Whilst researching in the Scottish Old Parish Registers (OPRs) recently I came across an interesting pair of baptisms and couldn't resist following them up.
The baptisms were recorded consecutively in the OPR for Beath in Fife as follows:
OPR 410 - Beath, Fife - Register of Births and Baptisms 1835
David Speedie had a
Child born to him of Henderson
in fornication in the parish of Inverkeith
-ing on the 15th August, baptized and
named William
David Speedie had a Child
born to him of his wife in Oakfield on
the 12th Novr 1835, baptized and
named Helen
Were both these children fathered by the same man?
I was surprised to find no mention of David Speedie in the Kirk Session Minutes for the Parish of Beath for 1835. However, his fruitfulness did not go completely unnoticed.
In the Kirk Session Minutes for the Parish of Inverkeithing, Fife (viewable on Virtual Volumes at the National Archives of Scotland) I found two references to him:
CH2/195/3 - Inverkeithing St Peter's, Kirk Session Minutes - Page 552
Inverkeithing 29 November 1835
The which day the Session being met and constituted Sederunt the
Moderator with Messrs Bell, Cousins, Robertson, Bell & Brown
Elders Compeared David Speedie, Farm Servant and declared
that he was guilty of Fornication with Elizabeth Henderson Seceder
who had brought forth a child to him. He also acknowledged that
he was guilty of Antenuptial Fornication with Margaret Walls
he was suitably rebuked for his repeated transgressions and
exhorted to repent and Amend his life. The Session considering
this aggravated Case require him to produce a Certificate from the
Kirk Session where he now resides how he has behaved since he left
this Parish at Whitsunday last. Concluded with prayer
Inverkeithing 7 February 1836
The which day the Session being met and constituted Sederunt The
Moderator with Messrs Bell, Cousins, Christie, Bell and Brown Elders
Compeared David Speedie mentioned in a former Minute and having
professed deep repentance for his sins he was again rebuked and
exhorted and absolved from the scandal.
The birth of a child to Elisabeth Henderson on 15th August 1835 is also recorded in a list kept by a midwife of children born in Inverkeithing which now forms part of Inverkeithing Kirk Session Records (Reference: CH2/195/70). This does not name the father.
The mention in the minutes of 'Antenuptial Fornication' refers to the fact that David Speedie and his wife were married in Glasgow (OPR 644/01) on 7th July 1835, only four months before the birth of their child. Obviously, someone could do the maths!
