Forest of Dean FHT Forum - From RootsWeb

From RootsWeb (reply)

BrionyB — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 20:48:59 +0000

Thank you I will pass this on to my Dad to follow up.

From RootsWeb (reply)

mrsbruso — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 01:22:02 +0000

Any chance this was your man? There are some google references to Leatham's mining in NZ.

•ID: I144080
•Reference Number: 144080
•Name: George LEATHAM
•Given Name: George
•Surname: Leatham
•Sex: M
•Change Date: 29 NOV 2012
•Reference Number: U71073 ENG NZL
•Birth: 1836 in ____________________, Beckford, Gloucestershire, England
•Religion: Baptist
•Census: 07 JUN 1841
•Census: 30 MAR 1851
•Occupation: bootmaker
•Census: 07 APR 1861
•Census: 02 APR 1871
•Immigration: 20 NOV 1874 'Waitangi', ____________, Auckland, New Zealand
•Residence: Leatham Valley, Marlborough, New Zealand
•Note: later moving to Wellington
•Death: 08 APR 1894 in Wellington Hospital, Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
•Burial: 10 APR 1894 Karori (Taita Old ?) Cemetery, Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

From RootsWeb:

William George LATHAM 1887-1954, Five Acres (reply)

Jefff — Sun, 29 Sep 2013 20:29:39 +0000

Hi Briony, sorry for my slow reply,
The "official" way to check a miner's background would be via the Records Office in Gloucester, as per this thread,
http://forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?mode=thread&id=42376

However from this site's Register I'm pleased to find this entry, does it seem to fit (you didn't give any indication of dates etc) ?

Forest of Dean Freeminers Register
Transcript Details

Record_Number: 3818
Forename: William George
Surname: LATHAM
Calculated Year of Birth: 1888
Age: 40
Day: 2
Month: Jul
Year: 1928
Residence: Five Acres Coleford
Remarks: Certificate of Birth produced
Memorandum:
Soundex: L350

Also, from this sites Parish Registers Database, can find:

Baptism:
Record_ID: 6005
Entry_Number: 296
Year: 1887
Month: Sep
Day: 11
Parents_Surname: LATHAM
Child_Forenames: William George
Fathers_Forenames: John Francis
Mothers_Forenames: Mary
Mothers_Surname:
Residence: Lane End
Occupation: Hostler
Officiating_Minister: D. J. Banham (Curate)
Event: Baptism
Memoranda: Born Aug 2nd 1887
Notes:
Register_Reference: P82 IN 1/5
Page_Number: 37
Parish_Chapel: Christchurch
Soundex: L350

Marriage:
Record_ID: 82031
Entry_Number: 25
Year: 1920
Month: Feb
Day: 11
Grooms_Surname: LATHAM
Grooms_Forenames: William George
Grooms_Age: 32
Groom_Condition: Bachelor
Grooms_Occupation: Haulier
Grooms_Residence: Cannop
Grooms_Fathers_Surname: Latham
Grooms_Fathers_Forenames: John Francis
Grooms_Fathers_Occupation: Haulier
Brides_Surname: FARR
Brides_Forenames: Irene
Brides_Age: 23
Brides_Condition: Spinster
Brides_Occupation:
Brides_Residence: Five Acres
Brides_Fathers_Surname: Farr
Brides_Fathers_Forenames: William
Brides_Fathers_Occupation: Collier
Licence_or_Banns: Licence
Date_of_Banns:
Signature_or_Mark: Both Sign
Witness_1: William Farr
Witness_2: Henry Sydney Brown
Other_Witnesses:
Officiating_Minister: C Barnes
Event: Marriage
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P52 IN 1/8
Page_Number: 13
Parish_Chapel: Christchurch
Soundex_Groom: L350
Soundex_Bride: F600

Burial:
Record_ID: 248464
Entry_Number: 508
Year: 1954
Month: Apr
Day: 2
Surname: LATHAM
Forenames: William George
Residence: The Gardens Five Acres
Age_at_death: 66 years
Officiating_Minister: H.Bryden Vicar of Christchurch
Event: Burial
Cause_of_death:
Memoranda: re-open new church yard row 1
Notes:
Register_Reference: P82 IN 1/17
Page_No: 64
Parish_Chapel: Christchurch
Soundex: L350

NB: This website's PR database doesn't have any for the "Leatham" spelling, but has 48 for the "Latham" spelling.
http://www.forest-of-dean.net/index.php/parish-records-search

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

Here's the family on the 1911 Census, from the free-access Ancestry site:

Five room Household at "The Stables", Near Cannop, Coleford, Glos

Name Relation to Head Birth Date Age Gender Marital Status Occupation, Birth City Birth County Birth Country
John Latham Head 1847 64 Male Married 36yrs Horse Keeper For Stone Firms. Coleford,Gloucestershire,England
Mary Latham Wife 1857 54 Female Married 36yrs. Coleford,Gloucestershire,England
Tom Latham Son 1876 35 Male Single Collier (hewer). Coleford,Gloucestershire,England
William Latham Son 1888 23 Male Single Horse Driver. Coleford,Gloucestershire,England
Frederick Latham Son 1890 21 Male Single Horse Driver. Coleford,Gloucestershire,England
Mary Latham Daughter 1892 19 Female Single Dressmaker At Home. Coleford,Gloucestershire,England
Alice Latham Daughter 1895 16 Female Single Dress Making Apprentice. Coleford,Gloucestershire,England

http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/2353/rg14_31728_0367_03/1424798?backurl=http%3a%2f%2f...

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Do you/your dad know the Forest area ?. If not Five Acres area is easy to find, it's at Berry Hill slightly outside Coleford heading east toward Cinderford.
Christ Church as mentioned in the above PRs is detailed here, also a usefull local map
http://www.achurchnearyou.com/parish.php?p=160088/
Click "contact" tab on this page to open Map
http://www.achurchnearyou.com/christchurch-forest-of-dean/

"Five acres", Berry Hill is the home of the local Royal Forest of Dean College, their postcode is GL16 7JT.
Also see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berry_Hill,_Gloucestershire

http://www.westdeanpc.org.uk/berry-hill-and-christchurch/

I hope this is "your" man !?

PS there's a wellknown local author called Joyce Latham who's written about the early years of her life in the 1930s/40s Forest, a relative perhaps ?. She's mentioned in this list, the rest of this website may help your dad's visit
http://www.fweb.org.uk/dean/deanhist/books.htm

Coleford, near Five Acres, has an excellent independant bookshop that carries many local history titles including Joyce's, a recommended stop for your dad I think.
http://www.forestbookshop.com/pages/Categories/075094885x.html

Paper register/directory of mines/owners (reply)

BrionyB — Sun, 29 Sep 2013 19:24:43 +0000

No he hasn't he called me today from Cornwall to ask if I could have a search on the internet to give him a starting point. He is searching for George Leatham who owned a coal mine but he has no idea where.

Thanks Jeff.

Paper register/directory of mines/owners (reply)

Jefff — Sun, 29 Sep 2013 19:04:45 +0000

Hi Briony and welcome to the forum,
within this website is this searchable Register of Freeminers which would be a good start, hopefully your dad's ancestor will be listed.
http://www.forest-of-dean.net/index.php/resources/register-of-freeminers

For your dad's visit to the Forest the best start would be the Dean Heritage Museum
http://www.deanheritagecentre.com/museum/deanheritagemuseum.htm

If you can give us more details of your ancestors then we may possibly be able to help more, altho of course we're short of time. Has your dad searched this Forum & the rest of the site yet, he may find other people have already done some of his research for him.

Best of luck, hope your dad enjoys his visit.

Paper register/directory of mines/owners

BrionyB — Sun, 29 Sep 2013 17:36:54 +0000

My Dad is visiting the Forest of Dean for 5 days tomorrow and was wondering if there is anywhere anyone can recommend for him to research mines and their owners as he is looking for one of his ancestors who he has been told owned a mine in Forest of Dean. Any suggestions would be gratefully received, thank you.