Communication Considerations

Years ago while reading a mid-19th century christening record, the name of one village was nearly impossible to discern. In reviewing the record, I realized that someone from that illegible village had attended the christening which took place the day after the birth. Analyzing a map of the area allowed me to determine the "unreadable" village. After all, if the person learned of the birth and attended the next-day christening, they could not have lived very far from where the child was born.