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![Matthew GOTHAM, [Parents?]](img/male.jpg)
Matthew GOTHAM, [Parents?]
Abt 1670 - 1758 (~ 88 years)
Has 4 ancestors and 90 descendants in this family tree.
Set As Default Person 
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Name Matthew GOTHAM Suffix [ONS gp] [Parents?] Relationship 
with Teresa Ann GOATHAM Born Abt 1670 - The Bill in a Chancery Court case (TNA ref C 12/791/19) describes Matthew as being aged about 88 when he died in 1758.
** There is no baptism of a Matthew Gotham in Morchard Bishop Parish Church in 1670 **. (I say this because a number of trees shown him born there in 1670, parents Thomas and Susanna; whilst the absence of a baptism there does not rule this out not one tree that I have seen has a shred of evidence for this assertion and most have other data that is clearly wrong, indicating they are not reliable sources)
Gender Male Freeholder From 1718 to 1722 Morchard Bishop, Devon, England 
- No lists 1723, 4; not on list from 1725-33 then he or son Matthew appears, 1734 - 1742; not on list 1743 on.
(QS/7/6-QS/7/8, QS/7/10)
Oath 21 Oct 1723 The Blue Anchor, Crediton, Devon, England Loyalty to King George I - Mathew Gotham of Morchard Bishop [Signed]
From FODA webpage - from Quarter Session records in the DRO.
Background information about this oath can be found on the FODA website
Might have been this Matthew's son who signed.
Will Abt 12 May 1758 Written - From Chancery Court case C 12/791/19
Died 20 Nov 1758 - From Chancery Court case
Probate Aft 20 Nov 1758 Consistory Court of the Bishop of Exeter, Exeter, Devon, England Calendar entry - A Matthew GOTHAM of Morchard Bishop left a will proved in 1758. Although the will itself is lost to us, as well as a list entry there is a bill presented in the Court of Chancery which survives and shows it was the will of this Matthew that was in dispute.
Buried 23 Nov 1758 St. Mary’s Church, Morchard Bishop, Devon, England - From BTs (image on FamilySearch, viewed 29 Nov 2016)
"Matthew Gotham ___ [November] the 23d" - under heading 'Buried In the Year 1754'Out of 25 burials in the year, 7 were in November, with one other the same day as Matthew and another on the 25th. Whether a cold snap was too much for the frail, or rain or fog caused vulnerability to illness, or an epidemic hit the parish I don't know.
Chancery Court case 1759 Dispute regarding his will - Have a copy, am transcribing and will be adding to this website
Occupation Morchard Bishop, Devon, England Serge Weaver - Recorded as a weaver when his sons Thomas and Matthew were baptised; the father's occupation was not being recorded when son John was baptised. (Recorded as 'textor' whe Matthew was baptised - Latin for weaver, and a term used in English in the past)
There are several references to Matthew Gotham in the freeholders' lists but it is not clear which are to this Matthew and which (if any) to his son; some of these also record occupation.
The 1721 Freeholders book has an entry for Matthew Gotham under Morchard Epp [Morchard Bishop]; given that his son would only be aged about 18 it can be assumed that entry at least was for this Matthew. No occupation was shown.
The 1733 and 1741 books also have an entry for 'Mathew Gotham' but this could refer to father or son. In 1733 Matthew was shown as a weaver, in 1741 as a sergeweaver.
(These are not the only surviving freeholders books for this period, but the FODA project has only transcribed the names from 1 per decade throughout the C18th. No Gothams of Morchard Bishop appear in any others, although Wrefords, the family that 2 female Gothams married into, do)
(more information about the Freeholders Books)
See explanation of weaving in Morchard Bishop on the FODA website - Matthew could have been a trader rather than a poor weaver.
Siblings2 brothers Half-siblings3 half brothers and 3 half sisters (family of Thomas GOTHAM and Elizabeth ) Patriarch & Matriarch 
Andrew GOTHAM, b. Est 1585, (probably), Abbotskerswell, Devon, England, bur. 10 Mar 1673/74, St. Mary the Virgin Church, Wolborough, Devon, England (Age ~ 89 years) (Grandfather) 
Mary GOSWILL, b. Est 1638, bur. 13 Jun 1702, St. Bartholomew’s Church, East Ogwell, Devon, England (Age ~ 64 years) (Mother) Notes - Matthew's origins
Matthew's appearance in Morchard Bishop is surprising; it is someway from the main Gotham area (around the Teign estuary) and it is not clear why or how he came to move there.
Was he from a local family I have yet to discover, or had he moved some distance? The former is possible, especially as there are several parishes in the area which, like Morchard Bishop, refused FMP permission to put them online there (although they are online, but not yet fully indexed, on the Devon FHS website). However, the absence of Gothams in other sources, e.g. seventeenth century oaths, in this area suggest he had moved from elsewhere.
What is noticeable when looking at the Devon Gothams (and their descendants elsewhere) is that the name Matthew was used quite often in one branch, although it was not generally a common name.
One Matthew Gotham was baptised in 1580 in Torbryan; any link to the others is unknown. After him the earliest, other than this Matthew and his son in Morchard Bishop, was one baptised in East Ogwell in 1707, son of Humphrey. Could Humphrey haven been naming his son after a brother, i.e. was this Morchard Bishop Matthew from East Ogwell, some 30 miles away?
It seems likely. Before giving his own name to a son this (the Morchard Bishop) Matthew named a son John and another Thomas. John was such a common name it's hard to be sure why, but it could be after his father or his father-in-law. The latter seems especially likely; if he did, as I suspect, marry Penelope Webber then his father-in-law was named John, and since the family were living in Morchard Bishop it is likely John Webber was an important person in Matthew's life. Thomas (another common name, though not as common as John) was Matthew's father's name, if indeed he was the one from East Ogwell.
The Morchard Bishop family overall seem more gentrified than most Gothams. However, they seem to have risen the social ladder a little in / by the nineteenth century, while the others by then descended it.
The families of both of those who I am suggesting were his brothers seem comfortably off in the eighteenth century. The grandson John of one possible brother (probably of John) was buried with a table tomb in Ipplepen. A grandson Thomas of Humphrey, the other probable brother, was described as a merchant and ship owner.
Hence they seems of roughly the same social standing as Matthew's family, further making plausible Matthew being the son of Thomas and Mary. - (Research):This FODA webpage shows what is recorded for Matthew Gotham in Morchard Bishop on the site - but no evidence as to why all the records should be assumed to belong to one Matthew, rather than father and son.
Person ID I300002 All | All in the Goatham / Gotham One-Name Study , All subjects of the Goatham / Gotham One-Name Study Last Modified 14 Apr 2024
Father Thomas GOTHAM, bap. 6 Oct 1622, St. Mary the Virgin Church, Wolborough, Devon, England , bur. 1700 or 1709, St. Bartholomew’s Church, East Ogwell, Devon, England (Age ~ 86 years)
Other Partners: Elizabeth m. Est 1647Mother Mary GOSWILL, b. Est 1638, bur. 13 Jun 1702, St. Bartholomew’s Church, East Ogwell, Devon, England (Age ~ 64 years) Married Jan 1663/64 St. Bartholomew’s Church, East Ogwell, Devon, England - From BTs (image on FamilySearch, viewed 3 May 2017)
Thomas and Mary may well have had other children besides the two shown here. Unfortunately the PRs only survive from 1674, and the BT survival is patchy: 1663, 1664, 1667, 1669, 1671, 1672.
In particular I suspect that the Matthew Gotham who had a family in Morchard Bishop was their son. Not only was it a name their son Humphrey gave to one of his sons (and it was not a particularly common name at the time) but Mathew of Morchard Bishop named his sons John, Thomas and Matthew. (see notes on Matthew's page for more about the evidence for this link)
Family ID F300509 Family Group Page | Family Chart
Family 1 Thomasin, bur. 5 Jun 1727, St. Mary’s Church, Morchard Bishop, Devon, England Married - So far I only know of Thomasin from her burial, where she is shown as 'wife of Math.'
* It is possible I show her married to the wrong Matthew. * The son of the Matthew I show would have been about 27 when Thomasin died, old enough to have been married. I have found a marriage I believe to be the younger Matthew's in 1733 and another in 1739/40; since Thomasin died in 1727 these other marriages don't preclude the younger Matthew from having been first married to Thomasin.
However, his mother died shortly after his birth, and it is probable that his father, then a young man with 3 young sons, would have sought to remarry, so I think it more likely Thomasin was his wife.
The marriage may well have been in another parish (i.e. not Morchard Bishop), and could be one where the PRs and possibly also BTs don't survive. It is to be hoped that as more BTs and marriage licences are indexed (at the time of writing, 2020, on-going on FamilySearch) that the marriage will come to light.
Last Modified 25 Jan 2021 Family ID F301878 Family Group Page | Family Chart
Family 2 Penelope, b. Est 1672, bur. 19 Sep 1703, St. Mary’s Church, Morchard Bishop, Devon, England (Age ~ 31 years) Married Est 1696 - Both Matthew and his wife may have moved to Morchard Bishop from another parish, but if Matthew married a Morchard Bishop woman, then it may have been Penelope Webber, baptised there 27 May 1673.
They probably married about 1696, the year before the baptism of their first known son, though if they were from another parish could have had one or more other children (no sign of marriages or burials of any likely other children in Morchard Bishop, though).
If they were both living in Morchard at the time of their marriage the lack of an entry for it in the PR may suggest they married by licence in Exeter. Browsing licences on FS for 1696-7 I have not found one (but not all survive / are legible).
Children3 children Last Modified 14 Feb 2017 Family ID F300830 Family Group Page | Family Chart
- The Bill in a Chancery Court case (TNA ref C 12/791/19) describes Matthew as being aged about 88 when he died in 1758.
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Event Map Click to hide 
Child - John GOTHAM - 29 Jul 1697 - St. Mary’s Church, Morchard Bishop, Devon, England 
Child - The Revd. Mr. Thomas GOTHAM - 26 Dec 1699 - St. Mary’s Church, Morchard Bishop, Devon, England Child - Matthew GOTHAM - 18 May 1703 - St. Mary’s Church, Morchard Bishop, Devon, England 
Freeholder - From 1718 to 1722 - Morchard Bishop, Devon, England Buried - 23 Nov 1758 - St. Mary’s Church, Morchard Bishop, Devon, England Occupation - Serge Weaver - - Morchard Bishop, Devon, England = Link to Google Earth (if installed; see link below to install) Pin Legend 
