Willam Merritt Gillam

[susieroe]

Yes, Robert was the brother of Thomas - it's the way I've written it, sorry! But that's the fuzzy bit; if Robert was born about 1515, then Thomas should have been born around then too, which makes him a bit old to have fathered Francis. Possible of course, but I just have a niggle that there's another Thomas in between.
Interesting that you have Thomas dying in Gloucestershire, I've not seen a record of that; I have not found a record of Elizabeth Francis, who was supposed to be a co-heir of Ticknall, she may have been a widow.
The Thomas born 1721 was the son of John and Eleanor Gillam. John was a Yeoman, but of one of the branches that split. Between 1637 and 1711 the parish registers record some parents as Yeoman/Gentleman (your line), some as Yeoman (such as John, above) and others as Labourer. All from one family, all in Countesthorpe, but different branches.                                                                                                                   

[Graham W]

Hi Susieroe

Yes I have traced Joseph Horace Gillam who died in WWI back to Thomas Gillam b 1721 who married Eleanor Bent but I can't find any link with these Gillam's to ours.  I have no doubt they are all related but just have to keep digging to find the Gillam that links the two.

I obtained quite a bit of info from this site including Thomas who married Elizabeth Francis of Ticknall. Go to this site and see what you think?  https://ourfamilystorycom.wordpress.com/2017/08/20/the-gillam-family/

I have all my records and ancestors on Ancestory.com.au

My tree is listed as the Wells Family with username GrahamWells 96.  All my Gillams are listed here. 

Regards   Graham

[susieroe]

That site is my blog! . It was a John Gillam, a farmer, who married Eliner (Eleanor) Bent, at Blaby in 1710. His status was Yeoman in his Will of1730. I have 3 candidates for John:
 John, son of Robert Gillam, bapt. 1st April, 1665.
 John, son of Thomas and Mary Gillam, bapt. 30th December, 1677.
 John, son of Jonas and Elizabeth (nee Sleath) Gillam, bapt. 12th May, 1689.

I've been sitting here trying to wade through the minefield of Gillam parish register entries. The only John listed on the tree I have is Jonas' son. This would suggest that the other 2 are part of the other branch. By no means conclusive though....I'm not helping, am I?

I don't have a subscription to Ancestry at the moment, it's a bit frustrating.
(Just out of interest, where do your Wells family come from, I have Wells on my Mum's side?)

[Graham W]

Hi Susieroe

I had no idea it was your blog!!  Does anything need updating in that blog?  Yes it is very confusing, particularly when a Thomas has a son called Thomas and so on.....same with John making it hard to decipher which is which!

My Wells come from Tysoe, Compton Wyniates, Ettington in Warwickshire.  My great great Grandfather was Robert Newman Wells who sailed from London to Fremantle in 1852.  I've been trying to contact a  "living" Wells in England for years with no luck, although I've recently established a name of one in Stafford Upon Avon but have no contact details, apart from "writing a good old fashion letter!!".

What part of the world do you come from?

Regards

Graham

[susieroe]

Oh, not my Wells then, they came from Lincolnshire then Leicester. I remember visiting Compton Wynyates house when it was still open, it was lovely.
There are things I could add on my blog; I wish for instance that I could upload photos and documents, but my stupid printer won't perform scans. Did you read about Thomas Meadows and William [Gillam Pioneers] in the separate section? I was wondering actually if you have any different information about them? For one thing, I wondered if they received part of their inheritance to fund their new life; the estate became a lot smaller, reduced to a market garden by the last Gillam, Jonathan's time. There was a book written by one of your relatives over there, it is only available in the library, Albany or Perth, so I don't know what he wrote.
I'm very interested in your earlier mention of Thomas Gillam who married Elizabeth Francis and died in Gloucestershire. Where did you find this, is it family lore? If the Francis family have connections with Gloucestershire it might be the key to finding who Elizabeth was.

[Graham W]

Yes, the Thomas Meadows Gillam, son of Thomas Gillam & Elizabeth Robinson, born Shearsby, Leicestershire came to Albany, Western Australia.  He married Elizabeth Selina Jenkins in Albany and had an extensive family from which my mother in law is related.  He arrived in WA about 1834 on the "Egypt" and was an agent for PO, bred cattle to provision ships visiting Albany, built a beautiful house there, which still stands today and pioneered the Porongorups (an area south of Perth and north of Albany).  Have a number of official records for him and younger brother William.

Don't know anything concerning inheritances etc of the Gillams in Countesthorpe but do have the newspaper ad for the Gillam Manor when it went up for sale in about 1919 (I'll have to retrieve it from my filing cabinet).

Thomas and Elizabeth Francis - concerning death of Thomas, I read that somewhere just recently but will need a bit more research.  I have a book on Albany from the early years but if you would like to exchange email addresses, I could provide you with details including the Gillams in Aust.

What part of the world do you reside?

Best regards   Graham                 

[susieroe]

This is the link to 'The Gillam Pioneers' (it doesn't seem to have appeared on my main blog)

https://ourkeatsfamilystory.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-gillam-pioneers.html

I'm sending you a private message.

[caseylouise]

All this information has been absolutely amazing to read through, I'm a direct descendant of Thomas Meadows from Albany, and always looking for new information about the family.

[susieroe]

Welcome to Rootschat, caseylouise  . Lovely to meet yet another of our fascinating family.