My Family Tree

Nancy Pilling's first husband John Cottom died on 1847-10-01. She married a second time on 1857-11-30 to William Lea with whom she had at least one child. He became a stepfather to James who had been born in July 1856, his birth certificate not naming the father. Judging from the indications particularly in the 1861 Census, the following observations present themselves:
1. James, aged 4 in the 1861 Census, was called Cottom (and not Lea), the next oldest child in the row, John, was 9 years older, and he was given as stepson to William Lea. All Nancy's previous children by John Cottom were also idenitifed as William Lea's stepchildren.
2. William Lea and Nancy had a child Joseph given surname Lea.
3. Mary's Cottom's occupation was given as 'Domestic Servant'. She was 20 in 1861, and therefore, around 16 at the birth of James.
4. From his birth certificate, Nancy Cottom is given as the mother of James Cottom, but no father is named.

Jennifer Page relates that her family talked about the fortunes of James Cottom. He was supposedly fathered illegitimately by someone in the 'big hoos' who thereafter provided financial support for James' doctor's bills.

A possible conclusion may be that Mary Cottom was the mother of James Cottom, having given birth to him at the age of 16. However the birth certificate issued by the the General Register Office gives James' mother as Nancy Cotham, formerly Pilling. Nancy was a widow at the time and would perhaps have taken employment in a cotton mill or as general servant in the 'big hoos' to keep her large family going. The father is unknown but may have been someone from the 'big hoos' from her employment, thus confirming the above-mentioned recollections of the Page family.

As candidate for the 'big hoos' comes New Hall, Garswood. It was the home of Sir John Gerard bart., in the 1851 census and lay about 3km from the home of the family Lea. Sir John died in 1854, so he does not come into question as the father of James Cottom. According to Wikipedia Robert Tolver Gerard succeeded him.

A famous picture of Robert Tolver Gerard in the National Portrait Gallery, according to all Jennifer Page's children unanimously, shown to them all without prejudice, has a striking resemblance to her father Leonard Page, the grandson of James Cottom.