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Thomas GOTHAM
1726 - 1803 (~ 77 years)
Has 8 ancestors and 72 descendants in this family tree.
Set As Default Person 
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Name Thomas GOTHAM Relationship 
with Teresa Ann GOATHAM Born Devon, England 
Baptised 1 May 1726 St. James’ Church, West Teignmouth, Devon, England - From PR entry (imge on FMP, viewed 2014)
Gender Male Will 24 Jan 1802 Written Will 25 Jan 1802 Codicil added Buried 1 Jun 1803 St. James’ Church, West Teignmouth, Devon, England Will 6 Dec 1803 Prerogative Court of Canterbury, London, England Proved Occupation Mariner - Given as his occupation in his will.
Occupation Merchant - In 1789 he was described as a merchant of West Teignmouth when recorded as owner of the ship Jenny.
In a Newfoundland census of 1794-5 he was recorded as a merchant, occupier of a property in the South Side Division of St. John's, but the number of members of the family present was 0, just 2 male servants being there (see this online transcription). Maybe it was where he stayed when he visited Newfoundland.
Died - Must have died between signing a codicil to his will in 1802 and his will being proved in 1803
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) (2 x Great Grandfather) 
Ann TOTHILL, b. Est 1700, d. Aft 1778 (Age ~ 79 years) (Mother)Person ID I300127 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. 7 May 1702, St. Bartholomew’s Church, East Ogwell, Devon, England , d. Bef 1778 (Age ~ 75 years) Mother Ann TOTHILL, b. Est 1700, d. Aft 1778 (Age ~ 79 years) Married 5 Nov 1725 St. Michael the Archangel’s Church, East Teignmouth, Devon, England - From PR entry (image on FMP, viewed 2014)
"9ber 5. Thomas Gotham & Anne Tothil of W.T: Banns." - under heading '1725'
It seems probable that the two brothers Thomas and John, sons of Humphrey and Sybilla, who disappear from the East Ogwell registers were the same Thomas and John who appear in the Teignmouth (mainly West Teignmouth) registers. When there were too many in the rural parishes for the work available in them, a natural move in Devon, especially for those near the coast, was to move there.
Family ID F300236 Family Group Page | Family Chart
Family Martha HARRIS, bap. 12 Apr 1728, St. James’ Church, West Teignmouth, Devon, England , bur. 17 Nov 1792, St. James’ Church, West Teignmouth, Devon, England (Age ~ 64 years) Married 21 Jan 1753 St. Michael the Archangel’s Church, East Teignmouth, Devon, England - From BTs for East Teignmouth (image on FamilySearch).
"Jan:[?*] 21th. Thomas Gotham & Martha Harris" - under sub-heading "Married" and on sheet headed: "24 May 1753
A Copy of the Register of Baptismes Burials & Marriages of East Teignmo from Lady day 1752 to Xmas 1753"
This heading is clearly wrong, it implies there are 21 months worth of entries, but comparing the baptisms with those in the PRs there are clearly less than year's worth. Also, a transcript cannot have been made in May 1753 of entries to Dec 1753! This suggests the transcription covers 25 March 1752 to 25 Dec 1752. However ...
* - I think the month given is "Jan:" but it could be "Jun:". If January, is it 1752 or 1753? The BTs for both 1751 and 1753 appear not to survive, so it is not possible to tell exactly when they begin and end. I suspect the BTs end a few days later than claimed in the heading, rather than starting a few months earlier and that the marriage was in 1753.
The PRs appear to be not well kept around this time. It appears that for the baptism of their son Thomas to be recorded later in 1753 a later entry had to be scrubbed out, Thomas's entered and then the later one re-written below. Worse, while the baptisms on the BT sheet with Thomas and Martha's marriage has baptisms for April to Aug 1752 matching those in the PR, in the PR there are none recorded after Aug in 1752, but there are several more in the BTs for that year, that do not appear in the PRs, not for 1751, 1752 or 1753. This might suggest that poor keeping fo the register had simply led to Thomas and Martha's marriage being accidentally omitted, but curiously there are actually entries for both 1752 and 1753: "None - Married 1752" and "None - Married 1753". It appears that the heading was first entered and later 'none' written alongside. I guess it the 'none' was added at the end of the year it would be easy to forget that over 11 months before there had been a wedding at the church. Alternatively, sometimes those who went into Exeter to get a marriage licence often married in the city. Sometimes the marriage of a couple was recorded in their home parish, with or without a note giving the venue, and that could be what happened here, though at the time of writing many Exeter Diocese marriage licences have been indexed and none found for Thomas and Martha (but the index does contain many transcription errors).
n.b. PRs show John and Mary as the children of a Thomas and Mary Gotham - I am guessing Mary should be Martha. The absence of evidence of a Thomas and Mary in Teignmouth at this time, and the gap between the children of Thomas and Martha if they weren't theirs (i.e. no children between 1753 and 1759 and 1759 and 1763), point to John and Mary being the children of Thomas and Martha.
Since there were children of a Thomas and Martha baptised both before and after John and Mary's baptisms, it looks as though Thomas had not remarried to a Mary.
They might have married by licence and married in Exeter; quite a few people chose to get married, there because they went there to get a marriage licence, although the choice of where to have a meal following the ceremony could also influence the location.
It is clear that Martha's maiden name was Harris, not only because suggested as the name was given as a middle name to a grandson (combined with Nathaniel, i.e. if I am right it appears Nathaniel was naming a child after his grandfather or uncle) but Harris was also given as a middle name to a child of Nathaniel's daughter Elizabeth and a connection is suggested by Thomas Gotham being a witness at the marriage of Nathaniel Harris, his brother in law, in 1761, but most conclusively because this same Nathaniel Harris named Nathaniel Gotham as his nephew in his will.
Sadly it seems probable that 5 of their 8 children died in infancy or childhood, although the burial of only one of these has been discovered. Another died aged about 21, leaving just two to marry. Only these last 3 are mentioned in the will of their uncle, Nathaniel Harris, suggesting the 4 with no known burial had not simply moved away.
The two who married, a brother and sister married Whidborne sister and brother!
Children7 children Last Modified 15 Apr 2023 Family ID F300039 Family Group Page | Family Chart