Thanks for your reply Jeff - the word appears to be Stones, but when we visited the area in 2007 I don't think we came across a town by that name, so I thought possibly a descriptive area rather than a town, and hoped that someone with local knowledge could fill in the gap for me. I will spend tomorrow visiting the sites you recommended. Thanks again, Mary Ann -------Original Message------- From: Jeff Coleman Date: 9/03/2010 10:12:48 PM To: berkshire@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [BRK] Baptism for Mary Ann MOUNTFORD 1815 Abode usually means the address within the parish - often the name of a farm, hamlet or street. What does it appear to say? If he was a brickmaker it could have been Mortimer's Brickkiln , Whitelands Farm or Clappers Green. Using www.old-maps.co.uk and putting in the location 451700 168100 you should see the brick kiln as it was in 1877. The hilly country north of the A4 Bath Road in Thatcham has some clay, so a possible brick-kiln location. The part south of the Bath Road towards the river Kennet and Kennet and Avon Canal has gravel very close to the surface. If coal rather than charcoal was used to fire the brick kiln, then this was probably brought along the Kennet and Avon Canal from the Somerset coalfield. http://www.brazell.net/genuki/BRK/Thatcham/index.html has a little more about Thatcham Thatcham Historical Society mentions a later brickmaker on page http://thatchamhistoricalsociety.org.uk/node/91 If you search for 'brick on that site you will see that in 1847 there was also a brick maker at Ham Mills. There is also an enquiries section on their web site. Jeff ----- Original Message ----- From: "David & Mary Ann Minor" <dcmam@bigpond.com> To: <BERKSHIRE@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 8:47 AM Subject: [BRK] Baptism for Mary Ann MOUNTFORD 1815 > Could someone on this list with access to Baptism Records look at the > following - on Page 27 of Baptisms in the Parish of Thatcham in the > County of Berks in the Year 1815, Record No. 214 for Mary Ann daughter of > Alexander and Mary MOUNTFORD, brickmaker - and tell me their "Abode" > please. > I've checked Towns in Berkshire on the web, but can't see anything that > looks similar. > > Thanks, > Mary Ann > South Australia > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > BERKSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to BERKSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message