Culture and Entertainment

Baptisms

Mother and child
Mother and child
by T Roberts, Llandrindod Wells

Radnorshire Museum

Christening gown
Christening gown
Radnorshire Museum

Most - though not all - Victorians had their children christened. If non-conformist, this would usually be in the church or the chapel they attended, although some non-conformists such as the Baptists did not hold with the baptism of infants. Sometimes children would be baptised in the most convenient church or at the mother's old parish church if most of her family still lived there. Babies were often baptised within a month of birth and sometimes much sooner than that if it was thought that they would not survive. Occasionally children would not be baptised until they were some years older.