THE LATHAM FAMILYTHE LATHAM FAMILY  |
Family name history: Latham is the name of several small towns in England. It developed from two words: "layth," a barn, and "ham," an enclosed field. People in Medieval England tended to stay in one area all their lives, so it was not unusual for them to take their names from the place where they lived. Sometimes a family would take possesssion of an estate and call it after their surname. Leatham and Leathom are two older spellings of the name, which may also mean, "the house near the barn". "Ham" in Middle English could mean either house or enclosed field depending on the pronunciation. One of the first appearance of the name on English records was in the year 1266. |
John Latham was born in Worcester England about1790. He married Jane Avery and they had the following children; Mary Ann, Jane, Rowland, Betsey, John, Mary and Thomas.
His wife Jane, died on June 17, 1832 about a month after giving birth to their son Thomas. John remarried and had a son Olen. By trade in 1821 he was a groom and in 1845 a coal merchant.
*****************************************************************************************************************
Family name history:
The English surname Avery is patronymic in origin, belonging to that group of surnames derived from the forename or Christian name of a father. In this case, the surname comes from the Old English "aelf ric," meaning "elf ruler," and is a varient of the Germanic forename Aubrey of the same meaning. The original bearer of this surname would have been the "son of Avery" and would have passed this surname on to his own children, thus making the surname hereditary.
Early records of this surname date back to the thirteenth century, when one Hugo Filius Averey is found in the Hundred Rolls of Nottinghamshire in 1273 A.D., and one Ralph Averey is found in the Rolls for Oxfordshire, together with one Nicholas Auverey in the Worcester Rolls and one William Auure in the Warwick Rolls. In 1279 A.D., one Cust Alvere and one Edmund Avered are mentioned in the Rolls for Cambridge and one Walter Avery in the Rolls for Oxford. This surname first appeared in 1630 when Christopher Avery (a weaver, born in England circa 1590) settled in Massachusetts, bringing his only son, James. His descendants were prominent members of the army and Guardians of the Pequot Indians. In April 1635, one Thomas Avery, aged 18, sailed to the New World. In June 1635, Joseph Averie, aged 20, sailed for Virginia.
Frances Latham now generally called "The
Mother of Governors," because no less than fourteen of her
direct descendants, and many sons-in-law in succeeding generations,
became Governors or Lieut. Governors. Baptized 15 February 1609/10,
she was the eldest of nine children of Lewis Latham whose
portrait is in the collection of the late George W. Elkins, a
descendant of Lewis Latham.
He who was of Elston, co. Bedford, England, was born about, 1584
and buried 15 May 1655, aged about 71 years. He was a member of
the King's household, and Falconer to Prince Henry in 1612, and
later was Sergeant Falconer to King Charles I.
ARMS-Or, on a chief indented azure, three bezants
CREST-An eagle standing on an empty cradle with wings displayed,
reguardant or.
(NEHGR, Roll of Arms, Vol. LXXXII, p.
156; A.R. Justice, ANCESTRY OF JEREMY CLARKE..., p. 72)
We can imagine Frances as a young girl on the moors in companionship
with her father as he attended the Royal Princes, Henry and Charlie,
in their hunting with falcons, ever a favorite royal sport, the
birds being highly trained to search out and pounce upon rabbit,
grouse and other small game and bring them to their master.
Frances Latham was married in 1627 at age 17 to William Dungan,
Gentleman, who was born about 1606, a London Merchant and Perfumer.
His wares were in great demand and quite necessary to offset the
obnoxious odors arising from the gutters in a thickly settled
district subject to heavy fog and having surface drainage.
They made their home at St. Martins-in-the-Fields where later
he died and was buried 20 September 1636, leaving her a widow
at age 26 with four little children between the ages of 2 and
8 years. By his Will dated 13 September 1636 he gave all his property
to his wife Frances, after bequeathing £70 to each of his
four children whom he mentions by name.
About a year after William Dungan's death she was married to her
second husband Jeremy Clarke, who was baptized 1 December, 1605.
Jeremy and Frances came to Rhode Island about the year 1637 bringing
the four young children by her first marriage. They settled at
Newport where Mr. Clark became the first Constable, and in 1648
Governor and Treasurer of the Rhode Island Colony. His family
were members of the Society of Friends at Newport, the first Quaker
settlement in America. Here at age 46 Jeremy Clark died, and here
according to records of Friends Meeting lie was buried 11 mo.
3rd, 1651.
Frances was married about 1655 to her third husband Rev. William
Vaughan, Doctor of Civil Law, poet and distinguished scholar,
one of the original members of the First Baptist Church of Newport,
and one of the founders of the Second Baptist Church of which
he was the first minister. He died in August 1677, by him she
had no children, and outliving him only a few weeks, she died
in September 1677, in her 67th year, and is buried at Newport
in the Govemor's lot.
Frances Latham was the mother of seven sons and four daughters.
They all married, and all but William had children. Four, probably
born in London, were by her first husband:
a. Barbara Dungan born about 1628, married
Dep. Gov. James Barker.
b. Frances Dungan born about 1630, died 1697, married Hon. Randall
Holden.
c. William Dungan born about 1632, married Jane.
d. Rev. Thomas Dungan born about 1634, married Elizabeth Weaver.
Seven were by her second husband:
e. Gov. Walter Clarke born 1638, married
(1) Content Greenman, (2) Hannah Scott, (3) Freeborn Williams,
(4) Sarah Pryor.
f. Mary Clarke born 164 1, married (1) Gov. John Cranston, (2)
John Stanton.
g. Dep. Gov. Jeremiah Clarke born 1643, married Anne Audley.
h. Dep. Gov. Latham Clarke born 1645, married (1) Hannah Wilbur,
(2) Anne Collins.
i. Hon. Weston Clarke born 1648, Atty. Gen. and Treas. of R. I.,
married (1) Mary Easton, (2) Rebecca Thurston.
j. Rev. James Clarke born 1649, pastor 2nd Baptist Church at Newport,
married Hopestill Power.
k. Sarah Clarke born 1651, a few months before her father's death,
married (1) John Pinner, (2) Gov. Caleb Carr.
John S. Wurts, Magna Charta, Brookfield Pub. Co., Philadelphia, 1945, Part III, p. 451-453.
Wilfred Jordan, Colonial and Revolutionary
Families of Pennsylvania, Lewis Historical Publishing Co.,
New York, 1942, pp. 686; Coat of Arms facing p. 663.
This is the way I post my Lathams on the net:
Jane Avery LATHAM was born May 4, 1821 in Juxton Kemsey parish, Norton County, England. Her father was John LATHAM, her mother, Jane AVERY. Their children were: Mary Anne b 1819; John b 1820; Jane b 1821; Rowland 1823; Betsey b 1825; Mary b 1830; Thomas b 1832. Her mother, Jane AVERY, died on June 17, 1832. John LATHAM remarried and had a son Olen b 1835. Jane AVERY LATHAM married John De Bas COOK of Worcester, England. They had 8 children...only one lived, Baron Francis COOK born Mar 17, 1835 in Detroit, Michigan.
If anyone has any information related to these Lathams, please get in touch with dell4tune@aol.com