The parish church was often a collecting place for a whole range of documents. These have very often ended up in local record  offices.

These documents often give extra information about the individual you are seeking, or provide the vital missing link. Very often the eldest son had the same first name (for example Richard Culpin) these papers may be the only clue to enable you to decide that your Richard is in fact two people both called Richard.

The calendar change of 1752
Until 1 January 1752 the year began on 25 March. So January 1653 followed December 1653. To avoid problems you should state both the old and modern system of counting years eg Feb 1750/1.  When Britain was brought in line with the rest of Europe we were a number of days out so after 3rd Sept 1752 came 14th Sept. 1752, effectively giving 1752 only 9 months!