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A One-Name Study for the BARNUM/BARNHAM Surname

Notes for William BARNHAM

William was a hosier by trade. He was Constable in 1630, Collector Saint Peter Hungate in 1633 and Chruchwarden in 1634, Councillor in 1645/46, Sheriff in 1648, JP, Alderman in 1649, Berstreet* in 1651/62, dismissed (reelected 1664 but refused to serve), Clavor in 1651, Mayor in 1652 (a year before Cromwell), Elected Commissioner of Militia for Norfolk in 1659, elected alderman West Wymer in 1668 but again refused. MP for Norwich in 1658/9 (Interegnum) and 1660 (Convention). His protrait hangs in Norwich City Hall. In 1646 he purchased a mesuage in Saint Mary the Less.

*Ber Street, an ancient Roman Road, has been a major route out of the City since the 12th century, but even as late as the time of Thomas Cleer’s map of 1696, development in the area was limited to the street itself. It was used as a cattle drove and was the location of many butchers and slaughterhouses; it was known locally as 'Blood and Guts Street'.
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.

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A Research Guide to the Genealogy of the Barnum/Barnam/Barnham Family Worldwide

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