Birth
Moonlight was born in Forfarshire, Scotland. He was baptised on 30 September 1833 in St Vigeans, Angus, Scotland with birth record number 319/0040 0169. His family can be traced in Scotland back to the 1600s, and to Archibald Moonlight and his wife Margaret Elspet Andersone. Moonlight was one of 10 children.
Moonlight's birth date is frequently quoted as 10 November 1833 (including on his grave marker), but this cannot be the case as his baptism records exist for 30 September 1833, and he cannot have been baptised before he was born. Early Scottish and English record keeping relied on the church where more commonly the baptism date and not birth date was recorded. It was not until government record keeping began that formal birth dates were recorded.
Read more about this topic: Thomas Moonlight
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