How soon after birth were baptisms typically held in the 1870s?

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I’ve found two baptism records that have my ancestor’s name (19th century). Correct year of birth and baptism soon after he was born. I cannot figure out which baptism is for the right man. He was born end of February and there’s a baptism for mid March and mid April (baptism record on Ancestry doesn’t mention his birthday). Does anyone know how long after the birth a baptism could take place in 1870s?

I cannot find a birth certificate which is why I’m looking at baptism records. I found his birthday on a census record and it’s definitely him as he lived with other family members that I am aware of.

Have you looked for the birth certificate of the other one? Sometimes when there are two possibles, you have to investigate both. Have a look to see if the other is on the census as well.

Just to add to dodobookends answer, yes, you really should search all the possible people that it could be. One reason for this is that if you can eliminate one of them then the other is more likely to be the person that you are looking for.

If you are having trouble finding birth certificates then I often find the General Register Office (GRO) website very useful.

You can search for free for birth and death certificates. You need to register for free here:

https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/login.asp

and then click on 'Search the GRO Indexes' which takes you to this page:

https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/indexes_search.asp

You can search for birth certificates from 1837 to 1934 (and also 1984 onwards) with a range of +/- two years.

You can use surname, first name, mother's maiden name, district of birth or any combination of these in order to find a bith certificate.

Obviously, if it is a very common name then a lot of matches will come back. This is why it helps to know the mother's maiden name (I presume you have this as you will likely be able to trace it from the baptism?).

Names can be mispelled so if you don't find the correct birth certificate then you can add the option to search for similar sounding variations (like with Ancestry and FindMyPast etc).

If you don't know the mother's name but you do know the names of any siblings then you can compare the records to find two people of the correct name that have the same mother's maiden name.

This will generally work, but there are cases when it won't. I had a situation where two brothers living in the same city married two sisters.

So the children of both marriages showed as having the same mother's maiden name. In that case, I actually had to pay to see the birth certifcates to determine which child belonged to which family (they didn't all appear together on later censuses).

In that case you can get a digital image of a birth certificate for £3.50 direct from the GRO website.

I’m not sure of the answer but I assume it was quite soon after birth.
My MIL told me that babies who died before they were baptised in the past were not allowed to be buried in the main church graveyard.. so I imagine it was quite an important thing. But it might be variable across church denominations and areas.

Two things to be careful about, ages on the census return are not always accurate, they will be close but you do sometimes find that if you compare say the 1881 and 1891 census records, the same person may have apparently been born in different years. The GRO also has errors, usually when the entry is transcribed from the actual register, and a name is misspelled / misread, the volume reference can also be wrong. One other thing I have come across, is the name on a census return being totally wrong, for example one of my grandparents in 1911 was employed as a maid, on the census (presumably filled out by the master of the house) she is Ellen, her actual name was Nellie.

Baptism timing was very variable. If the baby was weak or became ill it could be almost immediate, but some families took a while to get around to it and it could be months or even years after the birth. Some would even hold off and get a few children done as a batch (possibly at a discount?).

Speed of baptism depended on denomination and health of the baby, among other factors.

"One other thing I have come across, is the name on a census return being totally wrong, ... she is Ellen, her actual name was Nellie."

Just a very small point but Nellie was a common diminutive for Ellen (like Betty and Elizabeth). It was quite common for Ellen and Nellie to be used interchangeably for the same person.

So, she may be known as Ellen by an employer and Nellie by a family member.

Does anyone know how long after the birth a baptism could take place in 1870s?

How long is a piece of string? I work on the assumption of 4-6 weeks as a typical range but it can be same day (especially if baby or mother is in poor health) or even years (older siblings done as a job lot with new baby).

Two is unusual but sometimes happens. Eg a private one at home soon after birth if baby poorly, followed by a later public one. Or if preferred denomination not available first time, might be a second 'correct' one.

A second ceremony within the CofE (e.g. sick baby at home followed by public church one) isn't a second baptism. It's marking the child's reception into the church but not repeating the baptism, which is a one-off event. Same rule for some other denominations, I think.

I’ve found 5 siblings all baptised on the same day, but 8 years between them

ehere are you searching the GRO? Free bed? Ancestry

Yes I have found that quite a few times @Mikerafone with a batch don and others who are say 5 to 8 years old have a lone christening. There isn't a hard and fast rule. Fast ones might skew towards sickly children, the pious and the organised.