I have found a discrepancy between sources regarding the baptism at St Just in Penwith of Elenor Champen/Champion the daughter of William and Elenor Champen/Champion. Cornwall OPC has the date as 7 Feb 1707 (Julian calendar) but Ancestry, findmypast, and FamilySearch all have 18 Feb 1708 (Gregorian calendar). Now I use the Julian Calendar for my dates prior to the changeover in the UK so I can understand the difference in the year, but wondered why there was a difference in the date. So I checked the image on FamilySearch and I can see what looks like the 7th but there is also what looks like an 18 after it. Could I ask some of our expert handwriting transcribers to have a look and help me to sort it out? Sorry I don't know how to capture the image to post. But it is on page 14 of 46 at https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11624-93052-19?cc=1769414 Citation for the image is "England, Cornwall and Devon Parish Registers, 1538-2010," database with images, <i>FamilySearch</i> (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11624-93052-19?cc=1769414 : accessed 14 January 2016), Cornwall > St Just in Penwith > Baptisms, marriages, burials, 1681-1733 > image 14 of 46; Cornwall Records Office, Truro. Any assistance will be much appreciated.
I've tried 3 times and all I get is a Family Search screen but no image. I wonder if she was born 7th baptised 18th.
Cornwall OPCs online has this:- Day Month 07-Feb Year 1707 Parish Or Reg District Just in Penwith, St. Forename Elenor Surname CHAMPEN Sex dau Father Forename William ..Nothing came up when I keyed in Elenor with a surname or with parents or place. I keyed in only 1707 -1708 + Elenor. brought on the above.
Just viewed that image Peregrine, does appear to be a follow on from1707 baptisms, 1/4 way down are definite "Baptisms in 1708". Perhaps the '18' in margin is the child's age in days or months [or even a charge for the baptism?] No mention of a Mother's name.
My guess is she was baptised 18th; what looks like a 7 is the same squiggly shape as on two, three and four records below for March baptisms. The squiggle between March and the date number.
Yes I noted that squiggle was in all of them can't figure what it would stand for though, and I think you must be right and she was baptised on the 18th. I will contact the OPC and ask him to review too.
Does it read Feb ye 18th, with the 'e' of ye in superscript (can't seem to reproduce it on here). I've seen dates written quite a lot like that with the Y of ye resembling a 7. Ann
Sounds good Ann, Eyes were squinty after looking at this one for so long, but I do like your thoughts.
From what I've encountered in PRs that ye can appear as a funny squiggle in fact it can take on varying appearances. In the image Wendy posted it looks to me like the Ye I've seen many times before, the letter Y with diagonally right and above the Y is an e. I've also seen it looking roughly like a 7 with the e attached to the right hand corner of the 7. So my money is on Ye 18.
I have just sent an email to the OPC for St Just advising him re the discrepancy and 'our' conclusion.
The OPC for St Just, has responded and agrees with our conclusion. Intriguingly though he had trouble accessing the images via the url I gave, and I have had a try myself (note I use Windows 10 operating system): the url worked fine on Google Chrome and on MS Edge but refused to work on Internet Explorer. In addition the url I have for viewing images for Cornwall registers opened the index page but refused to bring up any images on Internet Explorer (IE). It worked fine on Google Chrome and MS Edge. If anyone can explain why a url won't work on IE when it will work on the other browsers they are smarter than me. As to the poor OPC he says there are 5 other entries where he has transcribed the ye as 7th, and unfortunately the day is not visible for them wheras the 18 was in Elenor Champen's case. I know some of you do transcriptions: I think it is a really difficult task to do and commend you all for volunteering to do it and for your persistence too.
