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Martha GOTHAM
1759 - 1805 (~ 45 years)
Has 12 ancestors and 14 descendants in this family tree.
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Name Martha GOTHAM Relationship 
with Teresa Ann GOATHAM Baptised 10 Dec 1759 St. James’ Church, West Teignmouth, Devon, England 
- Img on FMP
Gender Female Buried 23 Jan 1805 St. James’ Church, West Teignmouth, Devon, England - From PR entry (image on FMP, viewed 22 Nov 2014)
Siblings4 brothers and 2 sisters 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) (3 x Great Grandfather) 
Martha HOOPER, bap. 25 Sep 1690, St. John the Baptist Church, Bishopsteignton, Devon, England, bur. 27 Mar 1754, St. James’ Church, West Teignmouth, Devon, England (Age ~ 63 years) (Grandmother) Notes - There was a Martha GOTHAM who died in Chudleigh 1837 (though age given at death is similar it is not a perfect match - suggests born c. 1766).
However, it seems much more likely this Martha was the one who married Richard Whitborne. (The burial could be of a widow)
Also, the Martha who married Richard Whi(t/d)borne must be the daughter of the Thomas who died in 1802-1803 (from his will).
Person ID I300130 All | All in the Goatham / Gotham One-Name Study , All subjects of the Goatham / Gotham One-Name Study Last Modified 30 Mar 2023
Father Thomas GOTHAM, bap. 1 May 1726, St. James’ Church, West Teignmouth, Devon, England , bur. 1 Jun 1803, St. James’ Church, West Teignmouth, Devon, England (Age ~ 77 years) Mother 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!
Family ID F300039 Family Group Page | Family Chart
Family Richard WHIDBORNE, bap. 11 Oct 1764, St. John the Baptist Church, Bishopsteignton, Devon, England , bur. Abt 1825 (Age ~ 60 years) Married 5 Feb 1789 St. James’ Church, West Teignmouth, Devon, England Children4 children Last Modified 30 Mar 2023 Family ID F300204 Family Group Page | Family Chart
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Event Map Click to hide 
Baptised - 10 Dec 1759 - St. James’ Church, West Teignmouth, Devon, England 
Married - 5 Feb 1789 - St. James’ Church, West Teignmouth, Devon, England 
Child - Thomas Gotham WHIDBORNE, [G-D(TM)] - 11 Aug 1791 - (probably), Dawlish, Devon, England 
Child - Mary WHIDBORNE - 7 May 1798 - St. John the Baptist Church, Bishopsteignton, Devon, England Buried - 23 Jan 1805 - St. James’ Church, West Teignmouth, Devon, England = Link to Google Earth (if installed; see link below to install) Pin Legend 
