with a link to Rituale Romanum.
According to wiki (my secular bible  ) they were originally intended for sacramental and other religious information. By 18thC other data was being added such as ages.

The notation for the nameless Stuart may be a Latin abbreviation - that's only a suggestion. A for absolution?    I also wondered if it was A.D as in Anno Domini followed by a number.
Reading rest of the document might help to see if there was a pattern.
I couldn't make much of 3rd extract except names.

[Maiden Stone]

This info from Status animarum or Parish Family Books on the website Surnames in Italy. (very long url)
Rituale Romanum 1614 set out detailed regulations on compilation. Originally it seemed a priest was supposed to write a letter C for Confession, Communion and Confirmation. So an adult might have had 3 Cs beside name. However some priests had their own systems (!)
 There are examples of abbreviations. Some priests added x or other symbol to denote death, gone away or emigrated. Some added notes.
In many dioceses the priest gave each person attending Mass a small piece of paper with his/her name on. When they went to receive Communion that paper was required by the priest so he could add a C to his book.
There are illustrations of examples. Standard books were given to parishes at one time but the pages weren't wide enough to contain everything some priests wanted to record. Some priests used loose pages instead.
                                      ************
The pieces of paper with names is new information to me. I don't know when that custom ceased. Fewer people would have received Communion on a normal Sunday 200 or 100 years ago because of fasting rule. Fasting also meant no liquid. Some people received Communion only at Easter. Taking Communion regularly wasn't practical for many. (People used to feel faint at Mass.) I was imagining someone stationed near the altar, ticking names on a list.
Scotland's People website also mentions Confessions lists. I was ignorant of those too. It's supposed to be anonymous. I wonder how long that custom lasted.
Compiling Communion and Confessions lists like above would have been practical only in small parishes where clergy knew congregation by name.

[rowanali]

That is fascinating about the Italian guidance for priests on their record keeping.  Strange to think we were considered a mission.  I will have a closer look at the names of clergy on the records to see if I can work out who is who and perhaps how often bishops came to visit.  Confessions is very interesting too - I can certainly look at the individuals who had several adulterous or illegitimate offspring to see if that gives a predictor for anything with the symbols. 

Unfortunately I didn't put up the records in order - the first one is actually 1828, the middle one is 1824 and the last is 1836.  Thats why I wondered if the gap under William Stuart in 1824, becomes Betty Stuart in 1828 (explaining the 3 as an age) and that she was his daughter.  However both Betty and Elspet have children, census, marital/death info which suggest they were of an age.  Infuriatingly they seem to have used Elspet, Elizabeth and Betty fairly interchangeably so it is tricky to see which of their 4 children belonged to which female Stuart. 

Ann Gordon (born into RC faith pre 1800) seems not to have been confirmed until 1830.  Generally the confirmations seem to be mid to late teens.  I have however noticed a big gap in the recording of any birth for about 25 years just before 1810, so perhaps they were light on clergy visiting.

I need to go through all that I have again with close attention to dates of confirmation to see if I can spot a relationship to the symbols on the Status Animarum.  It has been a hugely useful record as it pretty much gives census info for 17 years prior to the first census.

Thanks so much Maiden Stone (are you based near Inverurie by any chance?)
ali

[rowanali]

Just looking again and I don't think it is Scotland.  Looking at the middle record there is the C with dot symbol and then a work which looks like juart, or suart, can't work out the first letter.  But that is what is in the first record, with the Com squeezed in afterwards - making it look like Scotland.

ali

[Maiden Stone]

Just looking again and I don't think it is Scotland.  Looking at the middle record there is the C with dot symbol and then a work which looks like juart, or suart, can't work out the first letter.  But that is what is in the first record, with the Com squeezed in afterwards - making it look like Scotland.

ali

"Conf" for Confession? The letter which I thought was l in Scotland may be capital C. It needs someone who is better at deciphering.

[clayton bradley]

 Just a bit about ages at confirmation in the early 1800s. At Clayton le Moors (Dunkenhalgh, Enfield) in Lancashire there are records for confirmation from the years 1819, 1825, 1831 and 1835. None of the ones confirmed were very young. Elizabeth Clough was confirmed in 1835, born 1819. John Broadley was bap 1835 born 1816, Mary Broadley confirmed 1825 born 1805 (and gave birth to an illegitimate child shortly after the confirmation!). But of course it may have been different in Scotland.

[Maiden Stone]

My knowledge of Catholic history prior to 20thC is mainly from North-West England and Ireland.
Before the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy (England & Wales 1850, Scotland 1878) the countries were organised into districts called Vicariates Apostolic. Scotland was split into 2 Vicariates in 1727, Lowland and Highland and into 3 in 1827. There were 4 Vicariates in England & Wales until 1840 when the number was doubled. Each district was headed by a Vicar Apostolic who was a titular bishop. (The first one appointed to England in 1620s had the appropriate surname Bishop.) 

[Maiden Stone]

Just a bit about ages at confirmation. ..   None of the ones confirmed were very young. Elizabeth Clough was confirmed in 1835, born 1819. John Broadley was bap 1835 born 1816, Mary Broadley confirmed 1825 born 1805 (and gave birth to an illegitimate child shortly after the confirmation!).

Did you mean to say John Broadley was baptised  in 1835 or confirmed?

[Maiden Stone]

Confirmations same era for 2 parishes near Preston, Lancashire .
Cottam: 1813 at Fernyhalgh; October 1821 at Preston; Nov. 1821 at Fernyhalgh. 1825; 1831.
I noticed that there were many more female names than male in 1813 and 1821 (33f. 20m. and 33f. 16m.) Some young men away in army or navy in 1813 perhaps or working away from home.
Salwick: 1831 at Cottam; 1835; 1838 (15 males, 15 females). There is also a list of 16  First Communicants on 25th Dec. 1838. All 8 male names and 4 female names of Communicants were on the Confirmation list.
I've not matched baptisms for any.