This group is known to have been living in East Kent by 1533 when one Richard GOTEHAM was a ‘collier’ (charcoal maker) living in Lower Hardres.

Most of this group who are in England still live in East Kent, not many miles from Lower Hardres. Over time the group drifted and Sittingbourne, less than 20 miles from Lower Hardres, is now the centre.

Much of East Kent was an unhealthy area in which to live, which has probably contributed to keeping this a fairly rare name. The name could easily have died out; all Goathams living now have a relatively recent common ancestor in one George Goatham, born Whitstable, died in 1788. His sons Michael and John both moved to Bredgar, at the foot of the North Downs and a few miles from the marshy, malaria-carrying mosquito infested marshes. In this healthier location their large families quickly multiplied and the group grew rapidly. At this time there was a branch on Thanet but they died out in the mid C19th. Or did they?

John Gotham the Emigrant

It seems probable that John the Emigrant, probably the ancestor of the majority of Gothams now living in the USA, was this John, from this Thanet branch.

If true, then this is the largest group in the Goatham / Gotham One-Name Study.

The surname

Now consistently spelt Goatham, the variant Gotham was often used up to the early C19th, and at an earlier date Goteham was a common, perhaps the most common, form. Inevitably a range of other (deviant) spellings have occasionally been used.

More analysis to be done in the future.

Early ancestors

All living now descend from a Richard who married in Chartham in 1565. It is not known how a few early Goathams are related to Richard but being so few in number and clearly related to him (from the location of events) that they are included in this group and there is only the one branch.

One ‘twig’ with most of these is John, his son Samuel and Samuel’s family. John could have been Richard’s brother and is (speculatively) shown as such on the tree.

Samuel’s family

So far no evidence has been found that Samuel’s sons had any children. With the good survival of Kent ‘CMB’ records and most of these indexed online, mostly more than once, there probably were none, or if there were their lines must have quickly died or daughtered out. One of Samuel’s daughters, Annis, did have a family (HIDE) – whether there are descendants of hers now living has not been researched.

Origins

With the earliest known in East Kent in 1533 this raises the question of where were they before, what was the origin of the group and name.

There a quite a few possibilities and I have found no good evidence to favour one. Though the suggestion of a Huguenot origin can be rejected (due to the date by which they were in Kent) that doesn’t preclude a continental origin.