Zachariah Godfrey was born on 28th August 1823 in Bluntisham in
Huntingdonshire, the son of Thomas and Sarah Godfrey. He was
baptised at Bluntisham on 11th May 1828.
He had moved to Grantham by the time of the 1851 Census, when he
was living at Grantham Vicarage as a Footman to the Revd William
Potchett. Shortly after the census was taken, on 11th June 1851, he
married Catherine Sentance at South Stoke, Lincolnshire. Catherine
was the daughter of Nicholas Harvey Sentance.
Zachariah became Parish Clerk of Grantham on 2nd February
1854.
Zachariah's son, Athur John Godfrey, was born in 1856, but sadly
in 1858 his wife died and was buried in Grantham Cemetery on 25th
June 1858, aged 41 years. She is described as the Parish Clerk's
Wife.
In the 1861 Census Zachariah is living as a widower at 2 Church
Street, Grantham, with his son and his sister-in-law Mary Sentance
as his housekeeper. He also had a servant, Mary Perry. He is still
there 10 years later in the 1871 Census with his son, the same
housekeeper but a different servant, Eliza Podham.
On the 21st April 1880 he married Mary Jane Rothwell, a widow 24
years his junior, at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. She was the
daughter of John Lee. Zachariah then moved to 41 Swinegate,
Grantham, still in the vicinity of the church, where he is found at
the time of the 1881 Census with his son Arthur John, now a
silversmith, his wife Mary and stepson Richard Rothwell, aged 8
years, plus a servant, Ruth Gilbert. Zachariah is now not only the
Parish Clerk but also the Registrar of Births and Deaths.
On the 3rd August 1882 Zachariah's son Arthur John married Sarah
Annie Brewin, daughter of John Brewin, at Clevedon, Somerset. On
29th September 1884 Zachariah resigned as Parish Clerk but in the
1891 Census he is still Registrar of Births and Deaths.
In the 1901 Census Zachariah is still living in Swinegate but
has retired. His wife Mary and stepson Richard Rothwell, now an
architect's assistant, are still living with him, together with two
nieces, Martha and Amy Lee.
Zachariah Godfrey died in August 1910 aged 87 years, and was
buried in Grantham Cemetery on 31st August 1910, in the same grave
as his first wife Catherine. His widow, Mary Jane Godfrey, survived
until 1916 and was also buried in Grantham Cemetery on 19th
September 1916, aged 70 years.
Much of this research was contributed by Bonita
Deegan.