Copying old documents

One on my interests is transcribing old baptism/ confitmation and other registers. I do this for a variety of reasons, some of which I will go into in future posts. At the moment I am transcribing the baptism registers of Our Lady& St Michael's Workington onto a searchable spreadsheet. Microsoft Excel for those who are interested. I started with the year 1838 I have now reached 1909. It has taken longer than I expected. One of the reasons being that not all priests in Victorian and Edwardian times had wonderful handwriting.

The above volume runs from 1904 to 1918 and gives you a flavour of the entries. One of the fascinations for me is that each entry tells a story. Sadly I don't have the time to follow through every entry! Copying or transcribing is not everyone's idea of fun - but I really like it!

A new Bishop for my diocese

Congratulations to Canon Paul Swarbrick who Pope Francis has chosen to the 7th Bishop of Lancaster. I have worked with him for the past seven years. I can honestly say he will be a good and pastoral bishop. Our Diocese, like many others, faces many challenges in the years ahead. Not least being a shortage of priests and the dramatic decline in Mass attendance and people practising the faith.

I ask the prayers of Our Lady of Lourdes and St Cuthbert for him.

My mothers anniversary

Today, February 12th marks the anniversary of the death of my mother, Helena Harrison. She died in 1959 when I was about 18 months old. To be honest I have no memory of her. All my memories of her via either my late father or people who knew her. I also have a few precious photographs of her, my dad was a keen amateur photographer. My brother Edmund and myself always mark her anniversary

"Eternal rest give unto her O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace"