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Henry John Pearn ("John") GOTHAM
1858 - 1934 (~ 76 years)
Has 28 ancestors and 26 descendants in this family tree.
Set As Default Person 
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Name Henry John Pearn ("John") GOTHAM Nickname John Relationship 
with Teresa Ann GOATHAM Born Jun Q 1858 Shaldon, Devon, England 
- GRO ref: Gotham, Henry John Pearn, q2 1858, Newton Abbot RD 5b 113; GRO online index shows mother's maiden name as Williams
Birthplace from censuses
Baptised 3 Oct 1858 St. Nicholas’ Church, Shaldon and Ringmore, Devon, England - From PR entry (image on FMP, viewed 15 Nov 2014)
Gender Male Occupation 1881 Plymouth, Devon, England Mason and plasterer Residence 1884 Victoria Street, Plymouth, Devon, England - When his children William and Ellen were bapt
Occupation From 1884 to 1891 Mason - When his children were bapt
Residence 1891 21, St. John's Road, Plymouth, Devon, England - When son Thomas Glanvill was bapt
Occupation 1891 Gas Works, Plymouth, Devon, England Mason - Both of John's sons to survive infancy followed him into working on brickwork of gasworks retorts.
Executor 1 Nov 1905 Principal Registry, London, England Granted probate of his wife's grandfather's will - "Haslett Thomas of 18 Staddon-terrace North-road Plymouth 17 March 1905 Probate London 1 November to Mary Gotham (wife of John Gotham) and the said John Gotham mason Effects £218 6s."
Middle name relationship A surname of his paternal grandmother before she married. - His grandmother married as Charlotte PROWSE, but had been baptised as Charlotte Prouse PEARDON. Charlotte was the illegitimate daughter of Mary PEARDON; Pro(u/w)se may have been her father's surname. Although Charlotte's mother Mary was baptised as a PEARDON she married as a PEARN, so it seems reasonable to suppose Charlotte was known as Charlotte PEARN.
Mary's father also married as a PEARN and her parents were both also buried as PEARNs. Their children were variously recorded as PEARNs or PEARDONs at baptism.
PEARN has continued to be used as a family middle name, so far given to 7 others that I know of, born over 5 more generations, from 1882 to 1995, all descended from each other. In one generation in the 1940s 3 siblings, two girls and a boy, were all given PEARN as a middle name. They are listed here (details of living / possibly living not made public).
John not only continued the practice of giving a family surname as a middle name by passing on PEARN to one of his children, but gave 2 others different family surnames as middle names.
Residence 1 Nov 1905 144, Dysons Lane, Upper Edmonton, Middlesex, England - At the time John was granted probate, along with his wife Mary, of the will of Mary's grandfather John was living in Middlesex whilst Mary was still living in Plymouth.
Residence 1911 21, Old Birtle, Birtle cum Bamford, Lancashire, England - A boarder in the home of James and Annie Yates and their daughter Ivy, the Annie Yates who John would go on to marry 15 years later.
Occupation 1911 Gas Works, Birtle cum Bamford, Lancashire, England Bricksetter Residence 1921 18, Staddon Terrace, Plymouth, Devon, England - With his wife and family. Although in 1911 he was boarding in the house of the woman he would marry after his wife died, he had clearly not left his wife for her.
Residence 1934 173, Embankment Road, Plymouth, Devon, England - At the time of his death.
Died 10 Feb 1934 Plymouth Reg Dist, Devon, England - GRO ref: Gotham, Henry J P, q1 1934 Plymouth RD 5b 435; GRO online index shows Christian names as Henry John Pearn
Actual date from probate calendar entry
Probate 10 Mar 1934 Exeter, Devon, England Calendar Entry - "Gotham Henry John Pearn of 173 Embankment-road Plymouth died 10 February 1934 Probate Exeter 10 March to George Henry Chapman Wallis company director.
Effects £547 16s. 10d."
Siblings4 brothers and 2 sisters Patriarch & Matriarch 
GOTHAM, d. Bef 1613 (6 x Great Grandfather)
Grace PROUT, b. Abt 1796, Ugborough, Devon, England, d. Dec Q 1869, Plymouth Reg Dist, Devon, England (Age ~ 73 years) (Grandmother) Person ID I300033 All | All in the Goatham / Gotham One-Name Study , All subjects of the Goatham / Gotham One-Name Study Last Modified 3 Feb 2024
Father William George GOTHAM, b. Abt 1818, West Teignmouth, Devon, England , d. Mar Q 1901, Plymouth Reg Dist, Devon, England (Age ~ 83 years) Mother Eliza WILLIAMS, b. Abt 1831, d. Dec Q 1910, Plymouth Reg Dist, Devon, England (Age ~ 79 years) Married 16 Feb 1858 St. Nicholas’ Church, Shaldon and Ringmore, Devon, England - From PR entry (image on FMP, viewed 15 Nov 2014)
"William George Gotham, of full age, Bachelor, Gardener, residence at time of marriage St Nicholas [Shaldon], father: Thomas Gotham, Fisherman
[married]
Eliza Williams, of full age, Spinster, Servant, residence at time of marriage St Nicholas [Shaldon], father: Henry Williams, Miller"
GRO ref: Gotham, William George, to Williams, Eliza q1 1858 Newton Abbott RD 5b 216
Surnames used as 2nd (or occasionally 1st) Christian names were by no means always the mother's maiden name, but the majority were probably the maiden name of the mother of paternal grandmother.
I don't know where Pearn came from that William and Eliza gave to a son. Their PR marriage entry (i.e. certificate data) shows that Eliza was a spinster when she married, and William's parents marriage entry also shows Charlotte was a spinster (a Prowse) when they married. Eliza William's mother was Grace PROUT, probably a Prout by birth as a sister of Eliza's was named Grace Prout WILLIAMS.
Although such names were nearly always family names in the broadest sense, they could be from in-laws etc. e.g. a sister's husband (possibly used when he was a Godfather) or a step-father.
I wonder if it's possible that William married Eliza accepting that she was pregnant by another man - their first son, the only one given a surname as a Christian name, was born somewhere between 6 weeks and 4½ months after the marriage.
There is probably some significance in the name Pearn being given with the Christian names 'Henry John'. A Henry John Pearn was baptised in Dawlish, not far from Teignmouth, in 1840. Maybe he was Godfather to Henry John Pearn GOTHAM. His parents were John and Joanna, they appear to be the couple who married in Exeter in 1836, Joanna being a Cox at the time of marriage; the PR entry does not show whether she was a spinster at the time.
Family ID F300021 Family Group Page | Family Chart
Family 1 Mary Johanna SMITH, b. 2 Oct 1859, Plymouth, Devon, England , d. Mar Q 1923, Plymouth Reg Dist, Devon, England (Age 63 years) Married 31 Jul 1881 Sherwell Congregational Church, Plymouth, Devon, England - GRO ref: Gotham, Henry John P TO Smith, Mary Johanna, q3 1881, Plymouth RD 5b 486
"No. 96, Male: Henry John Pearn Gotham, Female: Mary Johanna Smith, Date: July 31 1881, Minister: Fredc. Pascoe"
Details from church register entry (image on FMP, viewed 20 Mar 2018)
At this time for this marriage in a non-conformist church a registrar would have been present, and the officially registered copy would have been made by him. Unlike for Church of England Churches, the church register does not contain this and hence does not have the same details.
The 1911 census shows that Henry and Mary (or perhaps I should say John and Joanna) had had 4 children or whom one had died.
Children4 children Last Modified 21 May 2022 Family ID F300008 Family Group Page | Family Chart
Family 2 Annie PERRY, b. 15 May 1869, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England , d. 15 Dec 1945, Alexandra Works, Alexandra Road, Mutley, Plymouth, Devon, England (Age 76 years)
Other Partners: James YATES m. Dec Q 1892Married Sep Q 1926 Plymouth Reg Dist, Devon, England - GRO ref: Gotham, Henry J P to Yates, Annie, q3 1926 Plymouth RD, 5b 611
Annie's daughter Ivy married in Plymouth, so I guess that she moved to Devon with her mother, probaby living with John and Annie until her marriage.
Last Modified 14 Feb 2017 Family ID F300024 Family Group Page | Family Chart
- GRO ref: Gotham, Henry John Pearn, q2 1858, Newton Abbot RD 5b 113; GRO online index shows mother's maiden name as Williams
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Event Map Click to hide 
Born - Jun Q 1858 - Shaldon, Devon, England 
Baptised - 3 Oct 1858 - St. Nicholas’ Church, Shaldon and Ringmore, Devon, England 
Occupation - Mason and plasterer - 1881 - Plymouth, Devon, England 
Child - William George Pearn GOTHAM - 11 Jan 1882 - Plymouth Reg Dist, Devon, England Child - Ellen Mary Haslett GOTHAM - 11 Feb 1884 - Plymouth Reg Dist, Devon, England Child - Stanley John GOTHAM - Sep Q 1888 - Plymouth Reg Dist, Devon, England 
Residence - 1891 - 21, St. John's Road, Plymouth, Devon, England Child - Thomas Glanvill GOTHAM - 26 Jun 1891 - Plymouth Reg Dist, Devon, England Married - Sep Q 1926 - Plymouth Reg Dist, Devon, England 
Residence - 1934 - 173, Embankment Road, Plymouth, Devon, England Died - 10 Feb 1934 - Plymouth Reg Dist, Devon, England 
Probate - Calendar Entry - 10 Mar 1934 - Exeter, Devon, England = Link to Google Earth (if installed; see link below to install) Pin Legend 
