Rev Thomas GATAKER [25141]

  General Notes:

Family Jottings by Muriel Gataker Julius 1985.
The name is of Norman origin, first recorded in England in 1161. Extensive grants of land from Edward Confessor suggest the name, from "Got Acre".
Of the families descended from the Norman gentry, nine have the proud distinction of being descended in the male line from an ancestor who took his name from lands which they still hold.
Gatacre of Gatacre
Motto: "Hic Eram in dierum seculis" (Here I shall be for centuries of days) The following gives 'direct' line to this side of the family as taken from Burke's Landed Gentry:-

Stephen de Gatacre d.1286
Elder son - Thomas
Second son - William b.1272
Only son - Galfrey (or Geoffrey)
Only son - Thomas 1311 - 1367
Only son - Thomas 1335 - 1410
Second son - John d.1426
Eldest son - John M.P. for Bridgenorth 1471
Eldest son - John d.1499
Eldest son - Robert 1476-1509
Eldest son - William 1506 - 1577 - Grave in Claverly Church
Third Son - Thomas 1512 - 1593. Ancestor of Mildenhall line as follows and spells name Gataker. His sister Dorothy married Sir
Robert Brooke buried Claverley Church.
Rev Thomas Gataker. 1512 - 1593 of Mildenhall
Eldest son. The Rev Thomas - 1574 - 1654. Rector Rotherhide 40 years.
Second son. The Rev Charles - 1638 - 1680
Only son. Thomas - 1650 - 1701 see Plantagenet line.
Eldest surviving son. The Rev Edward - 1684 - 1729
Only son. Thomas - d.1768. Surgeon to George III.
Only son. Thomas - 1749 - 1844
Only son. George - 1792 - 1872 (Great Grandfather -, see notes)
Second son. Charles Frederick - 1843 - 1921 Grandfather 'Milden" Maryborough. Qld.

Mildenhall.
When I was in England in 1966 I visited the village of Mildenhall, a charming little village, but because of the passage of time, no one of past generations was alive to tell me anything of the Gataker family, except that they did not live at Milden Hall, but in a house situated, as far as I could ascertain, in the village square, I found from archives at Bury St. Edmunds where local records are kept.

Claverley.
Paddy and I paid a visit to Claverley in 1980 and spent quite some time at Claverly Church and saw the Gataker Chapels in the Church. The Church dates back to Norman days (or earlier) and Leafric, Earl of Mercia (Lady Godiva) is reputed to have rebuilt the Church before he died in 1057. Unfortunately the Rector was away on holidays but we gleaned some information from the post-mistress, photographs &c.
We wanted to go and visit Gatacre Hall, and from her were able to get directions where to go. There we went the next day, no accommodation available at Claverley, so we went on through Bridgenorth and stayed the night at a local farmhouse. Went back to see Gatacre Hall the next morning. Found the property, but gates locked, so of course we climbed over and wandered up a long driveway. The first buildings being used for farm machinery and storage, seemed to be in good order. However the Hall itself is no longer there. We searched and searched, through a tangle of nettles, vines &c. and were just about to give up, when we diverted in through a slight track and there found the crumbling remains. Now all desolate and notices to 'keep out dangerous area' but we went on and Paddy took quite a number of photos, some of which she has since painted, of the old family seat. When we were leaving we met two men who of course questioned us. Told them we were ' of the old family' . They told us that the property had been sold some years ago, and was now being farmed.

The Gatacre Memorials (Claverley)
Sir William Gatacre in armour 1577 with his-wife and eleven children, gazes down from an incised slab on the east wall of the Chapel. Facing it is a comparatively modern plaque commemorating the virtues and exploits of the famous General Sir William Forbes Gatacre who distinguished himself with the Indian Army and with Kitchener in the Sudan.
But Gatacre Hall, little more than a couple of miles away from these memorials of a past glory, is empty. The rats, the spiders, the bats, are the only denizens of the deserted mansion. Local historian Augustus Hare in 1898 dismisses the house as an unimportant Georgian building. But in his time the house flourished. Sir William was still adding further laurels to the family escutcheon.

(Copy of letter from Kathleen Christie Miller (Daughter of Walter Gataker, Albion, Brisbane) London 12.9.52
Dear Pop,
Now I have made my pilgrimage to Gatacre Hall, and believe me the word pilgrimage aptly describes my journey there. I left London at II a.m. arriving at Claverley at 5.30 p.m. My object in going to Claverley first was not so much to see the little village, but the Church which contains the Gatacre Chapel, and with which the family have been associated since the reign of Henry II, and perhaps previous to that. There are many burial places which are unidentified, but in the Chapel is the grave of Sir William Gatacre and his wife Helen (1577) and that of Francis and his wife Elizabeth. Also there is a marble tomb and effigies of Sir R. Brooke and his wife Dorothy Gatacre; a memorial to General Gatacre, and some rather beautiful windows to other members of the family. Also there is a marble plaque to Edward Gatacre, head of the family who was killed in 1914- 1918 war, leaving no heir. This is why Gatacre was inherited by Galfrey (the elder) who was the bad one of the family and which resulted in its ruin and now its abandonment, and the scattering around of the family treasures that had accumulated over a period of 800 years at the least. Although Gatacre is not far from Claverley, there is no rail or bus communication so I had to go into Wolverhampton, take a bus to Bridgenorth and stay there for the night. Early next morning I took a bus to Stornbridge and was let off at the drive to Gatacre Park, from whence I was to walk to the end of the half mile drive to come to a most beautiful house with a very imposing entrance. Up I went and enquired if a Gatacre lived there. I was told that a Gatacre had not lived there for over 100 years, and this was the Park House, not the Hall, no one went there now and it had been lost to the family on a bet on a cock-fight. I was told I must not go to the Hall it was derelict and haunted etc etc. As I had quite made up my mind to go it was agreed I leave my London address (in case I did not return), and that one of my erstwhile hostess's daughters would accompany me on horseback to the old carriage drive, past which she must not go. I was also provided with a pair of Wellington boots and wished luck 'as I would need it'. Having arrived at the old carriage drive, I parted with my guide and proceeded alone, only to be met by the keeper and told that no strangers were allowed. I informed him that I did not happen to be a stranger but a member of the family, so was allowed to continue up the drive, but he did not offer to accompany me. The pathways were obscured by brambles and nettles and overgrown trees and shrubs of every description, but finally I came to Gatacre Hall, a huge mansion almost covered in ivy. It looks like a heavily camouflaged fortress. I did not know that any house could look so desolate and lonely. In one part of the garden three abandoned cars and a motor cycle, and in a shed a carriage and another motor cycle. I wandered around as much as I dared, because all the time I had the uncanny feeling that I was not alone and that I was being watched, and it was not until I returned to Wolverhampton some hours later and went to see the Editor of 'The Star and Express' to ask permission to read an article which appeared in the paper in Oct. 50, that I read the words 'Who are the Watchers, who indeed, or what, are the Watchers?"
.
However I stayed quite a long time and took as many pictures as I could and also brought away some of the leaves from the trees and some bark from a beautiful cedar tree which must have been hundreds of years old. There are acres and acres of farm lands belonging to the Estate, but the local folk say that no one but a Gatacre will ever be allowed to live at the Hall, and it looks as if it would be impossible to restore it now.
I will send a copy of the article referred to, and also any snaps that come out. Would also like to send these to Uncle Jim. Would you mind passing on this letter to him.
Love, Dick (family name for Kathleen).

N.B. from M.G.J.
In 1980 when Paddy Braddock and I were in England, we went and visited this Gatacre Park. The gates of the drive-way were locked, but we climbed over. We walked up the long drive, and then got in amongst a jungle of weeds and NETTLES! all very overgrown. We searched for a long time to find traces of the Hall, and were just on the point of giving up when I found it. It then was totally derelict and very little of anything standing. Paddy took a lot of pictures of the ruins (she has since painted one of these and has it at her home in Canberra). There was an apple tree growing amongst all the undergrowth, with apples on, so picked and ate one. When leaving we met a couple of fellows near the driveway, and of course they were surprised to see two females emerge! Questioned us, and we told them we were some of the Australian family. They told us that the entire Estate had been sold, so now not in Gatacre hands, and they were employed by the present owner. After this we left, sorry to have only seen ruins, but at least satisfied that we had found the old family seat.

Thomas married.