Help to decipher dates
I am looking for the children of Josephus Bouten and Maria Catharina Deprez.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSZV-XS8R-M
With this record, I have found many children. But I am confused...
On the bottom left side of the record, a "Maria Jacoba" is listed. It appears to me that her birth date is 29 March 1718.
Second from the bottom on the right side of the record, a "Petrus Joannes" is listed. It appears to me that his birth date is 30 April 1718.
Any ideas on how I might decipher these two birth dates differently? They obviously couldn't have happened the way I've interpreted them.
Answers
-
What you have found is a alphabetical index of the original baptism records. You should search for the originals- I can help if you need it. Note the page number in the right column for each entry.
This index was copied from the original, so there could be mistakes.But I believe the answer to the apparent problem of this couple having children a month apart is that Maria Jacoba was baptised in 1715. The Belgians had a different way of writing "5" that was still in use even in the late 19th century.
0 -
Thank you for your response!
As I look under "search" in family search, and type in Moorslede, I choose church records for 1619-1796.
From that menu, it gives 9 choices below the first "tables" listing. One of those 9 is another copy of the tables.
None of these choices goes back to 1718...so I don't know how to access the actual birth record (not table listing) from that old of a date.
I would love to have your help to learn how to find it!
0 -
I looked also the State Archives of Belgium, and they too do not have records back to 1718 for that parish (https://search.arch.be/nl/zoeken-naar-archieven/zoekresultaat/ead/index/eadid/BE-A0513_109981_108806_DUT)
Which means either:
- The records were destroyed or lost after the index table was made
- The Government returned those records to the ownership of the Catholic Church.
- The records have always been in Catholic ownership and were not seized during the Napoleonic times, but were somehow included in the index tables.
When the Napoleonic government seized the Catholic records (in the 1790s and 1800s), they were mostly interested in the more recent records. It is possible therefore that older records were not seized. I've seen a similar thing in the Netherlands where the Napoleonic government also seized church records- a small number of records remain in church ownership, either because they were never seized or have been given back to compensate for the unlawful seizure of their property.
I recommend contacting the State Archives of Belgium, and asking whether these records still exist or have been lost.
0