1784 - 1875 (90 years)
-
Name |
Meaburn Tatham [1, 2, 3, 4] |
Birth |
14 Dec 1784 |
Barton, Whittingham
[4, 5, 6] |
Baptism |
20 Dec 1784 |
St Bartholomew, Whittingham
[3] |
Occupation |
abt 1798 - 1802 |
Midshipman, RN [7] |
- Left the Navy after the Treaty of Amiens of 25 Mar 1802 temporarily ended hostilities with France.
|
Occupation |
08 Feb 1803 - |
Durham
; Articled Clerk [7, 8] |
- In the Court of the Kings Bench. John Bungey of the City of Durham Gentleman maketh oath and saith that he was present and did see a certain Article or Indenture of Clerkship bearing date the eighth Day of February in the Year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and three and made between Richard Kirton of the City of Durham Gentleman one of the Attornies of his Majestys Court of Kings Bench at Westminster and one of the Solicitors of his Majestys High Court of Chancery And one of the Attornies of his said Majestys two several Courts of Record held respectively before the Mayor and and Sheriff of the Town and County of the Town of Newcastle upon Tyne of the one part and Ralph Tatham of Sherburn House in the County of Durham Clerk and Meaburn Tatham son of the said Ralph Tatham of the other part Whereby the said Meaburn Tatham was bound to the said said Richard Kirton to to serve him as his Clerk from the Day of the Date of the said article or Indenture unto the full end and term of five Years duly signed sealed and delivered by the said Richard Kirton Ralph Tatham and Meaburn Tatham respectively on the same Day the same article or Indenture bearing Date And that the names and characters of Richard Kirton Ralph Tatham and Meaburn Tatham severally set and subscribed to the said Article or Indenture as parties thereto and the names and characters of Jno Bungey and John Proud severally set and subscribed to the said Article or Indenture as Witnesses to the execution thereof and of the respective Hand Writing of the said Richard Kirton Ralph Tatham Meaburn Tatham John Proud and him this Deponent. Sworn at the City of Durham aforesaid this eighth Day of September 1810: Jno Bungey. Before me: John Griffith a Commissioner. No. 16164. Tatham & Kirton. Filed the 6th day of Oct: 1810 under the ... Act of 50th Geo: 3rd.
- Articled to Dennett & Greaves in London, according to his son Charles Meaburn Tatham.
|
Degree/Qualif. |
1812 |
Solicitor and Attorney [9] |
- Certificate admitting Meaburn Tatham as an attorney in the Court of the King's Bench. 30 May 1812. [Durham Diocesan Records Add.MS. 1632/8]
- Certificate admitting Meaburn Tatham as a solicitor in the Court of Chancery. 18 June 1812. [Durham Diocesan Records Add.MS. 1632/9]
- Certificate admitting Meaburn Tatham as an attorney and solicitor in the Court of Bankruptcy. 21 October 1843. [Durham Diocesan Records, Add.MS. 1632/10]
|
Residence |
Dec 1812 |
St Pancras
[10] |
Marriage |
14 Dec 1812 |
St Pancras Old Church
|
Sarah Litkevich, b. abt Sep 1791, London? , d. 19 Jun 1819, Fulham |
Residence |
1818 |
3 Bayne's Row, Cold Bath Fields, Clerkenwell
[11] |
- perhaps s/be Cold Bath Square. Cold Bath Fields was the prison
|
Residence |
Jun 1819 |
Baines Row, Coldbath Square, Clerkenwell
[12] |
Occupation |
abt 1820 - 1823 |
10 Kings Arms Yard, Coleman St, London
; Attorney, Dennett Greaves Baxendale & Tatham [13] |
Occupation |
1824 |
24 Lincoln's Inn Fields, Holborn
; Solicitor [14] |
Marriage |
29 Apr 1824 |
St Katharine-by-the-Tower, London
|
Elizabeth Parker, b. 30 Oct 1799, Durham , d. 14 Jan 1872, Merton Lodge, Highgate |
Residence |
Aug 1824 |
69 Torrington Square, Bloomsbury
[15] |
Residence |
Jan 1832 |
45 Torrington Square, Bloomsbury
[16] |
Residence |
Dec 1835 |
South Grove, Highgate
[17] |
Residence |
1837 |
South Grove, Highgate
[18] |
Residence |
1838 - 1875 |
Merton Lodge, Highgate
[7, 19] |
Occupation |
Jun 1841 |
Solicitor [5] |
Residence |
Jun 1841 |
Mill Field Lane, Highgate
[5] |
Occupation |
Mar 1851 |
Solicitor [20] |
Residence |
Mar 1851 |
2 Highgate Hill on the left, Highgate
[20] |
Occupation |
Apr 1861 |
Solicitor [21] |
Residence |
Apr 1861 |
Merton Lodge, Highgate
[21] |
Occupation |
Apr 1864 - |
Director, City of London Real Property Company [22] |
- The City of London Real Property Company was launched on 11 Apr 1864, by a prospectus offering for sale 20,000 shares of £25. Its purpose was stated as acquiring real property in London for building thereon, letting or selling.
Meaburn Tatham was one of the 8 original directors; his firm Fyson, Tathams, Curling & Walls were the company's solicitors.
The real promoters were the 2 brothers James & John Innes, and they sold 12 properties to the company for £329,000. They are not mentioned in the prospectus, although the 1964 company history says that James Innes was one of the original members of the board.
John Innes, the younger brother, remained in the background. He was a philanthopist and set up the agricultural institute that still bears his name.
It is not known whether Meaburn Tatham, aged 79 when the company was launched, ever took an active part in its affairs. After his death in 1875 his son Charles, a barrister, replaced him on the board. No evidence has been found of his activities with CLRP Co (apart from his signature to a debenture trust deed in 1891). He does not mention the company in his memoirs.
Possibly the Tatham family's main role was as shareholders. Meaburn Tatham's great grandson, another Meaburn, still had a substantial holding at the time of his death in 1976.
|
Occupation |
abt 1870 |
3 Frederick's Place, Old Jewry, London
; Solicitor, Tathams & Pym [4, 23] |
- name of firm:
- Fyson, Tathams, Curling & Walls in CLRP Co prospectus 11 Apr 1864;
- Tatham, Curling & Walls in property auction notice 19 Nov 1866; and in notice of £100 reward 04 Aug 1869.
|
Occupation |
Apr 1871 |
Solicitor [6] |
Residence |
Apr 1871 |
Merton Lane, Highgate
[6] |
Death |
02 Apr 1875 |
Merton Lodge, Highgate
[1, 2, 4, 24] |
- Tatham -- 2d, at Merton Lodge, Highgate, Meaburn Tatham, Esq., aged 90 [Standard, 05 Apr 1875]
|
 |
Meaburn Tatham (1784-1875) Memorial window, Great Ryburgh church |
Burial |
07 Apr 1875 |
St Andrew, Great Ryburgh
[25] |
- At Ryburgh Church I saw the grave of my great grandfather, great grandmother, and great great aunt (Aunt Mary). It was so strange, seeing 'Meaburn Tatham' on the grave-stone, it seemed very sad. [Silvia Tatham, diaries, 20 May 1911]
|
Probate |
22 Apr 1875 |
London
; < £180,000 [26] |
- The Will of Meaburn Tatham late of Merton Lodge Highgate in the County of Middlesex Esquire who died 2 April 1875 at Merton Lodge was proved at the Principal Registry by Charles Meaburn Tatham of 10 Old-square Lincoln's Inn and in the said County Barrister-at-Law and Ralph Edward Tatham of the Stock Exchange in the City of London Esquire the sons two of the Executors. Effects under £180,000. 22 April 1875. [NPC] [26]
|
Notes |
- Meaburn Tatham, described at the time of his marriage in 1824, as "of [24] Lincoln's Inn Fields, Solicitor," in an entry in the Family Bible [inscribed with the words "the gift of Mary Smith, Old Clock, Durham, 1792", belonging to the Rev. George Edmund Tatham], was born 14 Dec., 1784; and died 2 April, 1875. At an early period of life he was of 5, King's Arms Yard, London, and, in 1818, of 3, Bayne's Row, Cold Bath Fields, [Andrew Johnstone's "London Commercial Directory", 1818]; of Tatham & Pym, Solicitors, Old Jewry, and of St. George's, Bloomsbury, Gent.; also of South Grove, Highgate, Middlesex [Robson's "London Commercial Directory and Court Guide", 1837]. In 1853, when his eldest son, Chas.-Meaburn, married, he was of Merton Lodge, Highgate. His portrait, when in his 90th year, by George Richmond, R.A., was engraved. [Curtis]
- And now to my dear Father, Meaburn Tatham. He was, as I was told by his sister my late Aunt Mary, by no means a studious boy, but fond of sports and riding, and very courageous. Therefore his Father determined not to send him to Cambridge, but to the Navy. He was therefore entered a Midshipman on Lord Hood's ship when we were still at war, but when the war ceased at the Peace of Amiens it was thought better that he should not go to sea, but seek his fortune as a Lawyer. He therefore went to London, and became an Articled Clerk in the then well-known Firm of Dennett and Greaves. My Father always liked saying that he never ceased to be one of His Majesty's Navy, and that he was the oldest Midshipman therein. I may mention that I was authorised to become a Member of the Army and Navy Stores, which was confined to members of the Army and Navy, because my father had been a Midshipman. [Charles Tatham Recollections]
- A very rich man who gave a thousand pounds to a public charity, when applied to by a poor relation with a large family to pay the doctor's bill for attending his children through scarlet fever, sent the bill back through his very respectable solicitor, Mr Meaburn Tatham, saying "he could not hold himself responsible for other men's debts". [Fourth Report of the Tribunal[s] of Commerce Association. Published 1856. E. Wilson. p.26]
- Meaburn Tatham became responsible for the legal administration of the Lyne Stephens fortune, having acted as Charles Lyne Stephens's lawyer for several years prior to his death in 1849, and having drafted the will of his son Stephens Lyne Stephens, who died in 1860. The estate proved to be highly complex and the will became the subject of the chancery case Bulkeley vs Stephens. At the time and subsequently, Meaburn Tatham and his son and partner Meaburn Smith Tatham were criticised for their role in what developed into a long-running and expensive affair. [For details see: Meaburn Tatham and the Lyne Stephens fortune]
- Witnessed the will of his 2nd cousin Charles Heathcote Tatham (1777-1842)
- Hampstead Heath Extension -- The Committee for the Purchase of Parliament-hill and other Lands adjoining Hampstead-heath have received the following promises towards the sum of £52,500, which they have undertaken to raise by subscription for carrying out this great scheme:-- [...] Highgate [...] Mr. Allen Block - £250, Mrs. John Tatham - £100, Mr. T. C. Tatham - £50, Mr. C. M. Tatham - £50 [...] [The Times, 12 Nov 1887]. Contributions received since the 22d Nov.:-- [...] The Execrs. of the late Mr.Meaburn Tatham - £100. [The Times, 26 Nov 1887]
|
Person ID |
I0018 |
Tatham | Meaburn branch | Descendant - male line |
Last Modified |
08 Jun 2015 |
Father |
Ralph Tatham, b. abt Aug 1751, Sunderland , d. 06 Jan 1825, Bishopton (Age ~ 73 years) |
Mother |
Anne Smith, b. abt Aug 1758, Co Durham , d. 09 Oct 1847, Rectory, Colkirk (Age ~ 89 years) |
Marriage |
25 Sep 1776 |
St Michael, Houghton-le-Spring
[4, 27] |
Notes |
- Residence after 1784 not clear. Baptism registers of their children indicate that Ralph & Ann Tatham were living at or near Easington, Co. Durham 1787-1789, and at Sherburn in 1792. At some point after 1806 they moved to Bishopton following Ralph's appointment as Vicar. He died there in 1825.
- My Grandfather, the above named Ralph Tatham, was Vicar of Bishopton, Durham, and left surviving him his wife Anne (née Smith) and his six children, five sons: Ralph, [Thomas], William, Charles and Meaburn (my Father), and one daughter, my Aunt Mary. [Charles Tatham, Recollections]
|
Photos
|
 | St Michael, Ingram Ralph Tatham, Curate, abt 1778-1795.
Church largely rebuilt in 1870s |
 | Sherburn Hospital, Durham Ralph Tatham, Chaplain, abt 1792-1809
Drawing by Samuel Grim, early 19th cent |
 | St Michael & All Angels, Addingham Ralph Tatham, Vicar, 1795-1825 |
 | St Peter, Bishopton Ralph Tatham, Vicar, 1806-1825
Church almost completely rebuilt in 1846-7 |
Documents |
 | Family Bible - Meaburn Tathams Page 9: Copy from earlier family bible (Ralph Tatham), covering 1776-1798 |
Family ID |
F0014 |
Family Group Sheet | Family Chart |
Family 2 |
Elizabeth Parker, b. 30 Oct 1799, Durham , d. 14 Jan 1872, Merton Lodge, Highgate (Age 72 years) |
Marriage |
29 Apr 1824 |
St Katharine-by-the-Tower, London
[1, 4, 29, 30, 31] |
- Marriage settlement of Meaburn Tatham of Lincolns Inn, gentleman and Elizabeth Parker of St Catherine's Cloisters near the Tower of London. 27 April 1824. [Durham Diocesan Records, Add.MS. 1632/7]
- Minister: G F L Nicolay [her guardian]. Witnesses: Thomas Porrett Hayes [1772-1850, solicitor in Bloomsbury], Sarah Jane Mitchell [her sister], Hannah Maria Wells, [...] Parker [unidentified], William Mitchell [her brother-in-law]. [Sarah Jane Parker & William Mitchell were married 2 months earlier on 24 Feb 1824, at the same church, by the same minister and with 2 of the same witnesses]
|
 |
Meaburn Tatham & Elizabeth Parker Marriage register |
Notes |
- It is curious fact that one day, two or three years it may be before our going to Highgate, my Father and a friend of his, taking a long walk from Town, reached a field on the left of West Hill, Highgate, from which there was a beautiful view, comprising Caen Wood, a large pond, almost like a small lake in the next field between them and the open country as far, I believe, as Dutton Gap in Surrey. Stopping there for a few moments my father said: "This is the spot where I should like to build a house if I was ever to build one". It was the very spot where, two or three years later, he did build his house. It was, I think in the year 1834 that we left London and went into lodgings in Highgate, when the building began. [Charles Tatham, Recollections]
- (about the cottage on Highgate Hill where the family lived before Merton Lodge was completed). My Father returning home one evening from Town found my Mother in the little front garden shedding tears of despair because she could not get all the furniture - which had been brought from where it had been stored, I suppose - put inside the house. She was sitting in the midst of it, like Marius on the ruins of Carthage. It was all ultimately put in. [Charles Tatham, Recollections]
- Sunday, August 6th 1837. ... in the evening we took a walk up Milfield Lane & went to look at the new house which young Mr Tatham [sic; then aged 52] is building for himself; it is a very nice one & the situation lovely; ... . [Diary of Parthenia Pardoe, wife of Allen Williams Block. Their daughter Elizabeth (Betha) married Meaburn Tatham's son George at Highgate, 20 years later. ]
- Merton Lane was cut when Mr Meaburn Tatham built Merton Lodge, now in the possession of Mr John Glover, J.P. It was an ancient footpath leading across the fields in Hampstead; it was a field path in the time of Coleridge and was his favourite and constant walk. [John H Lloyd, History of Highgate, 1888]
- 1861 census: 3 live-in servants + 3 next door.
- In Apr 1881 Merton Lodge was the residence of John Glover, shipowner, age 51 b South Shields, his wife Louisa and 5 children.
|
Children |
| 1. Ralph Tatham, b. 05 Mar 1825, Torrington Square, Bloomsbury , d. 13 Jul 1826, Torrington Square, Bloomsbury (Age 1 years) |
| 2. Elizabeth Jane Tatham, b. 06 Jun 1826, Torrington Square, Bloomsbury , d. 05 Jan 1827, Torrington Square, Bloomsbury (Age 0 years) |
+ | 3. Charles Meaburn Tatham, b. 21 Sep 1828, 45 Torrington Square, Bloomsbury , d. 12 Jul 1924, Cary Castle, St Marychurch (Age 95 years) |
+ | 4. George Edmund Tatham, b. 12 Nov 1830, 45 Torrington Square, Bloomsbury , d. 25 Oct 1910, Good Shelter, Penn (Age 79 years) |
+ | 5. Meaburn Smith Tatham, b. 22 May 1832, 45 Torrington Square, Bloomsbury , d. 05 Oct 1870, Bournemouth (Age 38 years) |
| 6. William Tatham, b. 05 Aug 1834, 45 Torrington Square, Bloomsbury , d. 22 Dec 1876, Brooke House Asylum, Upper Clapton (Age 42 years) |
| 7. Mary Ann Tatham, b. 17 Sep 1835, West Hill, Highgate , d. 11 May 1915, 35 Brunswick Place, Hove (Age 79 years) |
| 8. Ralph Edward Tatham, b. 09 Mar 1843, Merton Lodge, Highgate , d. 16 Sep 1907, 20 York St, Marylebone (Age 64 years) |
|
Photos
|
 | Merton Lodge, Highgate Only known image of house in 20th century. Cropped from photo of former Holly Court School, closed 02 Aug 1990. Building then demolished and built over. |
 | Merton Lodge Coach House, Highgate. Photo abt 1900.
Part of Merton Lodge, formerly the home of Meaburn Tatham (1784-1875) & family.
|
 | Merton Lodge, Highgate In about 1888.
Home of Meaburn Tatham (1784-1875) and family from its construction in 1838; house & contents sold after his death. |
 | Meaburn Tathams: Family grave Churchyard of St Andrew's, Great Ryburgh |
 | Meaburn Tathams: Family grave Detail of headstone showing damaged lettering |
 | Meaburn Tatham Family Vault Plaque set in south wall of St Andrew's Church, Great Ryburgh |
 | Meaburn Tathams - Family Grave at Great Ryburgh
|
Documents
|
 | Family Bible - Meaburn Tathams Page 3: 1825-1831 |
 | Family Bible - Meaburn Tathams Page 4: 1832-1872 |
 | Family Bible - Meaburn Tathams Page 6: 1872-1917 |
Histories |
 | The Tatham family and Ryburgh parish, Norfolk
|
Last Modified |
23 Mar 2015 |
Family ID |
F0013 |
Family Group Sheet | Family Chart |
-
-
Sources |
- [S28] Family Bible, Meaburn Tathams.
- [S02] BMD Index, death reg Pancras, 2Q1875.
age 90
- [S06] Parish Registers, baptisms, St Bartholomew, Whittingham (IGI), 20 Dec 1784.
- [S04] H Curtis: Notes for a Pedigree of the Tathams of Co. Durham.
- [S01] Census, UK, 1841.
age abt 55
- [S01] Census, UK, 1871.
age 86
- [S42] Charles Meaburn Tatham - Recollections.
- [S07] Other Sources, Apprentice Registers 1710-1808.
- [S07] Other Sources, Durham Diocesan Records.
- [S06] Parish Registers, St Pancras Old Church.
- [S38] City & County Directories, London Commercial Directory (Andrew Johnstone), 1818.
cit. Curtis
- [S05] The Times, 21 Jun 1819.
death notice, 1st wife Sarah
- [S38] City & County Directories, Post Office Directories, 1820 - 1823.
cited at http://www.manfamily.org/
- [S28] Family Bible, Meaburn Tathams.
cited by Curtis
- [S07] Other Sources, Sun Fire Office, 18 Aug 1824.
MS 11936/501/1019722
- [S07] Other Sources, Sun Fire Office, 20 Jan 1832.
MS 11936/533/1133400
- [S07] Other Sources, Sun Fire Office, 16 Dec 1835.
MS 11936/550/1208864
- [S38] City & County Directories, London Commercial Directory and Court Guide (Robson), 1837.
cit. Curtis
- [S36] Marriage Certificate, 20 Jul 1853.
son Charles
- [S01] Census, UK, 1851.
- [S01] Census, UK, 1861.
- [S11] Newspaper, Morning Post, 11 Apr 1864.
Prospectus
- [S35] London Gazette, legal notices.
- [S11] Newspaper, Ipswich Journal, 10 Apr 1875.
death notice
- [S47] Burial Record, National Burial Index.
- [S14] National Probate Calendar.
- [S06] Parish Registers, marriages, St Michael, Houghton-le-Spring, 25 Sep 1776.
Joiner marriage index
- [S06] Parish Registers, marriages, St Pancras Old Church, 14 Dec 1812.
- [S06] Parish Registers, marriages, St Katharine-by-the-Tower, 29 Apr 1824.
- [S53] Marriage Licence, Faculty Office Marriage Licence Allegations, 27 Apr 1824.
- [S22] IGI / BVRI, batch M019072.
|
|