Diddams

The Diddams family lived in Portsea for much of the 19th century. John Diddams(Didemus) may have come from Southampton where he was married in 1773 to Martha Privott. Daniel Diddams the son of John and Martha was a hawker in Portsea at the time of his marriage to Fanny Clark in 1821 until his death in 1852.

One of the main problems with this family is the large number of variations in spelling. In the baptism registers for the 8 known children of John and Martha (at Burlesdon in Hampshire) there are at least five different spellings of the surname.

We are in touch with several other Diddams researchers. If you are interested in either 1 or 2 below and are not already in touch with others working in these fields please contact Dick and I will put you in touch. I am not aware of any working on either 3 or 4 below.

1.	One of the largest families was centred at Bullington in the north of the county. We do not believe there is any direct connection with our Diddams family.
2.	A Family of Didymus descended from James Didymus of Titchfield - born in 1808. It is much more likely that this family is connected with our Diddams (even with different spelling). No trace has been found of James' baptism despite extensive research in the local registers.
3.	Other branches of the Diddams family are prevalent around the villages of Droxford and Soberton. No link has been found to either 1 or 2 above.
4.	Finally there are other Diddams families in the Otterbourne area - again no links have been found to any of the other branches.