Religious Change and Baptismal Days in Sixteenth-Century Non-Metropolitan Surrey

Abstract

The religious changes of the sixteenth century profoundly affected many aspects of people's lives. Among these was a change in the expectation as to the timing of baptism. The 1549 Book of Common Prayer placed a novel emphasis on the performance of the ritual of baptism by clergy in front of the congregation, resulting in an expectation that baptisms would occur on Sundays or other holy days. This research note reports a preliminary exploration of changes in the timing of baptisms in non-metropolitan Surrey between 1541 and 1600, changes which provide an indication of the degree of its population's conformity to the established church. It finds that there was an increase in Sunday baptisms after the introduction of the 1549 Book of Common Prayer, a partial though possibly not complete reversal during the return to Catholicism under Mary, and then a gradual movement towards greater adherence during the course of Elizabeth's reign. By 1600 the majority of baptisms took place on Sundays. People in towns and those in rural areas seem to have behaved quite similarly, though there is the possibility of greater adherence to Sunday baptisms in some urban areas in the immediate aftermath of the introduction of the 1549 prayer book and of disruption to the timing of baptisms during the dearth of the 1590s.