A One-Name Study for the BARNUM/BARNHAM Surname
This William Barnham, who was mayor of Norwich, has sometimes been confused with either William Barnham (b. 1613) of Hollingbourne, Kent, or with his own great nephew William Barnham, esquire (1651-1718), neither of whom held that office.
Some sources show him as christened on 19 May 1613 in Saint Martin in the Field, Westminster, London, England. That statement is questionable, given the year of his birth, and almost certainly applies to William Barnham (b. 1613).
William was buried 22 Mar 1674/75 in St. John Maddermarket, Norwich, Norfolk, England. He married (1) unknown, (2) Elizabeth Windham, of Stokesby with Herringsby, Norfolk, England; buried 30 Dec 1690 in St. John Maddermarket, Norwich, Norfolk, England and (3) Mary Grigson, of Hardingham, Norfolk, England; buried 23 May 1659 in Saint John Maddermarket, Norwich, Norfolk, England.
Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690, ed. B.D. Henning, 1983: Barnham, William (d.1675), of Norwich, Norf.
Family and Education. m. Mary (d.1659), da. of William Grigson, rector of Hardingham, wid. of Francis Booty, s.p.
Offices Held. Freeman, Norwich 1619, common councilman 1646, sheriff 1648-9, alderman 1649-50, 1651-62, mayor 1652-3; commr. for assessment, Norwich 1649, 1652, Jan. 1660-3, militia, Norwich 1659, Norf. Mar. 1660, oyer and terminer, Norwich Oct. 1660.
Biography. Barnham was probably born in Thetford and became a hosier in Norwich. A parliamentary sympathizer in the Civil War, he held municipal office from 1646 and throughout the Interregnum, and was returned to Richard Cromwell’s Parliament for the city. He signed the address to George Monck for a free Parliament, and was re-elected in 1660. He was listed by Lord Wharton as a friend, but his only known activity in the Convention was on the committee to encourage shipping and woollen manufactures. He was heavily defeated at the general election, and displaced as alderman by the commissioners for corporations, although he had subscribed £8 to the voluntary gift to the King. Several times re-elected, he never resumed office because, as a hard-shell Presbyterian, he would not renounce the Covenant. He was buried at St. John Maddermarket on 22 Mar. 1675. After extensive charitable bequests to Thetford, he left property in Horsham St. Faith and Beeston to two kinsmen, Thomas and John Barnham. The latter was court candidate for Norwich in 1688, but no other member of this family entered Parliament.
Ref Volumes: 1660-1690
Note: Some sources call him Lord Mayor but that dignity was not granted to the city of Norwich until 1910; he was merely the mayor of Norwich.
William died within the Parish of Saint John Maddermarket, Norfolk. The church of Saint John Maddermarket may be one of the churches mentioned in the Domesday Book, where it was called Holy Trinity. ‘Maddermarket’ is usually understood to refer to the sale of madder roots for making red dye, although there is no evidence to show that there ever was such a market. The church has a rather truncated appearance, as there is no chancel, and its aisles cause it to be almost square in plan. The story that the chancel was taken down to allow Elizabeth I to visit the Duke’s Palace is almost certainly untrue. Like many other churches, it was rebuilt in the 15th century without a chancel, and the elegant clerestorey, by being unusually tall, gives the truncated effect. It is faced with freestone, although the rest of the church is of flint.
A Research Guide to the Genealogy of the Barnum/Barnam/Barnham Family Worldwide
AncientFaces - Family History Photos
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