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SUFFOLK RECORD OFFICE RESEARCH SERVICE REPORT

Customer: Mr C W Lanham File ref!search no: Seal!L35/23 - 4401

Subject of Research: The Lanham family of Wortham

SOURCES CONSULTED AND COMMENTS:

A search has been made as requested in the sources indicated for in formation about the LANHAM family of WORTHAM. The WORTHAM registers from 1538 to 1716 are indexed and this made searching quicker, although I did not rely entirely on the index as it may not be totally reliable. There were several other LANHAM families in the parish apart from the ones you are researching, and I have enclosed the printouts of the index in case these other families are of interest to you.

I began with the most recent information known and worked backwards from there, checking all the details that you gave against the original records. I have enclosed order forms for all the entries found in case you wish to order printout copies of them, although the legibility will be poor in many cases as the registers are so early.

I John LANHAM born 1661

The entry in the WORTHAM register for the baptism of John LANHAM reads as follows:

John the sonne of Jonathan LANHAM and Mary his wife was baptised May the 18 1661

Jonathan and Mary LANHAM also baptised a daughter Mary on 31 December 1663 in WORTHAM, but no other children that I could see.

2 Marriage of Jonathan and Mary LANHAM

This entry appears in the WORTHAM register as follows:

Jonathan LANHAM of Wortham single man and Mary MARSH of Redgrave single woman were marryed the first of September 1659

3 Baptism of Jonathan LANHAM

This entry is as follows in the WORTHAM register:

Jonathan LANHAM fihius Josiae LANHAM bapt. fuit vicesimo die martii 1630/1 (Jonathan LANHAM son of Josias LANHAM was baptised 20 March 1630/1)

Josias and his unnamed wife also baptised the following children:

Robertus LANHAM filius Josiae LANHAM bapt 14 februarii 1622/3 (14 February 1622/3)

Sara LANHAM filia Josiae LANHAM bapt fuit nono novembris 1624 (9 November 1624)

Gratia LANHAM filia Josiae LANHAM bapt fuit 10 decembris 1626 (10 December 1626)

Josias LANHAM filius Josiae LANHAM bapt fuit decimo nono die octobris 1628 (19 October 1628)

Maria LANHAM filia Josiae LANHAM bapt fuit decimo tertio die septembris 1635 (13 September 1635)

4 Marriage of Josias and Mary LANHAM

This entry appears thus in WORTHAM:

Josias LANHAM et Maria TIBBALD nupti fuerunt decimo quarto februarli 1621/2 (Josias LANHAM and Mary TIBBALD were married 14 February 1621/2)

5 Josias LANHAM born circa 1653

Before looking for the previous generation I decided to follow up the other Josias LANHAM, thought to be the grandson of the one married in 1621/2 above and the son of the Josias born in 1628. I began by checking the WORTHAM registers circa 1653, although nothing appears for him in the index. This was the period of the Commonwealth after the Civil War, and sometimes registers are very badly kept or not at all. This was not the case in WORTHAM where the entries are very clear, but there are signs that some families did not have their children baptised during this regime:

The son of Robert LANHAM and Mary his wife was born 1gth June 1655 but they would not have it baptised

Despite this I found the marriage of Josias and Katherine LANHAM, and several other of their children in the parish:

Josias LANHAM et Katherina LANHAM nupt. 9 die Decemb: 1652

Ruth LANHAM the daughter of Josias LANHAM and Katerine his wife was buried february 6th 1656/7

LANHAM Mary the daughter of Josias LANHAM and Katerine his wife was Baptised 13 June 1658 Stephen the sonne of Josiah LANHAM and Katharine his wife was baptised 12 January 1660/1

The burial of Ruth where no baptism was found implies either that she was not baptised or that she was baptised in a different parish: reading through your notes again I noticed that

Josias was also connected with BURGATE which is a neighbouring village. In the registers there I found:

Josiah the son of Josiah and Katherine LANHAM was baptised the 27 of November 1653

Rueth LANAHAM the dauter of Josiae and Kathrine LANHAM was babtised the fouer and twentieth of febeuary 1655/6

The burials of Josias LANHAM and his wife are in the WORTHAM registers:

Uxor Josiae LANHAM sepulta fuit Decemb. 18 1684

(The wife of Josias LANHAM was buried 18 December 1684)

Josias LAN HAM senex sepultus fuitjanuarii 5to 1702/3

(Josias Lanham an old man was buried 5 January 170213)

5 Baptism of Josias LANHAM (married to Mary TIBBALD)

This Josias LANHAM should have been born circa 1595-1600, but there is nothing for him in the WORTHAM registers. As I had found later family members in BURGATE I tried there again, and found this entry. Josias LANHAM filius Rogeri LANHAM bapt. fuit nono die Aprilis 1590

(Josias son of Roger LANHAM was baptised 9 April 1590)

I found these other entries relating to this couple and their children in BURGATE:

Rogerus LANHAM duxit in ux. Bridgittam FULCHER xiiii die novembris 1583

(Roger LANHAM married Bridget FULCHER 14 November 1583)

Robtus LANHAM fil. Rogeri LANHAM bapt. fuit xxviii die Decembris 1584

(Robert LANHAM son of Roger LANHAM was baptised 28 December 1584)

Stephus. LANHAM fil. Rogeri LANHAM sepult. fuit xxx die Novembris 1587

(Stephen LANHAM son of Roger LANHAM was buried 30 November 1587)

No baptism was found for this child, but it is possible that in fact it was the burial of the earlier son Robert, entered as Stephen in error, as there then follows this entry:

Robtus LANHAM flu. Rogeri LANHAM baptis. decimo die Novembris 1588

(Robert LANHAM son of Roger LANHAM was baptised 10 November 1588)

After the baptism of Josias in 1590 Roger and Bridget LANHAM then had these children in WORTHAM:

Maria LANHAM filia Rogeri LANHAM et (blank) uxoris euis bapt. duodecimus novembris 1592

(Ma,y LANHAM daughter of Roger LANHAM and (blank) his wife was baptised 12 November 1592)

Davidus LANHAM filius Rogeri LANHAM et Brigittae uxoris euis bapt. decimo quarto die Aprilis 1595

(David LANHAM son of Roger LANHAM and Bridget his wife was baptised 14 April 1595)

There were also three children whose parents were not given, who may or may not belong to this couple:

Bridgitta LANHAM bapt. fuit duodecimo die decembris 1602

(Bridget LANHAM was baptised 12 December 1602)

Susanna LANHAM bapt. fuit sexto die Februarii 1602/3

(Susanna LANHAM was baptised 6 February 1602/3)

Willmus LANHAM bapt. fuit vicesimo septimo die Januarii 1604/5

(William LANHAM was baptised 27 January 1604/5)

There was also the burial of a Roger LANHAM which may be that of the husband of Bridget, although I have no proof:

Rogerus LANHAM sepultus fuit vicesimo octavo junii 1617

(Roger LANHAM was buried 28 June 1617)

6 Baptism of Roger LANHAM

I lastly tried BURGATE circa 1560 for the baptism of Roger LANHAM who married in 1583, but although I found two separate LANHAM families, some children of Henry LANHAM and some of Stephen LANHAM, I could find nothing for a Roger. The registers for this parish begin only in 1560 and it may therefore be the case that he was born prior to this date into one of these families. I checked our index to wills proved in the Archdeaconry of Sudbury which includes the parishes of WORTHAM and BURGATE but although I found several LANHAM wills I found nothing that looked directly relevant to this particular family. There were two wills for a Stephen LANHAM, both in WORTHAM, but I do not know which person they refer to:

Stephen LANHAM yeoman of Wortham: 1608: W1/65/35

Stephen LANHAM yeoman of Wortham: 1670: W1/122174

We do not hold these wills here, as records for this archdeaconry are kept at the Bury St Edmunds branch, 77 Rain gate Street, Bury St Edmunds, 1P332AR. I could find no will for Josias LANHAM, who died in 1702 either.

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