Anyone have the Berks Baptism Index CD?

[Sloe Gin]

I'm considering whether to invest in the Berkshire Baptism Index CD.  Hoping that somebody here who has got it can give a bit of a review.

I realise that it's still at an early stage, but I don't mind paying a fiver to upgrade periodically, which I have done with the Burial and Marriage index CDs.

I'm just wondering how easy it is to use.  They say it has three finding aids: Name Index, Name by Date, and Officiating Minister.  Are these indexed by surname only, or with child's forename or parent's forename? 
(I'm not expecting the minister's name index to be of much use.)

[ribbo39]

Hi Sloe Gin,

Yes -I have their latest Baptism CD (BCv03 - 2020) and  yes to all 3 finding aids as well as Full Details.

It's use will depend on what parishes you wish to search. Unfortunately for me  some i'm interested in, are not included, as yet.

Any in particular your interested in?

Alan

[Sloe Gin]

I thought you would have it, Alan!   

Can you clarify the indexing?   It's not very clear from the description.
Is it indexed by parent's name, or by the child's?  In other words, could I easily find a list of all baptisms where the father is (eg) Joseph Westwood?  Or would I see a list of children baptised Joseph Westwood?  Or both?

The content so far is very patchy, and I already have complete PR discs for some of the parishes of interest.  There's still quite a lot that isn't covered at all though, and you never quite know where the trails will lead.

[ribbo39]

Hi Sloe Gin,

Using your example for Joseph Westwood, I see there are only 2 x entries both as as the father in Reading St.Giles in 1698.9 & 1701.

Looking further, All Names by Name index; they cover forenames>surname>Role>date etc ; in other words father, mother & child are listed individually.
(last question - Yes).

I'll send you a PM.

Alan

[Sloe Gin]

Thanks, Alan.

So there's an All Names by Name index that would cover everything then.
 
I was thinking that there are two ways we might want to search: 
the name of the person whose baptism we're looking for (obviously)
but also:
all baptisms to the same father/parents (in case we've missed any). 

I'd rather they'd done that instead of including an index by officiating minister.

No need for anyone to go looking for "Joseph Westwood" btw, I just used a random name as an example.