Hi Dave > I was wondering if anybody would be able to help me with information on my GGGGGrandfather Robert Bridcut/Bridcutt. he was born about 1780 in Oxfordshire. The 1851 Census is not clear but gives his place of birth as Balston, and I have been unable to locate anywhere of that name in Oxon. I know he married Mary ? and settled in Bedford where he died in 1857 aged 77. Can anybody give me an idea where Balston may be or have access to any parish records. As you're probably aware, the censuses of Oxfordshire and North Berkshire for both 1841 and 1851 have been transcribed and indexed by the members of the Oxfordshire FHS. Our 1841 effort is sold as a splendid two CD set, which includes scans of the census enumerators' books themselves :- http://www.ofhs.org.uk/CDsales.html Strangely, I can't find your Robert BRIDCUT(T) in either of our 1841 or 1851 transcriptions, but these entries might interest you :- 1841 census - All present county HO 107/876/6 Bullingdon Hundred Marsh Baldon Folio, Place, H, Surname, Forename, Age, Occpn, Born in county? 6, , 1, BRIDCUT , James , 66 , Ag. Lab. , y 6, , , BRIDCUT , Mary , 61 , , y 6, , , ALMOND , William , 25 , Sawyer , y 6, , , ALMOND , Ann , 25 , , y 6, , , ALMOND , Ann , 2 , , y 6, , , ALMOND , William , 9m , , y Full 1851 Census Index Folio 546 HO 107/1688 Drayton St Leonard 2, , WISE, Edward, HD, m 38, land proprietor, OXF Toot Baldon , , , Eliza, WI, m 43, , BKM Haddenham , , , Edward, SO, 12, , OXF Drayton , , , Emily, DA, 6, , OXF Drayton , , , Walter, SO, 4, , OXF Drayton , , , Percival, SO, 2, , OXF Drayton , , , William, , w 68, land proprietor, OXF Drayton , , BRIDCUT, Mary, VR, w 71, , OXF Cowley It looks like your "Balston" is "Baldons". You'll see where that is if you download our free Oxfordshire parishes map :- http://www.ofhs.org.uk/web/ofhs.html The parish records that we make available are transcripts of registers, which have been indexed too. These are published on microfiche, and in some cases on CD too. For further details, please see :- http://www.ofhs.org.uk/mfiche.html http://www.ofhs.org.uk/CDsales.html I hope that helps. Paul Gaskell Minutes Secretary and Publicity Officer Oxfordshire Family History Society Web : www.ofhs.org.uk E-mail : publicity@ofhs.org.uk