Week 23 - Going to the Chapel - 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 23 - Going to the Chapel - immediately brings to mind the church my father's family regularly attended in Fordham, Essex. 

Old postcard featuring Fordham Church

Fordham All Saints church was build in approximately 1340 and restored in 1861.  In 1965 it was designated a Grade 1 listed building.  It was my father's family church for many generations and their home was only a few minute's walk away.

Chelmsford Chronicle, Friday 1 Jan 1904

As in many small villages, the Church was at the centre of village life.  Many of the records I have for my family centre around the church - baptisms, weddings, funerals, Sunday School, fundraising and poor relief - and several such events were not only to be found in the church records but also reported in local newspapers, such as the funeral above.

Fordham Church - several of the old headstones belong to my Green family 

It is wonderful that the old church still stands and is used today by new generations, and I hope one day to make the journey back to England and visit it myself.