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Folk Before Me

John Lee Barber

1817-1902

 Photograph of John Lee Barber

Note: Illegible, uncertain, missing, inferred or explanatory text is displayed below thus.

Parents

List 1: The parents of John Lee Barber.

  • Father family name:

    Barber.

  • Father forenames:

    John.

  • Father DoB:

    1793

  • Father place of birth:

    Metfield, Suffolk.

  • Father occupation:

    Corn merchant.

  • Father DoD:

    1873

  • Father place of death:

    Norwich, Norfolk.

  • Mother family name:

    Willsea.

  • Mother forenames:

    Sarah Ann.

  • Mother DoB:

    1795

  • Mother place of birth:

    Norwich, Norfolk.

  • Mother occupation:

    Unstated.

  • Mother DoD:

    1866

  • Mother place of death:

    Norwich, Norfolk.

Birth

List 2: The birth of John Lee Barber.

The name 'Lee' is currently of unknown origin. It was not recorded in the register, even though it soon joined 'Barber' to form a compound surname. His parents may have realised belatedly that disambiguation with John Barber senior was necessary.

So, curiously, although we have a record for his birth, as yet there is no record of baptism. Samuel Sly, the Proteftant Diffenting Minifter of the time, appears to have made no statement on the matter.

Career

List 3: The career of John Lee Barber.

  • 1841:

    Not stated.

  • 1851:

    Grocer corn merchant.

  • 1861:

    Captain 1st Norfolk Volunteers. Merchant.

  • 1866:

    Esquire.

  • 1871:

    Corn and seed crusher employing about 200 men and boys.

  • 1881:

    Merchant.

  • 1891:

    J.P. Seed oil crusher & merchant.

  • 1901:

    Corn Merchant J.P

  • 1902:

    Corn Merchant.

  • 1902:

    J.P.

John Lee Barber appears to have continued the grain processing business that his father started in partnership with Samuel Willsea. The importation of grain was a common trade, shared also by John Lee Barber's brother-in-law Alexander Browne Clarke (a 'maltster') in Stansted, Essex.

John Lee Barber was also appointed a JP, presumably for the district of Herringfleet, His father-in-law, Charles Clarke, held the same post at Henstead.

John Lee Barber's service in the Norfolk Volunteers is likely reflected in the uniform he wears in the photograph at top. This is difficult to confirm because such units, frequently the initiative of rural gentry, were poorly documented. There seems to be mention of his appointment in the Norwich Mercury for 1860.

Marriage

Fig 1: Augusta Emily. daughter of Charles Clarke.
Photograph of Augusta Emily, daughter of Charles Clarke. On a card 10cm x 6.5cm. Studio: F. Treble, Norwich.

List 4: The marriage of John Lee Barber to Augusta Emily Clarke.

  • When married:

  • Where married:

    The parish church (All Saints) Poringland, Norfolk.

  • Married by:

    Rev. Sterling Moseley Westhorp (a maternal uncle of Augusta Emily, and vicar of Sibton-with-Peasenhall, Suffolk).

  • Groom name:

    John Lee Barber

  • Groom age:

    Full age (48 years)

  • Groom condition:

    Widower (previously married to Maria Hebron, with whom two daus. and two sons).

  • Groom profession:

    Esquire.

  • Groom residence:

    Hellesdon Nr Norwich.

  • Groom father name:

    John Barber

  • Groom father profession:

    Merchant

  • Bride name:

    Augusta Emily Clarke

  • Bride age:

    Full age (24 years)

  • Bride condition:

    Spinster

  • Bride profession:

    -

  • Bride residence:

    Poringland

  • Bride father name:

    Charles Clarke

  • Bride father profession:

    Clerk

  • Witnesses

    J. M. Hill, H. L. Barber and James South Clarke.

  • Entry year:

    1866

  • Entry quarter

    Q2

  • Registration district

    Henstead

  • Entry volume

    04b

  • Entry page

    297

At the time of this marriage the Revd. Charles Clarke had died nine years earlier, and family remaining with his widow, Anne, had sold the Henstead estate and moved to Bergh Apton; some two and a half miles east of Poringland.

Children

List 5: the children of John and Augusta Emily Lee Barber.

  • Name

    Birth year

  • Charles Willsea Lee Barber 1867-?

  • Richard Lee Barber 1872-1960

  • Millicent Lee Barber 1874-1951

  • George Welham Lee Barber 1877-1951

Death

List 6: The death of John Lee Barber.

  • Date of death:

  • Where died:

    Herringfleet, Suffolk.

  • Name:

    John Lee Barber.

  • Date of birth:

    Not available.

  • Age:

    84 years.

  • Cause of death:

    Paralysis Agitans .

  • Certified by:

    Walter A. Bell, MD.

  • Occupation:

    Corn merchant.

  • Informant Name:

    George Lee Barber.

  • Informant qualification:

    Son, present at the death.

  • Informant residence:

    Herringfleet.

  • When registered:

  • Where registered:

    Mutford

  • Volume:

    04a

  • Page:

    551

Burial

Fig. 2: The grave of John Lee Barber.
Photo of the grave of John Lee Barber, 1817-1902.

List 7: The burial of John Lee Barber.

  • When buried:

    July 1902

  • Where buried:

    Rosary Cemetery, Norwich, Norfolk
    (England's first non-denominational cemetery).

  • Grave number:

    D505/6

  • Inscription:

    In Loving Memory Of
    JOHN LEE BARBER J.P.
     OF HERRINGFLEET NR LOWESTOFT
    WHO FELL ASLEEP JUNE 30TH 1902
    IN HIS 85TH YEAR

John's birth was 'registered' at a Baptist Chapel in Norwich, so that will likely have been his own following as well as that of his parents (who are in the adjacent grave). John is the sole occupant of his grave. Neither of his wives appear to be buried with him, nor any of his children. Augusta was the daughter of Anglican clergyman Charles Clarke.

If the DoB and DoD deduced here are correct then John Lee Barber attained the age of 84 years only.

This investigator had not anticipated finding a burial entirely under brambles. However, all was well because they proved removable by hand. The written record of my cemetery visit that day was completed in a type of ink previously untried in genealogy.