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Those of us who have read that great novel Tess of the Durbervilles will remember how, thanks to the perfidy of her father, the baby dies before it is baptised and therefore cannot be buried in holy ground. Therefore Tess sneaks out in the middle of the night and bury the child secretly in the churchyard, risking possible eternal damnation herself. (Of course, later on, she goes the whole hog and kills the baby father for good measure).
We seem to have come quite a long way in 100 years or so, and as far as I know the Church of England has slightly relaxed the rules on christenings.
The mother should be grateful that the child is getting a timely baptism, and that the family wants to be involved.
