Thomas Wittum

Meet Thomas Wittum. He is from the earliest generation we've discovered thus far in our Witham family line:

Thomas Wittum
Born:  About 1565 - Stansgate, England
Died:  About 1601 - Steeple Parish, Essex, England

MARRIED: Ann Gaywood
Born: Jun 6, 1568 - Steeple Parish, Essex, England
Father: John Gaywood

CHILDREN:
Henry Witham
Thomas Witham 1590
John Witham 1592
James Witham 1593
Daniel Witham 1594
Peter Witham 1595 in Steeple Parish, Essex, England
Mary Witham 1597
Dorcas Witham 1598
Ann Witham 1600

Thomas Wittum's brothers were William Wytham of Feering (5 miles northwest of Witham), Peter Witham of Stansgate, and John Witham (from the will of William Wytham, 13 Nov 1592, source: Essex Archdeaconery Court Wills 1591-1597, by Frank Emmison. Peter appears as a frequent witness on other wills as well). 

The original wills of Thomas, dated 1601, and William, dated 1592, are still on file in the Essex Record Office in Chelmsford, England. From Thomas' will it can be inferred that he died about 1601 in Steeple Parish, Essex Co., England. 

Thomas was a yoeman, indicating a life as a farmer of some substance and standing in the community.

Stansgate was a small abbey farm area adjacent to the small town of Steeple in southeast England, on the Blackwater River, very near the North Sea, north east of London. Much of the time the Stansgate abbey did not have an operating parish church, therefore residents of Stansgate were members of Steeple Parish.

The area was and remains a low-lying marshland area of farms and small villages, very close to the sea and isolated from major population centers and roads. It is referred to as the Dengie Hundred (hundred referring to a grouping of parishes, as sub-area of a county.)

In his will Thomas passed on a manor hold property rights to farms in Chich St. Osif, which lays across the Blackwater River from Stansgate, indicative of the fact that it was easier to get around on the water than by land. The town of Witham is nearby. It is likely that the surname Witham was taken at some time when the family moved from Witham to a nearby town.