One Person, Two Baptisms, Same Year, Same Church

[farmeroman]

I have found two children with (almost) identical names baptised at St. Thomas of Canterbury, Brentwood, Essex in 1842: Charles Greenhill on 2 May1842 and Charles Joseph Greenhill on 2 October 1842. In both cases the parents were Henry (a labourer) and Sarah Greenhill. I've not found a birth or death record for Charles in 1841 or 1842, but there is a birth record for Charles Joseph in Q2 1842, which would cover the baptism date of Charles, which leads me to believe that they are the same child, but with two baptisms.

Is the most likely scenario that the first was a private baptism (maybe the child was not expected to live) and the second was held in the church on Q4 when he recovered? There is no P in next to the entry which is normally the case in private baptsims though. Are there any other reasons for a second baptism, apart for possiblly in a different parish many miles away?

[louisa maud]

Have  you  followed  them to the 1851 census, when  was  his  parents  married
.
Louisa  Maud

[brigidmac]

There are trees on ancestry with Henry greenhill marrying sarah taylor in 1824

There are baptisms for other children at st thomas including elizabeth 1834 + alfred

In 1851 census Charles is age 7

[farmeroman]

Have  you  followed  them to the 1851 census, when  was  his  parents  married
.
Louisa  Maud

Yes. Their parents married in 1824 and they had 13 children (14 baptisms including both Charles's). Charles (only one of them) appears on the 1851 census with his brothers James and Alfred either side.

The more I think about it the more I think that it is the same child with a private baptism before his church one.

[louisa maud]

Only registration I can find so far is

Charles Greenhill
REG'D 1842
Billericay
REF 12  2
MMN Taylor

Louisa Maud

[farmeroman]

Only registration I can find so far is

Charles Greenhill
REG'D 1842
Billericay
REF 12  2
MMN Taylor

Louisa Maud

Yes that's the one. In the absence of a birth/death record I 'm still pretty confident that it's the same parents and that the first was a private baptism. I could probably prove that they are the same person if I purchased the birth certificate and it gives his date of bith around 1 May (i.e. a day or so before that first baptism), but it's not really worth the extra cost to me as it's his brother James who is my great-great grandfather. It's interesting though.

[heywood]

I can only see the transcriptions - have you seen the records?
I would agree with you that it was a private baptism, perhaps the child being poorly.
The second would likely not be a baptism but a modified celebration.

[farmeroman]

I can only see the transcriptions - have you seen the records?
I would agree with you that it was a private baptism, perhaps the child being poorly.
The second would likely not be a baptism but a modified celebration.

Yes I have the baptism records for all 13 children (14 of them...). The two for Charles are identical apart from being five months apart, the addition of Joseph to his name and the curate/officiating minister being different.

Edit: I've just noticed that His younger brother Alfred, born four years later in 1846, had two baptisms, recorded as one entry in the register. That page had multiple similar entries.

[heywood]

Perhaps they didn’t tell the second minister and/or decided they would like to add Joseph. We will never know