The Charles Botham Family of Tuamarina

From the pages of the James Spencer White Album

With the next lot of photographs we need to go back a few generations to Charles Botham born about 1808 in Tamworth, Staffordshire. Charles was baptised there on the 8 May 1808 in the St Editha Church, his parents were John Botham and Sarah neé Brant who had been married on 23 Jun 1805 at the St Leonard’s Church in Wollaton, Nottinghamshire, seen in this photo:-

Charles’ parents probably had other children but I haven’t researched them, just sticking with his line. Charles seems to have married twice to two women with the same name – Ann Entwistle, the first marriage was on the 3 Aug 1828 in the St Mary's Church in Cheadle, Cheshire, the witnesses were Henry & George Smith. Charles & Ann had four sons before she died in 1837, just a few months after giving birth to fourth son William, who had been baptised on the 12 Jul 1837 in St Mary’s Church in Stockport, baby William’s death is registered in the first quarter of 1838 in Stockport. Their first three sons were:-

John Cartledge 1830-1913; Henry Brant 1932-1908; Charles Entwistle 1835-1907.

After Ann died Charles married the second Ann Entwistle on 24 Sep 1838 in the Manchester Cathedral in Lancashire, he was listed as a widower and she a spinster & a minor, their fathers were: John Botham printer & John Entwistle labourer. Witnesses: Robert & Elizabeth Cambe.

Charles & second wife Ann had one more son whom they also named William, he was baptised on the 6 Jun 1841 in St Mary’s Church, Stockport. Coincidentally that was the same date as the census and their address on both the baptism and census was King St West, Stockport, so we know we have the right family. Sadly this William seems to have died also as I cannot find him in any census after the 1841 when he was aged 3 mths, there is a burial on the 12 Feb 1845 for a 4 year old William Bothams recorded in the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Edgeley (Cheadle parish) that might be him.

The two eldest sons, John Cartledge & Henry Brant, both emigrated to New Zealand but Charles Entwistle stayed in Cheshire where he married & died in Bramhall. Strangely he was the father of one of my other orphan photographs I found last year of Sarah Ann Botham, you can read about her here.

Henry Brant Botham was living with his future wife, Mary Ann Entwistle & her parents in the 1861 census in Stockport, he’s listed as a nephew so he & Mary Ann must have been cousins. They were married on the 3 Oct 1861 in St Mary’s Church in Cheadle and in 1863 they emigrated to New Zealand where their seven children were born. I haven’t researched this family much as I was going down brother John’s line but I did find these two photos of Henry & John online in a brochure about the Methodist Church in Tuamarina:-

John Cartledge (or Cartlidge) Botham was born on 21 Jan 1830 & baptised in St Mary’s Church, Stockport on the 30 May 1830. He married Martha Oldham on 21 Mar 1856 in St Mary’s Church, Cheadle and a few years later they emigrated to NZ according to his obituary which you can read here.

John Cartledge & Martha had six children (that I’ve found), the eldest being Elizabeth Ann, the mother of James Spencer White, second child was Charles the subject of the following two photos and the other children were George, Martha, Caroline & Alice Eva.

Charles was not named on either of these photos but I was able to ascertain who he was from the names of the two girls in the second photo who are his daughters, the woman in the first photo I presume is his wife Elizabeth neé Goodall, they were married in New Zealand in 1897.

Here we have four of Charles & Elizabeth’s five daughters, they were:-

Alice Clinton 1898-1920; Florence Eleanor 1900-1971; Martha Almira 1901-1947; Vivian Goodall 1905-1963 and Zella Isherwood 1906-1988.

Charles died & was buried in the Tuamarina Cemetery on the 3 Nov 1942 aged 79 and Elizabeth was buried there also on the 4 May 1920 aged 53.

References: methodist.org.nz; FindMyPast; ancestry.com.au; familysearch.org 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dawn Scotting
pandora[at]kc.net.nz