Partial Transcript

7th April 1799
George Durie Labr and Anne Douglass his wife had a son born the 4th baptized the above date in presence of the Congregation and named George.

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1799 Aprile 7th
Durie: George Durie Labr and Anne Douglass his wife had a son born 4th & baptized the above date in presence of the Congn. George.

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1798 Aprile 4th
Durie: George Durie Labr and Anne Douglass his wife had a son born the above date & baptized 1st Sabb. after in presence of the Congn. George.

[The above particulars are extracted from a Register for the Parish of North Berwick in the County of Haddingtonshire (now East Lothian)
Obtained online at http://scotlandspeople.gov.uk on 1 August 2009.]


Research Notes

There are two distinct birth records for George Durie born on 4 April 1799, giving near-identical information. Furthermore, a third record exists of a son named George born to the same Durie family exactly one year earlier on 4 April 1798 and baptized on 7 April 1798, for whom we cannot locate a record of death or burial. This record appears to be written in the same hand as one of the 1799 documents.

Clearly the birth registration of George b. 1799 was transcribed at some time, creating a duplicate.

It is possible that a first George was born in 1798 and died in infancy. It was common enough, and families often named passed on the same name to a subsequent child.

However, it seems more plausible that the original 1799 document was transcribed twice: once in error into the 1798 register, and a second time correctly in the 1799 register. This theory is supported by several factors:

  1. The absence of a record of death or burial for George Durie, b. 1798.
  2. The unlikelihood of two baptisms occurring on the same date in two consecutive years, since the convention was for baptisms to be performed on Sundays. In 1798 the first Sunday after 4 April was 7 April.
  3. The similar format and hand of the 1798 document and the second 1799 document, suggesting that these are both likely to be transcribed copies.