(More research done since this was written – results mostly on my tree, summary of findings being written)

I have been trying to find out more about the Herne and other Goathams to confirm / extend the tree. My success has been limited. I haven’t found anything to confirm who was the father George Goatham who married Ann Winch (and from whom all Goathams, along with those with Goatham ancestors born from the early / mid C19th on are descended). I have found out more about the parents of both Michael, who I think most likely to be George’s father, and George, also possible as george’s father. Unfortunately it turns out they weren’t brothers so more of the tree is different depending on which one was the father. (Since I wrote this: have found them to be second cousins so can extend the tree further back)

Belgian Protestant refugees

A couple of people have mentioned to me that they’ve been told the Goathams came from the Low Countries as a result of the time of the Reformation. I will write a history article about this; for the moment, the notes attached to Richard Gotheme contain some thoughts on this.

Please note, much of the tree from the George-who-married-Ann-Winch back to the above Richard Gotheme is speculation – how we could be descended from him, not how we are. I think there probably is quite a close connection – but it’d be a miracle if I’ve guessed it correctly. If I was typing / drawing it in the old fashioned way it would have a lot of dotted lines!

I have done it for 2 reasons:

1. Considering the Belgian refugee suggestion, I wanted to see if it was possible / reasonable for us to be descended from the Chartham Goathams – they are the earliest I know of and must have themselves have come across if the story is correct. Also if the story is true, it’s unlikely lots came across, so I wanted to see if all Goathams could be descended from them.See this possible tree showing the descendants of Richard and his possible brother John – select more generations to see a fuller picture but it will probably be quite slow loading.
2. Seeing where potential ancestors were will help me direct my research to the right areas (I hope).