Boston researcher Livia Trivia at JtR Forums made the following suggestion:
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But why would both parents be traveling by sea and leaving an infant behind?
Illegitimate children named by or with their mother's names, then taken from them, given to a "respectable" couple, who then chose godparents?
Think Magdalen Sisters.
This might explain why several children are named "Jacobus" (Latin for James) and Brigeta, maybe after a particular Saint or the name of the Convent/Foundling Home in which they were born. This might also explain why the whole book contained these entries. The records of illegitimate adoptees may have been kept separately.
Just a guess.
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