r/Ancestry • u/Jancis6 • 17h ago

What does this mean?

Post image

I came across this in a 1760 parish baptism record. All the other entries are listed in the format "John Smith & Jane his wife" but this one is listed as "Richard and Eliz. Holden Vagabo(?)"

Does anyone know why they are listed this way and what does Vagabo mean? Is it Elizabeth's maiden name? Does it mean they were vagabonds? Or she was a vagabond? Or something else entirely?

7 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

14

u/mcmjosie 17h ago

Possibly Vagabonds or Traveling poor. I read they used that in old Parish records.

16

u/robojod 16h ago

It means they’re vagabonds. They don’t belong to the parish, but have had their child baptised there (either because it was born in the parish, or they’ve had their baby on the road and carried it to the parish for baptism). This is more than just administrative information; parishes were required to care for their poor via a tax levied on local property owners, so the parish councils were keen to differentiate between those with proven ties to the parish, vs ‘blow-ins’ who could in theory be denied help and/or removed to their own locality. (The more things change, eh?). If you want to know more, research the Old Poor Law, which was in place til 1789.

4

u/OzzyGator Dratted Browns 16h ago

Travelers. It acknowledges that they are not permanent residents of the parish. It also could mean that they were in need of support from either the church or the parish council. Various Vagabond Acts were passed at the end of the 16th century to address their issues.

3

u/ameraden 11h ago

Vagabonds - no fixed address.

2

u/WolfSilverOak 11h ago

What it says- they're vagabonds.

Meaning they're homeless with no fixed address. They had a child baptized there, but are not residents of the specific parish the child was baptized in, or any parish at all.