1687
Baptised — Witcham
18 September 1687
September 10th 1687 Witcham— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
Wenum Barber
1687 – 1728
✓ Validated against records · 2026-07-06
Wenum Barber was baptised at Witcham in 1687, and carried his father's name and his father's land. His was a life marked by loss — he married three times, Martha Dixis in 1708, Joan Smith in 1710, and lastly Mary, and buried two wives and more than one child young.
He left a will of his own, and it is a sharp little document. To Mary, the mother of most of his children, he gave the Damhead land — but only for nine years, and on the condition that if she so much as dug or ploughed it in that time she forfeited it early to their son. To his other son, Robert — an infant baptised the very day before the will was written — he left two and a half acres “in the pools abutting on the 100ft” — hard against the great drainage cut. He was buried at Witcham in 1728.
Composed from validated records · 2026-07-06
- Baptism
- September 10th 1687 Witcham
- Marriage
- 1.To Martha Dixis on September 19th 1708, Wentworth, Cambridgeshire 2. To Joan Smith on May 4th 1710, Wentworth, Cambridgeshire 3. To Mary in 1711
- Burial
- December 4th 1728 St, Martin's Church Witcham
- Parents
- Wenum Barber and Etheldred Collin
- Siblings
- Ethelred Barber baptised October 6th 1682, Witcham Joanna Barber baptised June 9th 1685, Witcham Wenum Barber baptised September 18th 1687 Witcham Mary Barber baptised December 1689, Witcham
- Children
- Catherine Barber baptised April 28th 1711 Wentworth, burial August 4th 1711 Wenham Barber baptised November 18th 1712 Witcham John Barber baptised February 5th 1714, Witcham John Barber born 1716 Matthew Barber baptised December 28th 1719, Witcham, died 1728 Anne Barber baptised December 9th 1722, Witchem Robert Barber baptised October 29th 1727, Wltcham
- 1708
- Marries Martha Dixis on the 19th September in Wentworth
- 1709
- Death of wife Martha
- 1710
- Marries Joan Smith on the 4th May in Wentworth
- 1711
- Death of daughter Catherine on the 4th August aged 3 months
- 1714
- Death of wife Joan
- 1714
- Marries Mary (no surname)
- 1728
- Death of son Matthew aged 8 years Death of Wenum on the 4th September aged 41 years
- 1730
- Mary, wife of Wenham, marries John Scam in 1730
- 1733
- Mary dies.
In your grandmother’s words · from her notebook
Family
Parents
The children of Wenum & Etheldreda Collin
· · Wenum Barber b. 1687this page ·
Marriages
Children
Life
Confirmed — anchored to a recordEstimated — inferred
1708
Married Martha Dixis
19 September 1708
To Martha Dixis on September 19th 1708, Wentworth, Cambridgeshire— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1709
In 1709
1709
Death of wife Martha— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1710
Married Joan Smith
4 May 1710
To Joan Smith on May 4th 1710, Wentworth, Cambridgeshire— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1711
In 1711
1711
Death of daughter Catherine on the 4th August aged 3 months— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1711
Married Mary
1711
To Mary in 1711— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1714
In 1714
1714
Death of wife Joan— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1728
In 1728
1728
Death of son Matthew aged 8 years Death of Wenum on the 4th September aged 41 years— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1728
Buried
4 December 1728
Wenham passed Damhead to his wife Mary — the mother of six of his seven children — for nine years, forfeit early if she dug or ploughed it; and left 2½ acres 'in the pools abutting on the 100ft' to his son Robert, then an infant baptised the day before the will was written. (Andrew Martin, Barber family research.)
— Will of Wenum Barber, 1728
Secondary research record Evidence
From another researcher’s work — not yet verified against the originals:
- Will of Wenum Barber, 1728 — The will of Wenum (Wenham) Barber of Witcham, 1728 — read in Andrew Martin's Barber family research. It settles the Damhead land on his widow Mary for nine years (forfeit if she dug or ploughed it), then on their son, and leaves 2½ acres 'in the pools abutting on the 100ft' to his infant son Robert. Not yet checked against the original — a round-two task. another researcher’s work
1730
In 1730
1730
Mary, wife of Wenham, marries John Scam in 1730— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1733
In 1733
1733
Mary dies.— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
Our research
The 1728 will, at the original
Research · Ely Consistory Court
His baptism is confirmed at the parish index; the will's terms are Andrew Martin's reading. To do (round two): the Ely Consistory Court probate of 1728 at Cambridge University Library, to set the transcription against the record and read the bequests in full.