Catholic Baptisms around 1900

[towthorpe32]

Hi there - below are the baptism entries for siblings around 1900 in the Sacred Heart RC Church in Accrington (from the wonderful LAN-OPC website):

Baptism: 21 Aug 1898 Sacred Heart, Accrington, Lancashire, England
Gulielmus Parkinson - filius Ricardi Parkinson & Birgittae (formerly Hickey)
    Born: 3 Aug 1898
    Godparents: Patrinus Patritius Collins; Matrina Maria Anna Hennessey
   
Baptism: 12 May 1901 Sacred Heart, Accrington, Lancashire, England
Anna Parkinson - filia Ricardi Parkinson & Birgittae (formerly Hickey)
    Born: 30 Apr 1901
    Godparents: Patrinus Ricardus Jackson; Matrina Helena Hickey

(1) Around 1900, in Lancs in the RC would you expect the Godparents to be married, so the Godmother's maiden name is shown?

(2) Most name are shown in Latin (?) but is Helena translated? If so what is the English name?

Cheers

MJW

[Maggsie]

Hi,
Number 1 ...No. Sponsors can be anyone. My grandfather and may cousin were my sponsors.

Number 2 .... Helena  = Helen.

Maggsie

[towthorpe32]

Fab thx Maggsie!

[Maiden Stone]

    (1) Around 1900, in Lancs in the RC would you expect the Godparents to be married, so the Godmother's maiden name is shown?

No and no.
Maiden surname of the baby's mother is usually included.
There have been suggestions that some married Irish women in Ireland may have used their maiden surnames on some records, civil or religious. (So far I haven't found evidence of my female Irish ancestors having done it.)
The Catholic church in Lancashire had hundreds of years of local tradition behind it by 1900.

My families had several baptisms at Sacred Heart late 19th - early 20th centuries. The godmothers whose names I recognise as family members were recorded under their maiden surnames when they were single and their married surnames after marriage. One "stood" for 3 nieces and a nephew over 6 years, 2 prior to marriage and 2 after. She was the only sibling of the children's father. Godfather for all 4 + another 2 was her husband/future husband. Mother of the children was C. of E. and most of the father's family were too, so the pool of potential R.C. godparents was very limited. I don't know who godmothers of the other 2 children were. Godmothers for the next generation were paternal aunts as the father had a lot of sisters; godfathers were 2 brothers who were 2nd cousins once-removed of the babies - mother had no siblings and she had only a small circle of Catholic relatives in the town.
Criteria for godparents - they had to be Catholic and old enough to understand what was required of them. There's a lower recommended age limit now but there wasn't then. A sibling could be a godparent. 

[aghadowey]

(2) Most name are shown in Latin (?) but is Helena translated? If so what is the English name?

Ellen is another form of the same name.

[Maiden Stone]

(2) Most name are shown in Latin (?) but is Helena translated? If so what is the English name?

Ellen is another form of the same name.

More likely to be Ellen in Lancashire. Even if a rare girl was named Helen, she would have been called 'Ellen or Nellie. 4 of my Lancashire-born ancestors were Ellen. 3 of them were Catholic and were Helena in church registers.   

[Maiden Stone]

Fossicking among baptisms at Sacred Heart.
Richard and Bridget had Maria Joanna (Jane) baptised in 1912, Bridget's maiden surname transcribed as "Akey"
 Richard Parkinson and Bridget Parkinson were godparents of Maria Coffey 5th Feb. 1899.
There was another Parkinson-Hickey married couple at Sacred Heart, Thomas Parkinson & Agnes Ann Hickey.

[ele002]

Excuse me for weighing in on this thread, but I'm after some similar info on Catholic Baptisms.

Was it common/unusual for RC Baptisms not to have a Godfather, or even a Godmother?

Of my Grandfather and his sibling's Baptisms, 7 of the 15 had no Godfather (and 2 I don't know about).

Thanks, Eric

[Maggsie]

From what I know about me,  I was born in the Hospital, my cousin and my Grandfather took me over to the church almost straight away. 
No grand affairs in those days.
Depends on where they lived, none else available at that time.
All different now.
What I did notice was a lot of the registered births were "Unknown" as the name or a Dash, then the Church records I was gathering only gave a name to that child at their Christening.
Maggsie