1660
Born
1660
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
Wenum Barber
1660 – 1727
✓ Validated against records · 2026-07-06
Wenum Barber was born at Witcham about 1660, a son of Thomas the carpenter. His unusual Christian name — Wenum, or Wenham — runs down the family for six generations, and in a village thick with Barbers it is the thread that marks this branch out from the rest. In 1681 he married Etheldreda Collin at Witcham.
On his father's death in 1706 he inherited the five acres of The Dams Heads, north-west of the village, holding it under the condition laid on it for his half-sister Winifred. He kept the family's fen ground through the turn of the century, and passed both the name and the land to a son of his own.
Composed from validated records · 2026-07-06
- Birth
- 1660
- Marriage
- October 4th 1681 to Etheldreda Collin in Witcham, Cambridgeshire
- Burial
- October 27th 1727
- Parents
- Thomas Barber and Joanne of Witcham
- Siblings
- Robert Barber born 1658, Witchen died 1671 Wenham Barber born 1660, Witcham Rebecca Barber born 1664 Witcham died 1671 Elizabeth Barber born 1666 Witcham died 1668 John Barber born 1668, Witcham William born 1670, Witcham died 1672 William born 1672 Witcham Winifred born 1675 Witcham Thomas Barber born Witcham
- Children
- Ethelreda Barber baptised October 6th 1682, Witcham Joanna Barber baptised June 1685, Witcham Wenum Barber baptised September 18th 1687 Witcham Mary Barber baptised December 1689, Witcham Robert Barber.
In your grandmother’s words · from her notebook
Family
Parents
The children of Thomas & Joanne
· · Wenum Barber b. 1660this page · · · · · · ·
Marriages
Children
Life
Confirmed — anchored to a recordEstimated — inferred
1681
Married Etheldreda Collin
4 October 1681 at Witcham
Wenham Barber — marriage 4 October 1681, Witcham, Cambridgeshire — spouse Etheldrey Collin.— Marriage, 1681 — Witcham
Etheldred Barber, baptised Witcham 6 October 1682, and Joanna Barber, 9 June 1685 — parents Wenham Barber and Etheldred.— The Witcham baptisms of his children
Confirmed in index record Evidence
Found in an index or transcript — the original page not yet read:
- Marriage, 1681 — Witcham — Marriage of Wenham Barber and Etheldrey Collin at Witcham, 4 October 1681 — confirmed at the FamilySearch index (England Marriages, 1538–1973), 7 July 2026. Mum's date to the day. index entry — original not yet seen
- The Witcham baptisms of his children — The children of Wenham (Wenum) Barber and Etheldred Collin — Etheldred (1682), Joanna (1685), Wenum (1687) and Mary (1689) — baptised at Witcham, confirmed at the FamilySearch parish index (Mary's baptism added at the July 2026 re-run). They fix this couple in the Witcham registers and link the two Wenum generations. index entry — original not yet seen
1727
Buried
27 October 1727
October 27th 1727— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
Our research
Etheldreda Collin
Research · Witcham
The children's baptisms are confirmed at the parish index; the descent of the Dams Heads land comes through Andrew Martin's reading of the family's wills. To do: read the 1681 Witcham marriage at the image, and trace Etheldreda Collin's family — the Collins of Witcham.