Robert Barber

1727 – 1765

✓ Validated against records · 2026-07-07

Robert Barber was baptised at Witcham in October 1727, the youngest of the six children of Wenum Barber and his third wife, Mary. His father died the next year, and Robert grew up on the family's fen ground without him.

In 1751 he married Susannah Poole at Witcham — she of the village, he by then living out at Witchford, the next parish toward Ely; the register has them married by banns that August, and they settled back at Witcham and had six children of their own. He did not live to see them grown: he was buried in September 1765, only about thirty-seven, leaving Susannah a widow with five children under the age of thirteen. She married again — a widower, Philip Martin of nearby Coveney — but survived the match by barely two years.

Composed from validated records · 2026-07-07

Baptism: October 29th 1727 Witcham Cambridgeshire
Marriage: August 4th 1751 to Susannah Poole in Witcham
Burial: September 13th 1765 aged 37 years
Parents: Wenham Barber and Mary
Siblings: Catherine Barber baptised April 28th 1711, burial August 4th 1711 Wenham Barber baptised November 18th 1712 Witcham John Barber baptised February 5th 1714, Witcham John Barber born 1716, Witcham Matthew Barber baptised December 28th 1719, Witcham Anne Barber baptised December 9th 1722, Wltchem Robert Barber baptised October 29th 1727, Witcham
Children: Mary Barber baptised November 27th 1752, Witcham, Cambridge Susan Barber baptised February 26th 1754,Witcham, Cambridge Ann Barber baptised December 21st 1755,Witcham, Cambridge Robert Barber baptised July 11th 1757, Wltcham, Cambridge Wenham barber baptised October 3rd 1760, Witcham, Cambridge Wenham Barber baptised March 14th 1762, Witcham, Cambridge
1751: Marries Susannah Poole in Witchen
1765: Burial of Robert on the 13th September aged 37 years
1770: Wife Susannah marries again to widower Philip Martin of Coveney
1772: Death of Susannah aged about 45 years

In your grandmother’s words · from her notebook

Family

Parents

WBFatherWenum Barber1687–1728

The children of Wenum & Mary

· · · · · · Robert Barber b. 1727this page

Marriage

Children

RBChild · the line continuesRobert Barbermain line1757–1821

Life

Confirmed — anchored to a recordEstimated — inferred

1727

Baptised — Witcham

29 October 1727

Robert Barber of Wenham & Mary Octob. 29 — under the year-heading “1727.”, in the Witcham baptisms.— Baptism, 1727 — Witcham

Read at the image record Evidence

Confirmed against the original record, read at the image:

Baptism, 1727 — Witcham — Baptism of Robert Barber at Witcham, 29 October 1727 — read from the Witcham register 1663–1746 itself (Cambridgeshire Archives, digitised at Ancestry July 2025; register page 21, image 25 of 56), 7 July 2026. The entry names both parents. On the same page, a Wenham family of the village — Francis Wenham, son of Robin and Mary, baptised that July — the surname the Barbers' hereditary forename most likely honours. read at the image

1751

Married Susannah Poole

4 August 1751 at Witcham

Robert Barber, Single Man, of the Parish of Witchford, and Susanna Poole, Single Woman, of this Parish, were married by Banns, the 4th of August . . .— Marriage, 1751 — Witcham

Read at the image record Evidence

Confirmed against the original record, read at the image:

Marriage, 1751 — Witcham — Marriage of Robert Barber and Susanna Poole at Witcham, 4 August 1751 — read from the Witcham register 1730–1842 itself (Cambridgeshire Archives via Ancestry; register page 46, image 52 of 68), 7 July 2026; the page signed off by Joseph Layton, Vicar. Mum's date to the day — and the register adds what no index carried: Robert was living at Witchford when the banns were read. read at the image

1765

In 1765

1765

Burial of Robert on the 13th September aged 37 years— From Janet Brock’s research

Mum’s record Evidence

From Janet Brock’s research notebook.

1765

Buried

13 September 1765

Robert Barber, the 13 of September. — under the year-heading “1765.”, in the Witcham burials.— Burial, 1765 — Witcham

Read at the image record Evidence

Confirmed against the original record, read at the image:

Burial, 1765 — Witcham — Burial of Robert Barber at Witcham, 13 September 1765 — read from the Witcham register 1730–1842 (Cambridgeshire Archives via Ancestry; register page 38, image 44 of 68), 7 July 2026. A bare adult entry among the year's named sons and daughters — and no Barber stands under 1763, settling the year an old page-title slip once suggested. read at the image

1770

In 1770

1770

Wife Susannah marries again to widower Philip Martin of Coveney— From Janet Brock’s research

Mum’s record Evidence

From Janet Brock’s research notebook.

1772

In 1772

1772

Death of Susannah aged about 45 years— From Janet Brock’s research

Mum’s record Evidence

From Janet Brock’s research notebook.

Our research

Susannah Poole

Research · Witcham

Robert's three Witcham records are now read at the register itself (July 2026, from the Cambridgeshire Archives digitisation): his baptism of 29 October 1727, naming Wenum and Mary; the 1751 marriage, which adds that Robert was living at Witchford — the next parish toward Ely — when the banns were read; and his burial of 13 September 1765. The remaining shape of his short life — Susannah's remarriage to Philip Martin of Coveney — still comes to us through Andrew Martin's Barber research. To do: trace Susannah Poole's origins; read the six children's baptisms at the register.