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I have enough information on Thomas Stace to place his birth at Theydon Bois Essex circa 1813. His father was also called Thomas, no idea about the mother. I assume that I have to search the appropriate church's parish records. Would these be still kept at the church or are they elsewhere? Jon.

They are likely to be held at a local records centre. You could always try googling the name of the church and you may come up with the details.

John, records most unlikely to be at church - most likely to be with local record office and or local family history society. If you log on to ffhs.org you will be able to find nearest family history society - they usually have websites which show the records they hold. Stephanie

hiya john you could try the local library, if they have a local studies section, they should be able too help you regards julie

They should be at Essex Records Office (vast place) in Chelmsford, on microfiche. You can check in advance that they have the ones you want. I went there recently and was a little disappointed to find less detail for my great grandfather's baptism entry than for his brother and sister. nell

Thank you all, for your assistance. Jon

The church is St Mary but I haven't yet located where the records are stored. Did find this however, someone researching the Stace surname in the right area. STACE (John Joseph) Epping 1840 onwards roddyredrock@aol(.)com posted 27/8/02

The Records for St Mary are held at The Records Office Chelmsford. I will need to apply for a readers ticket apparently, however it doesn't say how much it costs and whether can you get one at the door and is it valid immediately or do you have to wait for it to be posted to you. I had an email from Rod last week, it is very likely that there is a link as the surname is quite rare and the area he is searching is 4 miles away from Theydon, even the name Joseph features heavily in my family. Jon

John. READERS TICKET;COST;NOTHING; ON FIRST VISIT,PHONE FIRST TO MAKE SURE THEY HAVE RELEVANT MICRO-READER MACHINE AVALIBLE,FOR THE TIME YOU NEED AND PREBOOK,IS WISEST, YOU WILL NEED ID PROOF,AND TO OBTAIN A READER TICKET,TAKE ALONG 2 PASSPORT SNAPS,FILL IN FORM,YOUR READER TICKET WILL BE ISSUED BY THEM,IT WILL CONTAIN ONE OF PHOTOS,THE OTHER THEY KEEP FOR RECORDS, THIS HAS TO BE PRODUCED EACH TIME YOU VISIT BY BOOKING,THIS TICKET CAN BE USED AT OTHER,ARCHIVES AND IS ACCEPTED BY PRO KEW,WHERE A READER TICKET IS ALSO REQUIRED. HOPE ALL IS CLEAR. KAY,

Kay: Thank you very much for your help. At least I can now go fully prepared. Thanks again. Jon.