What are these symbols?

[LinnetLegs]

What are these symbols on this parish record please?

 

[Grizel]

Could it be his shorthand for Sunday?

 

[LinnetLegs]

Could it be his shorthand for Sunday?

I'm not sure. I wonder if it is? There are different numbers of dots in the circle so I suppose it could indicate which Sunday of the month....

 

[Grizel]

I have no actual knowledge about this - I just thought the blobs looked like little suns!

 

[Daft Bat]

Just to add for anyone else looking, it is the Parish Record for Huntley, Gloucestershire in 1749 and onwards...

 

[Sandiep]

I thought it was difference between son and daughter baptisms and on funerals perhaps for those who couldnt read!

 

[Bay Horse]

The strange thing is that they aren't on all of the entries on each page. And there are male signs on female baptisms and vice versa. Suggesting, maybe, for the latter, that the father was 'of this parish'? I honestly don't know. I'd love to know.

Good one, @LinnetLegs

 

[AnnB]

I’ve tried a lot of searches in trying to find out what these symbols mean but to no avail They are intriguing and I would really love to know what they mean.

 

[LinnetLegs]

I’ve tried a lot of searches in trying to find out what these symbols mean but to no avail They are intriguing and I would really love to know what they mean.

They're curious aren't they?

 

[Ma-dotcom]

Perhaps it's thjhe humour of the Rector regarding the weather on the day,-if he was in the mood. I thought June Baptism had clouds but maybe it's a flower.

 

[Archie's Mum]

Day of the week. Sunday even has a smilie face.

 

[Archie's Mum]

Day of the week. Sunday even has a smilie face.

A quick look on Google and I’m told that each day of the week carries a planetary symbol. The symbol for Saturn is the Sun……so Saturn = Saturday. The vicar has kindly put a smilie face on the Saturday ones but the other, I’m still trying to figure out. It could be Mercury= Wednesday. It very close anyway.
Asking Mr Google those dates and year and he will tell you what day of the week it was.

 

[Archie's Mum]

Poor little Hester Merret was buried not even 2 months old.

 

[Archie's Mum]

John son of John and Jane, no surname, is baptised on ! Feb. The symbol before Feb is definitely the symbol for Jupiter…..it looks like a 2 with the bottom struck through. Jupiter is Thursday.

 

[Archie's Mum]

With these day symbols I think we were right in the middle of calendar changes and days were lost or gained. Is that correct?
Looking at days of the week help, Dec 3 was a Wednesday and 8 Feb was a Saturday but the symbol for that date is definitely a Thursday.

 

[Bay Horse]

John son of John and Jane, no surname, is baptised on ! Feb. The symbol before Feb is definitely the symbol for Jupiter…..it looks like a 2 with the bottom struck through. Jupiter is Thursday.

Ah, I wondered about that one.

 

[annabel]

Looking at the wikipedia page for astronomical symbols it looks very much like the symbol for Hanah Fowle is the one for Mercury, which apparently means Wednesday

 

[Sis]

May be they only had meaning to the person that wrote out the parish register transcriptions. The symbols were only used from 1744 to 1749. Hanah Fowle's burial of 14th June 1749 was on a Saturday.

 

[Archie's Mum]

Unless the Rector thought he knew all the symbols but he didn’t really.

 

[Daft Bat]

Hmmm... not the only Parish Register to use such symbols, it seems.

This appears in the 1776 PR for Hooton Roberts, Yorkshire, against the baptism on 16th December for William, the son of John and Sarah BADGER.

To the right of the birth date of 13th it also has the birth time of 2.30pm plus a symbol and word reading Mars.