Catholic Baptisms around 1900

[Maiden Stone]

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).

Only 1 sponsor is necessary although 2 are normally chosen. When there are 2 sponsors it is customary to have 1 male and 1 female.
I found out recently, via RootsChat, that godparent traditions were different pre-Reformation, similar to C. of E.. 
I've noticed that some babies born to single mothers* and some born in workhouses had only a godmother. Some godmothers of workhouse-born babies were nurses, the same few names recurring.
There wouldn't usually be a godparent at an adult baptism.
Perhaps your grandfather's family had used up their supply of potential godparents.  As Maggsie said, baptisms were fuss-free affairs for most people. They were necessary, like weddings. My godparents were the 2 relatives who turned up at the church.

*Added. Not only single mothers. Children of some married couples had only 1 sponsor. I've just looked at a baptism register starting 1888 in a Lancashire mill town. The lone sponsors were all female, even for babies of married couples. An explanation may be that if a baptism was on a weekday men were unavailable because they were at work.   

[ele002]

Many thanks.

Maybe they were struggling to find Godparents. They would have been struggling to find family members as one side had hardly any family in England and the other side were all C of E. Most had a 'friend' as a Godparent and some of the later ones used older siblings.

Although, I will have to dig out some old calendars to see what days the deeds were done on. There may be something in that.

Many thanks, Eric.

[Maiden Stone]

There wouldn't usually be a godparent at an adult baptism.
Perhaps your grandfather's family had used up their supply of potential godparents. 

 Children of some married couples had only 1 sponsor. I've just looked at a baptism register starting 1888 in a Lancashire mill town. The lone sponsors were all female, even for babies of married couples.

Another look at that baptism register has found a godmother for a woman aged 36/7.
Also in that register:
 A godmother who was mother of another baby being baptised. (If my 2 relatives hadn't gone to the church, my godparents may have been the parents of the other baby baptised with me or her godparents or someone else in their family party.)
2 children aged 3 and 5 baptised on same day, a godmother for one and a godfather for the other. Same family had a baby baptised the following month with 2 godparents. 2 of their subsequent 3 children had 2 sponsors each and 1 had only 1.

[ele002]

Looks as though they probably were "struggling" to find  Godparents....lack of family members and having to rely on friends or members of the church.

All bar 3 of the baptisms were on a Sunday....they are shown as a Monday, although I wonder if the dates in the Registers are correct. I know from past experience that Baptism Registers aren't 100% reliable.

Not to worry. I was just curious. Thanks, Eric.