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William GOTHAM
1710 - 1782 (~ 71 years)
Has 11 ancestors and 34 descendants in this family tree.
Set As Default Person 
-
Name William GOTHAM Relationship 
with Teresa Ann GOATHAM Baptised 11 Jul 1710 St. John the Baptist Church, Paignton, Devon, England 
- From PR entry (image on FMP, viewed 15 Nov 2014)
Shown as son of William
Gender Male Occupation 1740 Paignton, Devon, England Cordwainer Miscellaneous 1751 Devon, England Accused of assaulting and wounding Edward Spry - At the Michaelmas Quarter Sessions there was a presentment against William Upcott of Wolborough, ropemaker, and William Goatham and William Bolt, both of Wolborough, shoemakers, for assaulting and wounding Edward Spry in his dwelling-house at Wolborough, with great stones and other offensive weapons.
(from DRO catalogue entry, I have yet to see actual document)
Occupation 1751 Wolborough, Devon, England Shoemaker - If I am right in thinking that it was this William Gotham who was up before the Quarter Sessions in 1751.
Buried 7 Apr 1782 St. Mary the Virgin Church, Wolborough, Devon, England - From PR entry (image on FMP, viewed 15 Nov 2014)
"7 Buried William Gottheam. 73." - under heading 'April'
Siblings4 brothers and 7 sisters Patriarch & Matriarch 
Notes - Two of William's siblings, his sister Susanna and his brother Timothy, both married Thorns, but William appears not to have, so why did he give the name as a middle name to a son?
There are several possibilities.
Firstly, was there an error in the father's name in the register and it should have been Timothy? This seems unlikely, as Timothy seems to have been between marriages at this time. Even in the unlikely event that Timothy had left it some time to have John baptised and the priest had omitted to note that the child being baptized was a couple of years old, there was not time between the birth of Timothy's twins (assuming this was soon after birth, as it almost certainly was given the risk of them dying) and their mother's death for her to have had another child.
Secondly, John may have been the godson of John Thorn, Susanna's husband, and named after him. I think this is the most likely explanation. By the time that John Thorn was baptised his aunt Susanna was aged about 44, and although she had only been married about 2 years it must have seemed probable that the marriage would be childless. That said, in marrying a woman in her early 40s John may have been looking for a mother-figure / housekeeper for a family he already had. More research needed.
Thirdly, there may be another Thorn link I have not discovered. Maybe it was William's mother's maiden name.
Person ID I300160 All | All in the Goatham / Gotham One-Name Study , All subjects of the Goatham / Gotham One-Name Study Last Modified 22 Aug 2024
Father William GOTHAM, bap. 17 Jul 1673, St. John the Baptist Church, Marldon, Devon, England , bur. 19 Mar 1729/30, St. John the Baptist Church, Paignton, Devon, England (Age ~ 56 years) Mother Margery ALWARD, bap. 19 Feb 1679/80, The Church, St. Marychurch, Devon, England , bur. 7 Aug 1748, St. Mary the Virgin Church, Wolborough, Devon, England (Age ~ 68 years) Married 10 Jun 1701 St. John the Baptist Church, Paignton, Devon, England - From PR entry (image on FMP, viewed 15 Nov 2014)
This shows the groom as Richard Gotham.
Why I think the marriage recorded as of Richard was actually the marriage of William
I suspected Richard was a son of Timothy and showed him as such for sometime, but the lack of both a baptism and a burial record for Richard together with the lack of a marriage record for William made me wonder (and add a note to this tree) suggesting that William and Richard might be the same person. I think the evidence I have seen is now sufficient for me to be fairly sure sure they were, so I have merged the two.
In addition to the lacking records, the date and the Christian name of the bride are right for William:
* When William's brother John died in 1735, his will meant that a guardian was needed for William's son Timothy and he (Timothy) desired his mother to be assigned - and she is named as Margery. Margery was the name of "Richard's" wife.
* William's first child was baptised in December 1701, suggesting that he had most likely married in 1700 or 1701 - especially as they seem to have been a very fertile couple, with no large gaps between children.
The record of the marriage of "Richard" was in June 1701.
* Lastly the location of the marriage of "Richard" ties in with William. See research notes attached to William for evidence that it was William, the son of Timothy, who lived in Paignton.
The one piece of evidence against William and Richard being one person, is that if there was no brother of William called Richard, then why did William give the name to a son? The names William, John and Timothy are all names of close family of William. I think his wife Margery was the daughter of a William and had a brother James, which just leaves the name Richard as not obviously the name of a close relation. Given that I haven't found the marriage of Margery's parents there could have been another brother Richard baptized in the parish where they were married, probably not yet online or where the PRs don't survive.
But of course William had moved from Marldon where most of his close family lived. He must have had friends in Paignton. Maybe a close friend was best man at the wedding and godfather to his son. Or (perhaps more likely) maybe an Uncle Richard on his mother's side was a significant figure in William's life; perhaps Richard he was childless and was the reason for William moving to Paignton - to be apprenticed to or work with him.
Whilst I am now highly confident that Richard and William are one and the same, if I could find that Margery or William had a close relation or other link to a Richard I would feel that bit more satisfied that William's 'brother Richard' did not exist.
Residence to 1731 Paignton, Devon, England William and Margery and family - All of William and Margery's children were baptised in Paignton (1701-1721), five of the children died in infancy (1706-1720) and were buried there as was William in 1729/30. In 1730 eldest daughter Mary was married there, and in December 1731 fifteen year old son John was buried there. Exactly three weeks later Mary too was buried.
Residence From 1735 Wolborough, Devon, England Margery moved the family - It appears that Margery and most of her surviving children moved from Paignton to Wolborough, probably between December 1731 and March 1735/6.
Four of Margery's children married, the first in 1735/6 - and all married in Wolborough. None of them was shown as 'of' another parish. Then in 1748 that is where Margery was buried.
With the loss of so many of her children at a young age, as well as her husband Margery may have been seeking to move to somewhere healthier. Her husband may have depended on the sea for his livlihood. Margery and her children did not. Her daughters could probably have found domestic work anywhere, son William was a shoemaker, and would probably have served an apprenticeship by the time the family moved, son James' fate is unknown, while the youngest Timothy's occupation may have been yet to be decided.
Family ID F300044 Family Group Page | Family Chart
Family Martha BEERE, b. Est 1712, bur. 30 Aug 1765, St. Mary the Virgin Church, Wolborough, Devon, England (Age ~ 53 years) Married 25 Jan 1737/38 St. Mary the Virgin Church, Wolborough, Devon, England - From PR entry (image on FMP, viewed 2014)
"M 25 William Gotham & Martha Beere" - under heading for January 1737
Children - Although William exceeded his 'three score years and ten' and Martha lived at least well into middle age, their children did not do so well.
Of their ten children, tragically no less than six died either as babies (five) or young children (one). Not only that, but the other four all predeceased their father. All of these four had married - Susanna for seven years but apparently without children, John had just one son who died in infancy, but the other two did at least have children who outlived their grandfather so we may hope he took some comfort in that. James' only child was a daughter, Martha, who lived to a reasonably old age for the time, dying aged 67, but single and childless. William had a 'pigeon pair', his son, another William, probably has no living descendants, despite having had seven children. However, it seems that daughter Anne, who became a Southward on marriage and emigrated to the USA, does have descendants to this day (judging from various online trees - I have not verified the family so far forward from their 'Gotham' ancestors), so William and Martha's line has daughtered out, not died out.
Of course, the early deaths of William's adult children does not necessarily mean they had weak constitutions. The cause of Susann's death is completely unknown, but two of her brothers (William and John) seem to have died at sea, one in the Royal Navy,the other working for the East India Company. The fate of James is unclear. No burial has been found, which could suggest he too died at sea, but his will seems not to survive, suggesting it was proved in Exeter Diocese so he can't have died overseas.
Children10 children Last Modified 14 Feb 2017 Family ID F300076 Family Group Page | Family Chart
- From PR entry (image on FMP, viewed 15 Nov 2014)