Whatmore Family History

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Over the course of time, most family surnames change their form. A vowel or a consonant is added or lost but the basic form usually remains the same. When members of a family migrated to a new area, if their surname was an unfamiliar one in the new locality, it often acquired a new spelling. When the Watmoughs of Lancashire first arrived in Shropshire the local clergy recorded the name in their parish registers in the form in which they heard it, using their own spelling – thus we have Wotmor, Watmere, Watmer, Watmore. In each case the short ‘o’ vowel sound was retained.  

It was rare for members of  the Watmore family to deliberately alter the form of  their name themselves. Even when a branch of the Whatmore family of Belbroughton  became ‘Whitmores’ in the nineteenth century, this was probably due in the first instance to a confusion by a local clergyman.

The decision of Thomas Whatmore from Mortlake in Surrey to change his name to Henry Gamble, is thus of great interest.

 In writing this post I have using the data researched by Carla Sherman, Jeff Gamble and Kristin Tobin  - all descendants of Henry Gamble. I am most grateful for their permission to make use of their  data. The family photographs are the copyright of Carla Sherman and I am grateful for her generosity in allowing me to reproduce these in this post.

Thomas Whatmore was baptised on 14 April 1822 at Mortlake, Surrey. He was the son of Thomas Whatmore and his wife Ann Fisher and the grandson of a further Thomas Whatmore and his wife Ann. It seems likely that this Whatmore family originated elsewhere – possibly in Berkshire or Hampshire – but ultimately there is no reason to doubt that it is part of the large Watmough family of the north of England. Thomas’s parents, his grandparents and other members of the family have been described in my earlier post on the Whatmore family of Mortlake.

In 1841, Thomas Whatmore born 1822 was not at home but he is probably the Thomas aged 15 (ages of adults were rounded up and down in the 1841 census) working as an agricultural labourer and lodging with John and Ann Wiseman at Mortlake.

Thomas Whatmore is missing in the 1851 census, and since we know that he joined the army he was probably abroad. By the 1860s he was in India, where he married Georgina Early Blackwell who was born on 31 December 1843 at Secunderabad, Andra Pradesh, India.  Secunderabad is now part of the twin city of Hyderabad. Thomas and Georgina’s first known child, Martha Ann was baptised as Gamble in 1860 so it seems probable that Thomas had changed his name prior to his marriage.

Georgina Gamble (nee Blackwell) in 1914  Copyright: Carla Sherman and reproduced here by her kind permission 

According to family tradition, Thomas Whatmore changed his name when he changed regiments in India. We do not know why Thomas decided to change his name but there is no reason to suppose that he had an ulterior motive. Family tradition states that he adopted the name of his favourite teacher. As a former agricultural labourer, however, Thomas is unlikely to have had much formal education as a child and I wonder if this teacher was an army instructor. I note that there was a Henry Cutcliffe Gamble (born about 1822) at Calcutta in 1854.

In 1862, Thomas and Georgina Gamble were at Nagpur when their second known child, Thomas Alfred Gamble, was baptised on 2 December. They were probably living at Kamptee, some 16 kilometres from the city centre, which is where their third child Edward James Gamble was born in 1864.

 Map of Nagpur by Wikigrinco  from the Wikimedia website and reproduced here in accordance with the terms of the site licence which can be read at this link:http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:GNU_Free_Documentation_License 

Although it sounds an Indian name – Kamptee was originally ‘Camp T’ (Temporary) and was founded by the British Army in 1821.  A large number of different regiments were based there at different times, making it difficult to identify the one(s) to which Henry Gamble belonged. A list of these regiments can be viewed at this link:      http://www.ans.com.au/~rampais/genelogy/india/kamptee/britregt.htm 

More information about Kamptee can be found at this link:

http://www.ans.com.au/~rampais/genelogy/india/kamptee/kamptee.htm

Sometime between 1864 and 1871, the Gamble family left India and settled at Oldham in Lancashire where their last known child, Charles William Gamble, was born in 1878. Why the family went to Oldham is not known. Perhaps it was where Georgina’s family had originated. Family tradition  says that Henry Gamble joined the Cavalry when he was back in England. By 1871, however, he was working as a labourer in an iron works and receiving a soldier’s pension. He was living with his family at 2 Parliament Street, Oldham, and for some reason gave his birthplace as Sussex!

 In 1879, tragedy struck the family when Martha Ann Gamble died aged about 19.

In 1881 the family were living at Chapel Croft Oldham. Henry is described as an unemployed pensioner. Georgina is described as a dressmaker. Thomas Alfred and Edward James were working as cotton operatives. Charles William is also at home aged 3.

The three Gamble brothers were very musical and could play a variety of instruments and one of them migrated to America with his band!

Henry Gamble died on 13 January 1883 at Oldham. His widow Georgina remarried in March Qtr 1884 in the Oldham Registration District to George Chatterton, a stoker, born about 1845 at Stockport. In 1891 George and Georgina were living at Oldham with Georgina’s son Edward James Gamble. George Chatterton died at Oldham in 1895. In 1901 Georgina is not to be found in the census so had probably gone to America in the company of her son Edward James Gamble.  Georgina died on 29 April 1929 in Bristol County, Massachusetts.

The Gamble Family in Massachusetts in 1914  Photograph copyright: Carla Sherman and reproduced here by her kind permission.  

Thomas Alfred Gamble, the eldest son of Henry and Georgina had married Jane Leonard in 1882 at Oldham, and sometime between  1883 and 1888 they decided to seek a new life in America, having been recruited by the cotton Mills in Massachusetts.

 Thomas Alfred Gamble and his wife Jane Leonard   Photograph copyright: Carla Sherman and reproduced here by her kind permission.  

Information about the cotton mills at New Bedford, Massachusetts can be found at this link:

http://www.textilehistory.org/NewBedford.html

Their first child, Annie Gamble was born on 8 December 1882 at Oldham, but their second child, Elizabeth Gamble was born on 7 July 1888 in Massachusetts, USA. Annie Gamble was to die young, before 1900, but Elizabeth married a Samuel Shaw in 1922.

In Massachusetts, Thomas Alfred and Jane had four further children –

Molly Anne Gamble, born 29 May 1890, who married Thomas F Curtiss, and died 8 September 1988 at Dartmouth, Bristol, Massachusetts.

John Collin Gamble, born 29 December 1891 at New Bedford, Bristol, Massachusetts, who married Lillian Agnes Mitchell on 6 September 1920 and died 15 September 1982 at Hershey, Dauphin, Pennsylvania.

Thomas Gamble, born and died in 1 March 1892.

Henry Joseph Gamble, born 30 September 1894 and died 8 April 1965 in Massachusetts.

Thomas Alfred  Gamble’s wife Jane died in 1899 at New Bedford, Bristol, Massachsetts and he remarried to a Mary O’Donnell. Thomas Alfred and Mary had two children:

Margaret Jane Gamble, born 13 March 1903 at Adams, Berkshire, Massachusetts and died 16 October 1994 at South Dartmouth, Bristol, Massachusetts.

Helen Frances Gamble, born 6 September 1905 at Adams, Berkshire, Massachusetts and died 13 February 1983 at New Bedford , Bristol, Massachusetts.

Thomas Alfred’s second wife Mary died in 1908 and he married for the third time to Sarah Elizabeth Donally. Thomas Alfred and Sarah had one child:

Francis Gregory Gamble, born 21 August 1910 at Adams, Berkshire, Massachusetts, who married Ethel Ann O’Brien and died 3 September 1976 in the Bronx, New York.

Thomas Alfred Gamble died on 26 March 1941 at Lowell, Middlesex, Massachusetts.

Edward James Gamble, the second son of Henry and Georgina married Alice Edgar in 1883 at Oldham. Their six known children were all born at Oldham. These were:

William Henry Gamble, born 19 February 1884 who married a Mary.

James Gamble born 3 January 1886, who married  Clara Coury, and died 1942.

Mary Emma Gamble born 11 August 1887 who married Felix Francis Marlow, and died 22 July 1969 at New Bedford, Bristol, Massachusetts.

Robert Gamble, born 27 October 1895, who married Lilly Entwistle,  and died 1985 at Buffalo, Erie, New York.

Thomas Gamble, born 6 September 1900 and died 15 May 1972 at Taunton, Bristol, Massachusetts.

Charles Collin Gamble, born 6 March 1903, who married Hazel Barton Hammond, and died 27 May 1977 at New Bedford, Bristol, Massachusetts.

In 1891, Edward James Gamble and his family were at 33 Boston Street, Oldham. He was working as a cotton spinner and his wife Alice is described as a Bobbin Tenter.

In 1901, Edward  James Gamble’s wife, Alice, and their children were living at Oldham with Alice’s mother Sarah J  Mellor. Edward James is not to be found in the census and it seems probable that he had taken his mother Georgina to America. Edward James Gamble was, however back in Oldham by 1902, as his son Charles Collin Gamble was born there on 6 March 1903.

Edward and his family are missing from the 1911 census so they must have gone to America to live between 1903 and 1911.

Edward James Gamble died about 1930 and his wife Alice died about 1935 at New Bedford, Bristol, Massachusetts.

Charles William Gamble

Charles William Gamble was the third son of Henry and Georgina Gamble. He seems to have resisted the lure of America and remained at Oldham where he worked in a foundry. In 1911 he was lodging at Oldham with a Martha Dyson. It seems likely that he married an Eliza A Jackson at Oldham in 1913, but she died in 1919 and they do not appear to have had any children. Charles William Gamble is believed to have died in England in 1922 but as I cannot trace the registration of his death, perhaps he did eventually go to join the rest of the family in America.

The Gamble family continues to thrive in America. I wonder if any of them has ever thought about changing their name back to Whatmore? Probably not – but is it good to think that they are all still aware of their origins at Mortlake as Whatmores.