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Brentford Families - Gomm

Amanda Hunt, Chris Weatherill, Peggy Rough (nee Gomm), Karen Cross, Malcolm Gomm, Michael Barnett, David Hunt, Jade O'Brien and Peter Stuart share an interest in the Gomm (sometimes Gumm) family. The (unrelated) webmaster added one leg in April 2023.

One branch of the family ran a brewery in Catherine Wheel Yard, other branches ran pubs and beerhouses, another branch were watermen and basket makers.

There were many Gomms in Brentford and the trees below have been constructed using census returns from ancestry.co.uk, freebmd entries and research kindly contributed by Amanda, Chris, Peggy, Karen, Brenda Jackson (on behalf of Michael Barnett) and David. In several cases a brother, sister, nephew or niece is attached to a family and this has allowed some branches to be joined up. I would advise anybody descended from the Gomm family to confirm the links through purchase of birth and marriage certificates.

The Oxford line

William Gomm (ca 1781 - 1854?): born Oxford, a beerseller at no. 72 High Street in 1841 and 1851; married Mary (Ann?) who was born in Fulham; there is a death registration of a William Gomm in Brentford in 1854; in 1861 Mary Ann Gomm, widow, beerseller aged 68 is recorded at no. 72; children (living at no. 72 and born in Brentford unless stated otherwise) include

• Thomas Gomm (ca 1825 - 1879?): a grocer in 1861; cheesemonger in 1871; possible matching death registered in Brentford 1879, aged 56
• George Gomm (ca 1827 - ): a labourer in 1851
• John Gomm (ca 1830 - ): at home in 1841; a grocer in 1861; gentleman in 1871
• Charles Gomm (ca 1832 - ): a servant in 1851
• Mary Gomm (ca 1834 - ): at home in 1841

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The British Subjects

Unknown Gomm had children:

• Thomas Gomm (ca 1820 - ): grocer & cheesemonger at no. 340 in 1851; recorded as a British Subject;in 1861 he is recorded at the same property with a note 'no one sleeps on the premises'
• John Gomm (ca 1825 - ): grocer living with his brother in 1851; a British Subject'

The above brothers could belong to the Oxford line, as the Oxford line Thomas & John have not been found in 1851; but why the 'British Subject' birthplace?

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The watermen and pottle basket makers

There were many market gardens around Brentford which grew fruit for the London markets. Pottle baskets were small baskets or punnets for fruit. Reeds and osiers used to make the baskets grew along the banks of the Thames.

In June 2014 Peter Stuart provided the following two baptisms from the parish registers of St Mary, Ealing, which add an earlier generation to the existing tree; they also show that James Gumm or Gomm was a waterman. In 2018 Peter sent details of his research into two generations of descendants of James GOMM (1791-1833) including surnames CARTER, HARVEY, MOLES, PADBURY, PILGRIM, STEPNEY, WILBOURNE. Download Peter's GOMM research

Stephen GUMM married Elizabeth; children included

• James Gumm (born 22 Mar baptised 15 Apr 1791, St Mary's Ealing); see notes in next paragraph
• William Gumm (born 3 Nov Baptised 5 Dec 1794, St Mary's Ealing)

James Gumm or Gomm married Ann MARNDER at St Mary, Hanwell in 30 Aug 1812; James was a waterman when his daughters Maria and Sarah were baptised in 1818 and 1824; (next update by webmaster, June 2023): James Gomm was buried at St George's Chapel, Brentford, 3 Nov 1833, age 42, by Coroner's Warrant; his widow Ann was living in or near Poppet's Parlour in 1841 and was a pottle basket maker; she remained here in 1851 and 1861; living with her in 1841, possibly her four children, were:

• Stephen James Gomm (ca 1816 - 1878): labourer in 1841; married Catherine STOKES (ca 1818, Brentford) in 1843, Brentford (his name was registered as Gum); pottle basket maker living in Eatons Buildings in 1851 (recorded as Gumm); basket maker on Back Lane, Brentford, in 1861 (niece Eliza Stokes (ca 1841, Brentford) and (her?) daughter Eliza Stokes, aged 1, were living with the family in 1861); in 1881 his widow Catherine Gomm was living at 10 Eatons Buildings next to her son Stephen Gomm; children included:
  • James William Gomm (Stokes) (ca 1839 - 1893): a child of Catherine Stoke's before she married; he was aged 1 and living with his mother and grandparents in Anns Court, Brentford in 1841; he adopted the Gomm surname in 1851 and later censuses; married in 1862, Brentford, Sarah Ann JAMES (bn Dartford Kent ca 1840); basket maker living at Eaton Buildings, Brentford in 1861 with his wife to be Sarah JAMES, who was a widow, and her son James James aged 1; punnet maker in 1871; publican at The Drum. no. 319 by 1874, also recorded here in the 1881, 1891 census; children (all born Brentford and living at 319 unless noted otherwise) include:
    • James William Gomm (James) (ca 1859 - 1899): stone mason in 1881; child of Sarah Ann's first marriage to ( ) JAMES surname shown as Gomm in 1871 & 1891 censuses; married Louisa J; living at 2 Walnut Tree Road in 1891; children included:
      • James Stephen Gomm (ca 1881/2)
      • Louisa Jane Gomm (1888)
      • Robert Joseph Gomm (1890): 10 months old in the 1891 census
    • Stephen James Gomm (1862 - ): lath render in 1881; married Louisa GARDINER (ca 1861, Brentford) in 1882, Brentford; licensed victualler at The Drum in 1901; in 1901 his niece Louisa Gomm (12), nephew Frederick Gomm (9) and nephew James BATES (11), all born Brentford, were living with Stephen and his wife
    • Charles William Gomm (1864 - ): lath render in 1881
    • Sarah Ann Gomm (1866 - ): married George BATES a butcher, in Brentford in 1888; their son James was born the following year; in 1891 they lived in Paradise Place Brentford; James Bates was living with his uncle Stephen in 1901
    • Robert Gomm (ca 1868 - ): a barman in 1891 for his father at the Drum, 319 High Street
    • Jane Gomm (ca 1874 - ): a barmaid in 1891 for her father; she married local man James William FAULKNER (gas fitter) on 23 December 1893 at St Mary Ealing (James William Gomm was a witness at the marriage - Jane's eldest brother); in 1901 they were living at 23 Starnage Road, James was a wood block floor layer; Jane died in 1903 and James William Faulkner remarried Margaret Turner GORDON in 1904 - there were 4 children. Margaret lived to the age of 105 (David Hunt, grandson, added details of this branch of the family in March 2011)
    • John Gomm (ca 1876 - ): a barman in 1891
  • Stephen John Gomm (1844 - 1901+ ): married Amelia Hannah DOWLING in Brentford, 1867; punnet maker in 1871; in 1891 he was living at 9 Eatons Buildings; in 1891 & 1901 at 33 Walnut Tree Road; his wife Amelia died between 1891 and 1901; Peggy Rough notes they had 11 children, all born Brentford, including:
    • Annie Gomm (ca 1864 - ): Peggy Rough has details of descendants to the current day
    • Eliza Mary Ann Gomm (1865 - ): domestic servant living with her uncle James William in 1881
    • Stephen George Gomm (1867 - ): born Brentford, married Hannah NEIGHBOUR (1869, Brentford); labourer, living at 15 Eatons Buildings in 1891; at 2 Walnut Tree Road, Brentford in 1901; children (all born Brentford) include:
      • Robert Stephen Gomm (1895)
      • Stephen James Gomm (1899 - ): married Clara JORDAN (1900 - ); worked as an undertaker or at an undertakers sometime in his life; children include:
        • Ivy Gomm (1929 - ): married Horrace CHAMBERS; Horrace and Ivy are the grandparents of Amanda Hunt
      • John Gomm (1900 - 1972 ): married Nellie CLARK (1892 - 1954) at Southall in 1922; Nellie is thought to have had a sister Phyllis and may have had a daughter Grace; Nellie was the daughter of William F. Clark 1869 (born Bethnal Green Middlesex) and Sarah A Clark 1870 (born Great Milton, Oxfordshire: Sarah was married previously to "Griffiths",but I don't think there was any children); John Gomm used to work at the Gas works, and drove a petrol tanker; he died in Winchester, Hampshire; children included:
        • Nellie G M Gomm (1923)
        • Moya Evelyn Gomm (1924): born Brentford; married Arthur CROSS from Burnley Lancashire (1925-1995) at Ealing in 1950; Arthur was in the Navy; the family emigrated to Australia in 1963 on the 'Stratheden', as 10 pound poms; Karen Cross says 'My husband was the youngest of 8 was aged 3 when he arrived here';children included:
          • three boys born in Uxbridge Middlesex
          • twin girls in Malta at a Military hospital where Arthur was posted
          • son at Hillingdon hospital in Uxbridge
          • youngest 2 boys born Burnley Lancashire.
        • William Stephen C Gomm (1926 - 2004): born Brentford, died Torridge, Devon
        • Sheila Gomm (1938): born Southall; married Frank HARRIS and had 3 girls, Jennifer Ann, Jacqueline Eve and Anita Elaine; re-married Brian PLUMMER in 1970, one further daughter, Lisa Rose; the three older sisters have been adopted by Brian and have taken the Plummer surname; the family lives in Andover, Hants area (information provided by Brian Plummer August 2009)
    • Elizabeth Amelia Gomm (ca 1869 - 1953): was living with her brother Stephen in 1901; grandmother to Peggy ROUGH; two children:
      • Amelia Betsy Gomm (1899) [Jade O'Brien corrected this forename in February 2015]
      • Joseph Gomm (1901)
    • Frederick William Gomm (1872 - 1941)
      Details of his family added by webmaster, April 2023
      Frederick William Gomm married Jane Katherine ROWNTREE (ca 1868 - 1937) at St George Old Brentford 2 April 1899; he was a labourer of 33 Walnut Tree Road, she a spinster of 17 Walnut Tree Road; Jane was born in Loughgall, County Armagh, Northern Ireland; in 1911 their address was 58 North Road and Stephen was a labourer at the Gas Works; they had five children, all births except the first, Elsie, registered in Brentford:
      • Elsie Gomm (1900): born Loughgall, County Armagh
      • Jane Kathleen Gomm (1903)
      • Stephen Gomm (1907): married Alice Gertrude TURNER (nee JACOB) in Brentford 1931; grandparents of Paul Kirby; five children: Alan 1932, Stella 1934, Wendy 1936, Stephanie 1938 and Grace 1939
      • Frederick William Gomm (1909)
      • Robert Joseph Gomm (1916)
    • Robert Henry Gomm (1874): grandfather to Malcolm Gomm
    • Mary Gomm (ca 1876/7)
    • Catherine (Kate) Gomm (1880)
    • Joseph Dowling Gomm (1881)
    • John Gomm (ca 1885/6); a 15 year old William Gomm is recorded in the 1891 census living with his widowed father: is this the same person as John?
  • Elizabeth Gomm (ca 1849 - ): married John RUTTER on 25 December 1868 (information from Elizabeth Thormod, a descendant of the Rutter family)
  • Robert Gomm (ca 1852 - ): labourer in 1871
  • Ann Gomm (ca 1854 - ): recorded as Nancy in 1871
  • Jane Gomm (ca 1859 - ): married Charles TURNER; they were living with her widowed mother in 1881 at 10 Eatons Buildings
  • John Thomas Gomm (1862 - ): punnet maker in 1881
• Maria Gomm (born May 18 Baptised 12 Jul 1818): pottle basket maker in 1841
• Elizabeth Gomm (ca 1820 - )
• Sarah Gomm (baptised 13 Feb 1824)

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Clark family

Karen Cross added some information about the Clark family in 2011:

William and Sarah CLARK had 4 children:

• Nellie Clark born 13 April 1892 in Brentford; died Southall 1954
• William F. Clark 1893 in Notting Hill
• Gwendoline May Clark 1898 in Hammersmith - died in Caloundra, Sunshine Coast Queensland Australia c1984 (Nellies daughter Moya, her husband Arthur died on the Sunshine Coast too; Gwendoline's grandaughter Gwen Smith, has helped with a lot of information and photos)
• Phyllis Annie Alexandria Clark in Great Milton 1902; Phyllis had a daughter Grace Clements. Her son Mick lives on the Sunshine Coast also. He was the one that helped me with this tree. He got in contact with Gwen Smith and this is how I have found out everything.

It works out that Mick's grandmother (Phyllis), my husband Peter's grandmother (Nellie) and Gwen's grandmother Gwendoline) are all sisters, and all grandchildren were born in England and all live in Australia, and all in Queensland. Mick and Gwen live at the Sunshine Coast, but different areas,and also Peter's mother lives at the Sunshine Coast. We live about 160km away but Queensland is so vast that we travel to see Moya in a day. People here travel this way, it is a way of life here.

I have several more generations of the Clark's I can still add.

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The Beehive Brewery line

Brenda Jackson wrote on behalf of Michael Barnett, a descendant of this family in 2009: 'I found a report in the Brewers & Distillers of Brentford. Messrs Gomm who in 1877 built a new brewery in Catherine Wheel Yard founded a brewery called the Bee Hive in 1840. The Gomms owned 34 pubs all of which were taken over by Fullers in 1908 when the brewery was put up for sale.'

William Gomm (1818 - 1884?): born Brentford, beer shop keeper at the Beehive PH, no. 227 in 1851 & 1861; married Emma (ca 1820 - ) born Basingstoke Herts; possible marriage at Saint James Garlickhithe, London in 1842 to Emma BOX; Emma died in 1857 and William remarried Hannah DAVIS, who was born in Tingewick Bucks; she brought James, Anna & Elizabeth from her first marriage to live at no. 227; in 1861 William was a brewer employing 5 men; in 1871 he was living in Catherine Wheel Yard, where the Beehive Brewery was sited: 'brewer employing 12 men 1 boy'; in 1881 William lived at Caerleon House, Boston Road, Brentford with his wife and daughter Ellen; in 1881 he was a brewer employing 17 men; William's children by his first wife Emma include

• William Gomm (ca 1844): at home in 1861; married Elizabeth born 1848; in 1881 the family was living at 18 Catherine Wheel Yard and William was a brewer and maltster; their children were:-
  • William Gomm (1867)
  • Henry Gomm (1871)
  • Alice Gomm (1874)
  • Lily Gomm (1876-1917) (Michael Barnett's grandmother) married Henry Malcom BARNETT 1871; Lily and Henry Malcom Barnett had 3 children, Irene 1897, Frances 1898 and Vivian Harry (Michael's father)
  • Ernest Gomm (1878)
  • Violet Gomm (1881)
  • Daisy Gomm (1883)
  • Sidney Gomm (1885)
  • Ethel Gomm (1887)
• Emma Gomm (1846 - ): at home in 1861; married William LINDARS, a post master from Tetsworth Oxfordshire at St Lawrence, Brentford in 1871
• Ellen Gomm (1848 - ): at home in 1861 & 1871; unmarried and living with her parents in 1881

Access to Archives includes reference in a deed dated 1834 to a James Gomm of Chesham, brewer.

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The tallow chandlers, beerhouse keepers and grocers

William Gomm, tallow chandler had children including

• Stephen Gomm (ca 1819 - 1884): born Brentford, married at Hackney, 1840, Zipporah SMITH (ca 1816, Birmingham, Warwickshire, died 1877 Brentford); tallow chandler of Sheep Lane Hackney when he married in 1840; possibly a servant in 1841, Newgate Street, Christ Church, London; in 1851 a beerseller living at 14 Dorvilles Row, Hammersmith; grocer, living at 7 Phoenix Cottage, Brook Road, Brentford in 1861; in 1871 & 1881 a beer house keeper, Strawberry House, New Road, Brentford; children include
  • Mary Ann Gomm (ca 1841 - ): born Smithfield, London
  • William Gomm (ca 1843 - ): born London
  • Zipporah Gomm (ca 1846 - ): born London
  • Stephen Gomm (ca 1849 - 1872): born Hammersmith; grocers man in 1871; death registered in Brentford, 1872, aged 22
  • Jane Gomm (ca 1850 - ): born Hammersmith; at home in 1871
  • Elizabeth Gomm (ca 1853 - ): born Hammersmith; at home in 1881
  Joseph JACOBS, a cousin from Somerset, aged 62 and his wife Jane were living with Stephen in 1881
• George Gomm (ca 1827 - 1877): born Brentford, married Elizabeth Ann (born Brentford ca 1843, died 1874); there is a marriage at St James Westminster in 1851 of a GG to Elizabeth Ann WAIGHT which fits; in 1852 he was a car man of Old Brentford; he was a grocer on Back Lane in 1861; a grocer at no. 339 in 1871; death of a GG registered in Brentford in 1877, age 49, he left a will (estate valued under £600); children include
  • George Gomm (1852 - ): working as a grocer in 1871
  • Mary Ann Gomm (ca 1853 - )
  • William Gomm (ca 1854 - )
  • Elizabeth Ann Gomm (ca 1856 - ): executor of her father's will in 1877
  • Emma Gomm (1859 - )
  • Martha Amy Gomm (1861 - )
  • Thomas Gomm (ca 1864 - ); grocers lad, living with his uncle Stephen in 1881

The link between Stephen (1819) and George (1827) hangs on the Thomas Gomm, son of George & Elizabeth Ann Gomm, who appears to have moved in with his uncle when his parents died leaving him an orphan at 13.

In March 2011 I found the marriage of Stephen Gomm to Zipporah Smith and this provided his father's name: William. This makes me wonder if Stephen and George are part of the Oxford line after all.

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First published 2007; last updated June 2023