X61 Y 88 W 528 H 33
Continuing Ben’s reasoning for family connections:
Between 1780 and 1799, which is two decades, we find family members in the tax records of South Weald and Brook Street: William Wood, Barnaby Wood, Martin Wood, Playle, and Mark Gotts. Playle is the maiden name of William’s wife. Barnaby married Martha Gotts. Mark was a witness at the wedding of Barnaby and Martha. Martin Wood was a witness at the wedding of William and Sarah Playle. William was a witness at the wedding of Martin and Matilda Bell. French and Newman are Landlords connected with the Wood clan is in various documents. Mark Gotts leased from Jason Newman in South Weald and Jesse Newman in Brook Street. The patterns in the records prove the parties are related. Although the parties could be cousins and not siblings, the involvement of Mark Gotts with the Wood clan for more than a decade enables us to conclude that the Mark Gotts who witnessed the wedding in Fryerning in 1776 is the same person in the tax records of South Weald. The longevity of the relationships in the tax records allow us to be quite certain that Mark Gotts of South Weald is the brother of Martha Gotts.
Ben's analysis fits with the parents of Mark, extending tree #079 back another generation, and consolidates Mark the Elder's family. However, we still need a documentary link between Mark or Martha and the rest of the family, ideally their baptisms. (IanG-STA)
We already know that Nicholas Gotts is the father of Martha Gotts. Nicholas Gotts was twice married; Mark fits neatly into the birth order:
Mark abt 1747
Martha abt 1751
Catherine 16 Jan 1754
Mary 8 Oct 1758
Jane 6 May 1760
Sarah 17 May 1761
Susannah 26 Jan 1765”
In the 1798 Land Return, a Mark Gotts was a tenant in Childerditch, just north Bulphan on the other side of the A127. (Who is this Mark, also iin Slough House?)
Also a Mark Gotts was in Slough House, Bulphan, which was owned by a Miss Russell, and also a house called Judds. (This could be Mark 3384 & Hannah Webber)
By 1873, there were several entries around Bulphan:
The executors of a Gotts had 12 acres
Jesse N (1636) Gotts had 64 acres
Sarah (2642) Gotts (most likely widow of Mark senior) had 364 acres
Mark (1643) Gotts at Horndon on the Hill had 143 acres.
These are significant holdings though the rental value of the land at Bulphan has been rated more per acre than the land in Horndon.