Baptisms and Confirmations

Early South Australian Catholic baptism records can be useful, as Catholics often failed to register births prior to 1875. Before this date, parents were under no obligation to register births and Catholics were actively encouraged not to do so. A loophole in the legislation meant that if a birth was not registered within six months it could no longer be registered and no fine was applicable. In 1874 legislation corrected this problem and parents then faced a fine for failure to register regardless of the time-lapse beyond the 42-day window to register a birth.