Susanna Carpenter

Family

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Carpenter_(theologian)_

While he was a tutor at Oxford, Christopher Trevelyan[4] was among his pupils, and through this introduction Rev. Richard Carpenter (son of Thomas) married Susanna, born about 1688, daughter of Sir John Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet and Urith Chichester.[2][5] his pupil's youngest sister, and obtained his benefice from Sir Robert Chichester.[2] The marriage took place at Nettlecombe, Somerset, on 1 September 1606.

The children of Richard and Susanna Carpenter were:[6]

• 1) Susanna Carpenter, bp. Nettlecombe, 28 Oct 1607.[7]
• 2) John Carpenter, b. ca. 1608.
• 3) Mary Carpenter, b. say 1610.
• 4) Richard Carpenter, b. say 1612.
• 5) Ann Carpenter, b. say 1614.
• 6) Elizabeth Carpenter, b. say 1616.
• 7) Edward Carpenter, b. say 1618.
• 8) Sarah Carpenter, b. say 1620.
• 9) Thomas Carpenter, b. say 1622. This Richard Carpenter was not the Richard Carpenter[8] of Amesbury, Wiltshire, father of William Carpenter[9] of Providence, Rhode Island

Notes

We see that Susanna's birthdate is given as 24 April 1592. Yet her mother Urith's death is given as 1591.

No problem!

In 1591, the legal, civil and church year began in March. Thus the year 1591 for Urith and 1592 for Susanna's records each began March 25 and ended March 24.

Furthermore, then as now, children were typically baptized a few months after their birth. Susanna was probably baptized in April 1592, not born on that date. Baptismal dates are often given as the birthdate because of the availability of church baptismal records, in lieu of the actual birthdate which was less known. True birth dates are lesser known while baptismal records are more common.

Urith Chichester may have died in childbirth (or other cause) in 1591. She was only 32. She may have died between January to March 25th of 1591, which we would now call 1592. We can investigate her burial records to verify an exact day of death. It is not on her Geni record at the moment.

Genealogists need to be aware that in England, from about the late 12th century until 1751 the civil, ecclesiastical and legal year began on 25 March, nearly three months later than the standard historical change of year we now use.

For dates in the intervening period, the historical year will therefore be different from the civil year. For example, the date we call 1 January 1751 (historical year) remains 1 January 1750 (civil year), because the civil year 1750 continues until 24 March. Clearly, for dates between 1 January and 24 March, the civil year is one less than the historical year. To avoid confusion, such dates are sometimes written as 1 January 1750-1, or 1 January 1750/1.

It appears that most dates entered on Geni are the exact dates given in the source records. If a date is in the first quarter of the year, it could seem incorrect, as in this case, but it is not, because of the calendar and baptismal conventions of the day.

Note that caution is needed when dealing with records earlier than the 12th century, as previously different conventions were used for the start of the year. In Anglo-Saxon and Norman times the year was generally began on 25 December (i.e. three months before 25 March), and this dating convention lingered later in the Benedictine community. In some centuries earlier, the year sometimes began in September!

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Mar 24 2018, 2:39:07 UTC