Members of the Barwick family are working on the family tree and a number of people are interested in the Barwick family background since it is a long standing Itteringham family and intermarried into many other well known Itteringham names. Most people find it relatively straightforward to build a tree from parish register and census data (and this article is not going to spoil your fun in doing so). Most get back to Stephen and Phoebe Barwick around 1800-ish, but then get completely stuck. This article aims to summarise some of the family tree information readily to hand and also to relate what we have found out about the family prior to Stephen and Phoebe. It is by no means a complete record of all available data. Not all the relevant parish records have been searched (most are readily available in the Norfolk Record Office for those that want to do the job more thoroughly) and not all the census data was available to us at the time of writing this. However, we hope this will prove to be a valuable resource not only for those doing the whole Barwick family history but also for those whose interest touches on the Barwicks at some point.

Census returns

1841 census
A transcript of the 1841 census for Itteringham is also on this Itteringham website.

There are a number of Wickmere and Itteringham Barwick households, but none spotted in Barningham, Calthorpe or Wolterton. As always, remember the caveat that ages in the census returns can be quite a moveable feast with enumerators rounding given ages; and of course simple errors did happen. Relationships are to head of household; people are single unless it says otherwise; b. is for born in; do for ditto. The meaning of other abbreviations should be obvious.

Itteringham Holt Road

Itteringham Mill House

Itteringham Holt Road

Itteringham Common

1851 census

No Barwicks spotted in Saxthorpe, Little Barningham, Calthorpe, Mannington or Wolterton; but here are those found:
A transcript of the 1851 census for Itteringham is also on this Itteringham website.

Itteringham Common

Itteringham Common

Itteringham Common

Itteringham Bintry Farm

Jane Barwick age 14 b.Itt servant in James Brown’s household

Itteringham

Charlotte Barwick age 16 b.Itt servant in Edward Skinner’s household

Oulton Street

Wickmere Lower Common

1861 census

So far we have spotted Barwick households in Itteringham (but not Mannington), Wolterton and Wickmere.

A transcript of the 1891 census for Itteringham is also on this Itteringham website.

Itteringham The Common

Itteringham The Common

Itteringham The Common

Wolterton Keeper’s House

Wickmere The Common

1871 census

Barwick households spotted in Mannington and Calthorpe and several in Itteringham.

Mannington Hall

Calthorpe The Vicarage

Itteringham The Street

Itteringham The Common

Itteringham Near New Inn Oulton (The Pitman Arms, Oulton was at one time called New Inn)

1881 census

Only done for Itteringham and even here a few entries are missing from our research, so this is not a complete Barwick listing.

Itteringham Common

1891 census

The Barwicks occupied five different households in Itteringham.
A transcript of the 1891 census for Itteringham is also on this Itteringham website.

Itteringham The Street

Itteringham Common

Itteringham Common

Itteringham Common

Itteringham Common

1901 census

A transcript of the 1901 census for Itteringham is also on this Itteringham website and there one can find the four households headed by Thomas, Abel, Stephen and Elizabeth.

Itteringham Parish Registers

Baptisms 1721-1893

There were no Barwicks or Berwicks baptised in Itteringham from 1560 to 1721; indeed no marriages or burials either for that early period. The first entry is the 1793 baptism below (but see also the later section on Wickmere). This makes clear that the family or perhaps just one member of it had moved into Itteringham only shortly before 1793. In the early 19th century the two spellings of Barwick are interchangeable and we have ignored the differences; but have searched all sources for both versions.

Mary daughter of Stephen and Phoebe Barwick baptised 7/4/1793

Charlotte dtr of S&P bap 19/4/1795 (we have not spotted her burial, but assume she died very young)

Phoebe dtr of S&P bap 31/7/1796

Stephen son ditto bap 18/11/1798

Charlotte d ditto bap 2/5/1801

Elizabeth d ditto bap 6/3/1803

Daniel s ditto bap 21/4/1805, born 20/4

Thomas son of Stephen and Phoebe Barwick (late Brown, spinster) born 3/4/1807 and privately baptised 5/4 (ie, they did not/ could not get the baby to the church for baptism)

Hannah daughter of Stephen B of Itteringham, labourer, and Phoebe baptised 8/12/1814

William s ditto bap 9/12/1818

Jane daughter of Stephen B of Itt lab and Mary baptised 2/9/1821

George s ditto bap 22/12/1822

Phoebe d ditto bap 30/1/1825

Thomas s ditto bap 4/3/1827

Stephen son of Thomas B of Itt, lab, and Sarah bap 4/1/1829

William s ditto bap 9/5/1830

Mary d of Thomas of Itt lab and Sarah bap 20/5/1832 (this entry has surname as Bardoch but it comes very early in the period of a new curate and there are no other Thomas/Sarahs in the register around this time. The entries then revert to Barwick, so it might be safe to assume this is one of their’s and would match the age of Mary in the 1841 census)

Charlotte dtr of Thomas and Sarah B bap 22/2/1835

Elizabeth d ditto bap 22/5/1836

Hannah d ditto bap 24/12/1837

Thomas s ditto bap 26/5/1839

Charlotte daughter of Stephen B of Itteringham, labourer and Mary baptised 4/4/1841

Emma d ditto bap 20/8/1845

Harriet and Hannah twin daughters of Daniel B of Itt lab and Elizabeth both baptised 21/7/1844

Betsy daughter of William B of Itt lab and Lydia bap 12/8/1849

Elizabeth Jane daughter of Abel B of Itt lab and Mary Anne bap 16/8/1857

Sarah Ann d ditto bap 20/3/1859

Stephen and George twin sons of ditto both bap 20/7/1862 (are the twins still in the genes ??!!)

Marriages 1754-1936

Nothing until the banns being read for Stephen Barwick singleman of Itteringham and Phoebe Brown singlewoman of Wickmere on 3 Sundays in April 1792. See Wickmere notes below for the marriage. The banns entry is significant because it has SB living in Itteringham, even though there is no sign of any other family members there.

Next is Mary Barwick of Itt = Joshua Ayton of Itt on 25/11/1813 with Robert and Elizabeth Ayton as the witnesesses

Stephen Barwick singleman of Itt = Mary Goodwin spinster of Calthorpe 24/4/1821

Thomas Barwick of Itt = Sarah Kemp of Itt 30/10/1827

Anne Barwick of Itt = Thomas Cousins of Itt 2/7/37 witnesses were William Barwick and Edward Slipper

Daniel Barwick age 31 labourer of Itt son of Stephen B, lab= Elizabeth Field 19 of Itt dtr of James F, lab 3/6/1838

Stephen Barwick widower of Itt lab son of Stephen lab of Itt = Mary Lee spinster of Itt dtr of Robert Lee publican 20/2/1840 (one might think that Lee had the Walpole Arms, but we have to be careful since a number of villagers ran alehouses from their homes. In the 1841 census return he appears as an Ag Lab of Town Street Itteringham and Henry Smith is in The Walpole Arms)

William Barwick single person of Itt lab son of Stephen B = Lydia Tuck of Itt single dtr of Joseph T labourer 25/8/1844

Thomas Barwick widower of Itt lab son of Stephen B = Mary Gray spinster of Itt dtr of Roland(?) G lab

Mary Barwick of Itt age 24 dtr of Thos B lab = George Alexander age 24 of Itt lab son of Benjamin A tailor of Itt 29/7/1856

Abel Barwick 26 bachelor of Itt labourer son of Stephen B gamekeeper = Mary Ann Roofe (?) spinster of Itt dtr of Edward R 19/9/1856

Charlotte Barwick age 22 of Itt dtr of Thomas B lab = Edmond Overton 21 son of William O shoemaker of Itt 13/12/1856

Betsy Barwick 19 dtr of William B farmer of Itt = George Johnson 21 a groom of Mannington son of George J blacksmith 21/2/1868. (It is interesting that William has elevated himself to farmer – quite likely that he rents a small acreage from Walpole. GJ is clearly in service at Mannington for the Walpoles. Where was his father blacksmith?)

William Barwick 34 bachelor of Mannington, gamekeeper son of Stephen gamekeeper = Hannah Phoebe Pleasant Lynes 25 spinster dtr of Samuel L lab of Itt. (Sorry, didn’t note the date – will remedy in due course, but it was between Betsy and George)

George Barwick 54 singleman pensioner of Itt son of Stephen the gamekeeper = Ann Elizabeth Jeckell 43 single of Itt 28/12/1877

William Barwick 24 singleman plate layer of Itteringham son of Thomas B lab = Lucy Broughton 24 single of Itt dtr of Daniel B lab 26/2/1891. (There were various railway activities around us with long since dismantled branch lines passing through Oulton, 2 stations and lines through Aylsham and a significant terminus at Melton Constable. Any stories about the railway construction locally?)

Stephen Barwick 35 single of Itt labourer son of Abel lab = Ruth Riseborough 28 single of Itt dtr of John R lab 12/1/1898

No more through to 1936.

Burials 1721-1945

Nothing before 1802

Phoebe Barwick dtr of Phoebe and Stephen buried 6/1/1802

Stephen B of Itt 26/5/1829 age 5 months

Mary B of Itt 22/7/1829 29 years

Sarah B of Itt 22/1/1840 35

Stephen B of Itt 8/11/1846 77

Phoebe B of Itt 3/1/1847 72

Sarah Ann B of Itt 10/6/1860 15 months

Mary Ann B of Itt 15/4/1869 11 months

Stephen B of Calthorpe 8/8/1876 age 77

William B of Mannington 17/9/1881 age 40

Mary B of Calthorpe 4/12/18884 age 80

George B of Itt 22/9/1888 age 66

Lydia B of Itt 19/2/1892 79

Mary B of Itt 20/10/1896 79

William B of Itt 21/2/1900 80

Percy Hiram B of Itt 8/1/1901 age 2

Dorothy Alice B of Itt 21/2/1901 age 10 months

Mary Anne B of Itt 18/6/1903 69

Elizabeth B of Itt 6/2/1909 67

Abel B of Itt 26/8/1910 81

Elizabeth Anne B of Itt 29/11/1910 76

Ruth B of Itt 28/5/1912 age 42

Thomas B of Itt 14/3/1925 86

Stephen B of Itt 19/9/1927 66

None 1946 to 2003

Wickmere Parish Registers

Despite not getting any further back than 1793 in Itteringham, there is some good news. The banns for Stephen and Phoebe showed she came from neighbouring Wickmere. The parish registers here are generally in quite good condition, but there are a few faint pages and probably missing entries around the late 18 th century, but even so…

Phoebe Brown daughter of John and Mary Brown was baptised 3/8/1777. The Brown family go way back in Wickmere and no doubt one could construct a tree from the register.

Stephen Barwick of Itteringham marries Phoebe here on 24/4/1793 by banns. Both signed with their mark. Witnesses are Elizabeth Breeze (a good local name – maybe Phoebe’s sister married a Breeze?) and James Barwick. This latter entry is good fortune. He is probably SB’s elder brother since the Wickmere register also has…

James Barwick of Wickmere singleman = Elizabeth Brown spinster of Wickmere by banns 27/8/1786. Both signed with their mark. Witnesses Benjamin Newstead and John Gunton. Looks as though two brothers marry two sisters? Also interesting that there are no Barwick family as witness for James’s marriage – this may imply that their parents were dead.

James and Elizabeth go on to live in Wickmere and have children there…

Wickmere Baptisms

James Barwick son of James and Elizabeth Brown bap 17/1/1788

John bap 22/10/1789 (can’t spot his death, unless…)

John bap 24/10/1790 (need to check: maybe this was a burial not a bap?)

Stephen bap 5/2/1792

None 1793 to 1799, but this period is obscured in the register.

Then, William son of James and Elizabeth bap 1/9/1799

Mary 21/3/1802

Mary 21/12/1803

Robert 26/8/1804

Charlotte 23/2/1806

Phoebe 22/3/1807

George 6/11/1808

Wickmere Burials

No late 18th century burials that we have spotted other than:

William son of James and Elizabeth 6/11/1799

Then:

Mary 1/6/1801 (this may be a mis-entry for 1802 for the first Mary above?)

Robert 28/11/1804

George 29/1/1809

Other Marriages

Thin on the ground from the 1790s onwards.

Stephen Barwick singleman of Wickmere and Katherine Rump of Blickling have their banns read in Wickmere in April 1812. Apart from that none around this time.

There is no other Barwick entry in the register in Wickmere in the preceding 100 years or so, therefore we are not talking about a long standing Wickmere family – they were incomers there too. Where were they from? A lucky find in the Oulton registers gives us the answer.

Oulton Parish Registers

Working through the parish registers for Oulton covering the years 1706 to 1812 turned up several entries which seem very likely to be Stephen Barwick’s forebears and mean that this parish is the key one for the early history of the family.

James son of James Barwick baptised 4 Aug 1734 (also an entry for exactly the same event on 6 Oct 1734 which we suspect one can ignore as an error; or at least simply assume a 1734 birth. But of course it might be correct and mean two different James’s which would make things extremely complicated to interpret. Below we have assumed it is a mistaken double entry).

Stephen son of William and Elizabeth Barwick bap 20 Jan 1771. This seems very likely to be the Stephen of S and Phoebe - the date is good for him marrying and having his first child in his early twenties.

Hannah daughter of William and Hannah Barwick bap 5 Jul 1774. This second Hannah is possibly William senior's second wife, the first being Elizabeth for the 1771 bap - see below.

William son of William and Elizabeth Barwick privately baptised pauper 4 Feb 1784. The privately baptised reference almost certainly means that as a pauper he could not pay the vicar his baptism fee but the vicar did the baptism anyway.

Elizabeth dtr of William and Elizabeth Barwick priv bap pauper 6 Aug 1786

Ann dtr of William and Elizabeth Barwick priv bap pauper 17 May 1789

William Barwick married man aged 30 buried 6 July 1793. Therefore born say about 1763 and cannot be the father of the 1771 and 1774 baps; but is quite likely at age 21 to be the father of the 1784 one.

Elizabeth Barwick aged 9 buried 8 Nov 1795

Ann Barwick aged 7 buried 22 Nov 1795 . These two children dying in the same month possibly implies a contagious disease in the household - smallpox was around in this century and might be a reasonable guess for the cause of death - but it would be only a guess.

William Barwick aged 67 buried 7 April 1799. So in all probability we have father and son Williams. William senior born approx 1732 and thus likely to be the son of James senior above. At the moment no sign of what happened to William 3 born 1784 - we don't seem to have found any record of his survival to marriage or of his death.

Hannah Barwick aged 71 buried 10 March 1803. Presumably the wife of William senior.

The baptism records of Oulton's quite important independent chapel contain no Barwick references.

So from all this it looks like the sequence is:

James senior (James 1) is probably born somewhere locally (very possibly Oulton) very early 18C and has a son James

James junior (James 2) is born 1734 (and so, possibly married about 1755) and probably has a son James (James 3) who marries Elizabeth Brown and in turn has a son James (James 4) baptised in 1788 in Wickmere (see above). James 2 would probably be too old to have the children in Wickmere from 1788 onwards over a span of 20 years, so we infer the existence of James 3.

At a guess James 1 also has a son William born in 1732 (we have not found the record of this birth, so it could be that James 1 had moved away from Oulton temporarily - another such move would also explain not finding his burial), who in 1771 has a son Stephen and before that in 1763 had had a son William (and by a second wife has a daughter Hannah in 1774) . This is all just possible with late marriage(s), eg first marriage at age about 30.

This Stephen seems likely to be the Stephen who marries Phoebe Brown in Wickmere in 1793.

Complicated, eh? Any better theories or helpful additional facts; please, please let us know!

Unfortunately, earlier parish registers for Oulton have not survived and so digging back further would now prove difficult. Searching any surviving manorial court records might be possible but would be a bit of a needle in a haystack task and at best would probably only yield occasional admissions of the heir on the death of a father. All yours if you are that keen!

Itteringham St Mary’s Churchyard

Please see the St Mary’s Churchyard survey where you can search for the details of all the Barwicks buried in the churchyard for whom a grave marker survives. Clearly this is not as thorough a list of burials as the parish register entries. Most notable perhaps are the two gravestones which clearly from their somewhat elaborate design were erected by a grateful Earl of Orford (Lord Walpole) to their faithful servants and gamekeepers. For this see the details and text on the stones of Stephen Barwick buried 1876 (E052)and William Barwick buried 1881 (E053) .

Wills

Often these can be really helpful when you have come to a halt at a certain point in tracing a family back. Norfolk had three different courts where wills were lodged and proved, but searching the register of names for all three, for all spellings of Barwick, from about 1700 through to the mid nineteenth century comes up with absolutely nothing. This is not wholly surprising for a family of labouring people with few assets and therefore little need to write a will. However, a search for administrations might be worthwhile.

Poor Law Accounts

We have few surviving old Poor Law records for Itteringham but there is a book covering the period from about 1790 to 1810. There appear to be no Barwick mentions at all in what is a long and detailed book. This confirms that they owned/farmed no land of any substance and so paid no poor rates. But also it shows that they remained fully in employment throughout – so many of their fellow agricultural labourers are shown receiving cash and/or rent relief at some point through this period. Similarly there is no mention of any widow’s relief to any Barwick (despite the village charity that provided small amounts to village widows).

Finally, do let us know of any further information on the family that you would like us to add into this write up. Finally, finally as with all transcriptions if you really want to be sure of their accuracy always go back to the original source to satisfy yourself. Caveat reader!
William Vaughan-Lewis

Copyright © William Vaughan-Lewis 2006