I'm helping a friend out with his research into his LAYs of the above area & wondered if anyone else was researching this family or can offer some advice? I'm a bit hampered by not living locally so can't get to the relevant record office & there is very little IGI info on this area to even give me a few pointers. The early generations feature the name William, and there seem to be quite a few of them about in 1841/51! >From an old family bible (destroyed in the Blitz), some info someone once gave his mother & what I have discovered, I have: William LAY b. cir 1745 m. Eleanor ELSDEN 9 Feb 1768 Lexden (this one is also on IGI!) Children: - Elizabeth (bap 3 Jul 1768 Lexden, m. John BEAUMONT 7 May 1787 Stanway) - William (bap 4 Jan 1770 Lexden, census states b. Colchester) m. Elizabeth (b. cir 1769 Woodbridge, SFK) - Thomas Elsden (bap 13 Nov 1771 Lexden, bur 18 Feb 1824 Cressing) Children of William & Elizabeth: - William (bap 15 Jan 1797 Beaumont, m. Lucy LEVERITT b. cir 1799 Thorpe) - Lucy (bap 8 Feb 1801 Beaumont) - David (bap 23 Sep 1804 Beaumont, m. Sophia GROOM 3 Feb 1829 Beaumont) Children of William & Lucy: - Lucy (bap 1 Mar 1817 Thorpe-le-Soken) - William (bap 12 Mar 1818 Thorpe-le-Soken Baptist) - Charlotte (bap 26 Oct 1821 Thorpe-le-Soken Baptist) - Jeremiah (b. cir 1822 Walton-on-the-Naze, m. Mary Ann ANDERSON 20 Jun 1842 Brightlingsea) - Lucy (b. 1837/3 Thorpe, m. Charles ASKEW 1860/2 Tendring RD) I don't have a baptism for Jeremiah, but his marriage cert names his father as William LAY, lab. Likewise, I'm a bit short on marriage info for the Williams! I have downloaded the will of a William LAY of 1841, which from the names he mentions, appears to be a different family. Jeremiah & Mary Ann's oldest child was a son named Bawtree Joseph - an unusual name which is likely to be someone's maiden name... Many thanks, Jacqui Also looking for SCRIVENER, RUMENS & SELMAN / SELLMAN of my own in Essex