I've put together some web pages on my PACE ancestry from the Shropshire town of PREES, and adjacent local Shropshire parishes, which includes the Christening of JOHN PACE Christened 1665 at Wrockwardine, thought to be JOHN of MIDDLESEX, brother of my 6X great grandfather GEORGE PACE Christened at PREES in 1670. Both JOHN and GEORGE appeared in PR's having father JOSEPH PACE, who would be my 7X great grandfather. I've also been collecting Marriages and Christenings of other surnames connected to PACE in north Shropshire in 1600's, 1700's, 1800's. Some of these surnames show up in Virginia and it's my hope that emmigration folk may eventually emerge from these Shropshire surname lists. see - http://phc.igs.net/~gordpace/records/index.htm Getting back to the JOSEPH PACE Bear in mind, the names were not always spelled exactly the same in every parish. The father of JOHN Chr 1665 and GEORGE Chr 1670 appears in several Shropshire parish registers, namely: PREES (his Christening to be JOSEPH PACE. If you go to http://www.phc.igs.net/~gordpace/records/prees.htm The page consists of three columns the left column, shows the family of ROWLAND PACE. The third child is: JOSUAH PACE Chr 07 JUN 1618 PREES, Shropshire Batch Number: C035081 This is the JOSEPH PACE, father of JOHN Chr 1665 and GEORGE Chr 1670, my 6X gg/f I have spent hours and hours collecting data from Parish Registers of north Shropshire (on the LDS FamilySearch.org site) and am satisfied I've found what I was looking for. JOSUAH PACE shows up in his marriage as: JOSHUAH PACE (Notice spelling variation) Spouse: MARGARETTE PALLMER Marriage: 04 MAR 1653 High Ercall, Shropshire Batch Number: M008961 next record is ANNE PACE Christening: 02 NOV 1655 Rodington Father: JOSEH PACE Batch Number: C061453 Geographically, Rodington, Wrockwardine, High Ercall (Ercall Magna) Wellington are only walking distance apart. I have been to them and taken video. JOHN PACE Christening: 22 SEP 1665 Wrockwardine Father: JOSEPH PACE Mother: Margaret Batch Number: P006621 GEORGE PACE Christening: 28 MAY 1670 Prees Father: JOSEPH PACE There is considerable time between ANNE and JOHN. Perhaps father JOSEPH was not a farmer but was a merchant and would not require a large family, which seemed to be the norm. His wife, MARGARET PALMER, came from Wellington, a market town, which adds credibility to my idea, JOSEPH may have been a merchant and not a farmer. Maybe JOSEPH PACE was both merchant and farmer and could financially afford to hire farm help. Another assumption, but entirely possible. This assumption lends credibility, son JOHN may have come from a family affluent enough for JOHN to pay his way to Virginia and later purchace 150 acres of land from a Mr. Nichols. Word probably went out to parishes in England for emmigrants to the colonies, in those days. JOSEPH was known to WELLINGTON, local market town, where his wife was from, a local market centre, (in today's city of Telford). The emmigration of JOHN (Chr 1665) would have likely taken place in time in the latter 1680's. Consider his brother GEORGE Chr 1670 at Prees. GEORGE left PREES and married at NORBURY, Staffordshire in 1693. So both JOHN and GEORGE PACE left their local parishes and "moved on". Maybe this is further evidence, a 'merchant class' family origin. Farm families usually remained in parishes, Christened in. To procede on this assumption, my GEORGE left NORBURY for RANTON, Staffordshire between 1696 and 1699, between Christenings of MARY PACE Chr 3 Dec 1696 NORBURY and JANE PACE Chr 12 Nov 1699 RANTON Take note that MARY PACE later married + Richard BARNETT - m 4 Feb 1720 at RANTON, Staffs. a Surname that shows up in same Virginia parishes as PACE according to emails I've seen on BARNETT-L@rootsweb.com Sometime around 1720, GEORGE PACE left RANTON, Staffordshire and settled at LANEY GREEN of Shareshill parish in the county of Staffordshire. His descendents of today are still on the same land, or at least, the same farmland and operate a market of their own, which I've visited. So, in conclusion, GEORGE PACE my 6X gg/f a 'Shropshire lad' apparently did the major part of the movement of my PACE family, in the UK. Once he settled at Laney Green, the PACE family remained there until today. This area became a coal mining area and contributed to the Industrial Revolution in England. Many local SHARESHILL parish folk married into the PACE family, Some of the names were PITT & CORBETT. These names also show up in Pennsylvania and Nova Scotia where coal mining fueled industry in America. Go to these Pennsylvania and Nova Scotia towns, as I've done, and you'll see PITT Street, STAFFORD Street, Corbetts and Pitts in the local phone books, so you know the related folk were there, and left their mark. see - http://www.phc.igs.net~gordpace/pitt.htm 150 years of PACE PITT CORBETT inter-relationships in Shareshill parish Pennsylvania also has many Welsh names for their towns. Shropshire is in the Welsh Marches and families inter-married. The map of south Wales is at my feet here. No doubt many Gloucestershire PACE folk lived and worked in nearby Welsh valleys, where coal and slate were mined. Joe Anderson says: Bruce Howard, in his book which results from an impressive amount of excellent genealogical research, debunks the very existence of a Frederick Pace of Wales, largely because he was unable to prove the existence of such a person in any existing record. However, it is exceedingly difficult to prove a negative, and the lack of a paper trail certainly does not prove the non-existence of Frederick of Wales. Yes, the last sentence, I'd buy. Common sence still is useful, if you can't find your answer in the US, get into an airplane, rent a car and go find what you're looking for. Wales is still there, it's not a myth, visit the pubs, libraries, records offices, visit the castles, talk to the people. You'll find reality and thoroughly enjoy it and want to come back. Welsh surnames are already in your PACE ancestry as it's in mine. I like to believe, it's where America started. Forget about Columbus discovering America, go father back, consider Prince Madoc, Knights Templar, and Gov. Berkley, Sir William Throckmorton, of colonial Virginia were from the same parishes in nearby Gloucestershire as GLS PACE families. I have evidence my Shropshire PACE ancestry goes back there too. The Dudley, Spencer surnames show up in my PACE ancestry. Contemporary of Elizabeth I, the time of Shakespeare, Cromwell, James I and settlement of Jamestown; the time in English history when things took place in a big way. Later eras were much less productive. Many of the surnames in these rather small local Shropshire parishes also showed up in Virginia. I've been collecting marriage & Christening records of their activity in Shropshire, 1600's, 1700's, 1800's. Perhaps the emmigration folk of these surnames will be from the lists I've put together of these Shropshire surnames. see - http://phc.igs.net/~gordpace/records/index.htm GTPace - Canada