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Stephen Gotham VAITES
Abt 1861 - 1931 (~ 70 years)
Has 20 ancestors but no descendants in this family tree.
Set As Default Person 
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Name Stephen Gotham VAITES Relationship 
with Teresa Ann GOATHAM Born Abt Jan 1861 Shelton sub-district, Stoke on Trent Reg Dist, Staffordshire, England 
- Shown as aged 2 months at the time of the 1861 census.
GRO ref: GOTHAM, Stephen q1 1861 Stoke T RD 6b 169; GRO online index does not show a mother's maiden name Born about 3 years before his mother married, Stephen may well not have been the biological son of her husband, Joseph Vaites. Some husbands were happy to bring up a wife's children as their own, some not. The fact that Stephen was with his grandparents in 1871 rather than his mother etc. could be read as suggesting that Joseph may not have been, but this would be an unsafe conclusion. At this time it was not uncommon for children to live with (even be unofficially adopted by) other family members, for practical reasons. It may simply have been convenient to leave Stephen with his grandparents where he was settled, after Esther married.
Stephen was with his mother and father/step-father in 1881, shown as son to the head of household (Joseph Vaites), and listed before the younger children, not last as step-children sometimes were. Also, after leaving home children often ceased being recorded with their step-father's name, but Stephen did subsequently use the surname Vaites.
Baptised 13 Sep 1863 St. Mark’s Church, Shelton, Staffordshire, England - From PR entry (image on FMP, viewed 14 Feb 2017)
"Septr 13th No. 442. Stephen, parent Esther Gothem, abode Shelton, father's occupation column blank, ceremony performed by J[?] B Grant Rector" - under heading 'Baptisms ... Shelton ... 1863'
(Archive reference: D4904/1/2, p. 56)
Gender Male Education 1871 Scholar Also known as Stephen GOTHAM Residence 1911 2, Glyndon Road, Plumsted, London, England Occupation 1911 Woolwich, Kent, England Engineers Turner at the Royal Arsenal Died 20 Sep 1931 Woolwich Reg Dist, Kent or London, England - GRO ref: Vaites, Stephen q3 1931 aged 70 Woolwich RD 1d 915
Actual date from burial record
Buried 25 Sep 1931 Greenwich, Kent, England - From burial record on deceasedonline website (index only seen)
Siblings3 brothers and 2 sisters Patriarch & Matriarch 
Joseph VAITES, d. Yes, date unknown (Grandfather)
Mary BRAIN, b. Abt 1806, Moddershall, Staffordshire, England, d. 9 Apr 1875, Stone Reg Dist, Staffordshire, England (Age ~ 69 years) (Grandmother) Notes - With his grandparents at the time of both the 1861 and 1871 censuses
Person ID I301409 All | All in the Goatham / Gotham One-Name Study , All subjects of the Goatham / Gotham One-Name Study Last Modified 10 May 2024
Father Joseph Lamb VAITES, b. Mar Q 1841, Preston, Lancashire, England , d. Sep Q 1902, Stoke on Trent Reg Dist, Staffordshire, England (Age ~ 61 years) Mother Esther GOTHAM, b. Mar Q 1842, Shelton, Staffordshire, England , d. Mar Q 1907, Stoke on Trent Reg Dist, Staffordshire, England (Age ~ 65 years) Married Mar Q 1864 St. Mark’s Church, Shelton, Staffordshire, England - GRO ref: Gotham, Esther to Vaites, Joseph q1 1864 Stoke T RD 6b 289
Actual church from UKBMD website
Family ID F300471 Family Group Page | Family Chart
Family Jane Elizabeth CARTER, b. 6 Jun 1865, Bermondsey, London, England , d. 2 Apr 1940, Woolwich Reg Dist, Kent or London, England (Age 74 years)
Other Partners: Jesse Charles George GODFREY m. 2 Jul 1882Relationship Abt 1894 Started living as man and wife - The 1911 census shows Stephen and Jane as having been married 16 years - although they only really married some years later!
The mention of 16 years suggests they may have been living together from about 1894.
They also appear as husband and wife in 1901, although mis-recorded as Bates. (In Plumstead, and with Stephen shown as born in Hanley and Jane in London, strongly points to this couple despite the 'Bates' surname.)
Married Sep Q 1925 Woolwich Reg Dist, Kent or London, England - GRO ref: VAITES, Stephen G to Godfrey, Jane E q3 1925 Woolwich RD 1d 2727
n.b. twenty-four years after the 1901 census, although Stephen and Jane appear as husband and wife in that and the 1911 census!
Not surprisingly, given Jane's age, there appear to have been no children born to the 'marriage' after 1911, nor according to the 1911 census before it either.
Children - I think Stephen and Jane probably had no children together.
However, with them (in 1901) was 11 year old son 'Godfrey Bates'. Eleven years earlier seems probably before Stephen and Jane got together, since I can't find the birth registration for a Godfrey VAITES, BATES, VATES or GODFREY.
Jane's youngest son was born in 1890, so the age fits him although his name was Henry Albert GODFREY. He was still living, and, unlike his brothers, not with their father. Hence it seems that this was Henry with his name mangled to be a combination of his true and his step-father's surnames.
Weight is added to this by me being able to find not just a birth, but also a death of a Godfrey VAITES, BATES, VATES or GODFREY, or a record for him in the 1911 census or 1939 register, nor find him in the 1891 census, further suggesting he (instead or also) went by a different surname.
Jane's son Henry appears as Henry GODFREY in the 1911 census.
Clearly Henry was a legitimiate son of Jesse, but why was he with Jane in 1901, unlike their other sons? I suspect that he was too young when Jesse and Jane separated for his father to cope. Not knowing the circumstances of the separation maybe Jane escaped from Jesse and felt unable to take all of her sons but her youngest needed her.
But possibly Jane was unfaithful to Jesse before she left him and Henry was the son of Stephen. In that case, though, I would have thought he might have subsequently used the surname Vaites rather than Godfrey, but he could have found it easier to use the name that was on his birth certificate.
Family This couple had no children together Last Modified 14 Feb 2017 Family ID F301025 Family Group Page | Family Chart
- Shown as aged 2 months at the time of the 1861 census.
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Event Map Click to hide 
Born - Abt Jan 1861 - Shelton sub-district, Stoke on Trent Reg Dist, Staffordshire, England 
Baptised - 13 Sep 1863 - St. Mark’s Church, Shelton, Staffordshire, England 
Residence - 1911 - 2, Glyndon Road, Plumsted, London, England 
Occupation - Engineers Turner at the Royal Arsenal - 1911 - Woolwich, Kent, England 
Married - Sep Q 1925 - Woolwich Reg Dist, Kent or London, England Died - 20 Sep 1931 - Woolwich Reg Dist, Kent or London, England 
Buried - 25 Sep 1931 - Greenwich, Kent, England = Link to Google Earth (if installed; see link below to install) Pin Legend 
