Barker Family
Origin of the Name
"The name Barker, though not a very common one, made its
appearance during the thirteenth century in parts of the country widely
distant from each other, and it is not to be supposed that all those who
bore it were in any way related to each other. It was probably derived from
the office, or rather appointment, of Bercar, a sort of Inspector or Chief
Shepherd, whose duty it was to superintend the stint of sheep on the
common lands of the manor, especially on Manors of the Royal Demesne. One of
the copyholders seems to have been chosen by the rest to act in this capacity;
in 7 Edw. II (1313), for instance, in the Manor of Pattingham, adjacent to
Worfield, John de Herdwyke was elected Bercar by the villagers in place of
John Lovekyn. B.M. Add. Ms. 29.245,fol. 13a. In days when surnames were only
gradually becoming hereditary the fact of a man holding this office for
several years would be enough to establish it as his name. The only variant
spellings which are met with, "Barcar" and "Berker," in
early Claverley documents, both go to confirm this derivation. The first
recorded occurrence of the name in Shropshire is in 1292, when one William
Barker was an under tenant at Stanton Lacy, but the only Barker families of
any standing in the county in later years believed, as will be seen, that the
name was not their original one, but had been adopted in place of another by
one of their ancestors."
"Note. The word Bercar or Barcar as used in the twelfth and
following century was an Anglicised form of the Norman-French word Bercher,
a shepherd, and the term Barkary for a sheepfold lingered till Elizabethan
times. From about the fourteen century onward the word Barker was applied
to a tanner, and at a still later date it came to mean a barker of trees,
but these were comparatively modern uses of the word and only originated
after family names had become established."
The Barkers of Shropshire
"The standard authority for the history of Shropshire families is
the collection of manuscript pedigrees based on the Heralds' Visitations of
1584 and 1623, when representatives of such families as claimed the right to
bear arms were summoned to appear before a Herald and give account of their
ancestry. These pedigrees show five branches of the family of Barker to have
been then settled in the county; at Colchurst, Haghmond, Wolverton, Hopton
Castle, and Aston respectively; but the Barkers of Aston cannot have appeared
in person, for their genealogy, though begun, is not brought up to date like
those of the other branches. The Visitations trace all these five families to
a common ancestor, "William Barker alias Coverall," who
married "Margaret daughter and heire to Goulston of Goulston" and
one of his sons is shown as the first Barker of Aston. The pedigrees are
almost without dates, but as this William Barker alias Coverall was
about five generations back from those living at the time of the Visitations
he must be placed fairly early in the fifteenth century, and all the MSS.
Concur in stating that he was descended from one Ralph or Randulph de
Coverall, for whom a date is given, 12 Edw. II (1319)."
"As interesting suggestion, which seems to have a bearing on this,
occurs in a note contributed by Rev. H. B. Smythe to James' Worfield on
the worfe, 1878. 'In the year 1327,' he says, 'one calling himself le
Smythe became pssessed of property at Hilton in this manor. In that same
year another person calling himself le Barker obtained property at Hallon,
which too is in the manor. I am inclined to think that these were both
assumed names.' Coming as it does from quite an independent source, this
is a remarkable confirmation of what was evidently the old family legend.
Now the Court Rolls of Worfield, on which Mr. Smythe's note was based, show
that William Barker (B. III), a grandson of the earlier William le Barker to
whom he refers, died at Hallon in 1412, leaving a widow named Margaret or
Margery, a person apparently of some consequence, for there was a good deal
of discussion about the property to which she was entitled. Twenty-five years
later a John Barker who was almost certainly their son, appears at Aston in
Claverley, four miles away, where there had not previously been anyone of the
name, and putting these facts together I think this lady was probably that
'daughter and heire to Goulston of Goulston' whose name was so long remembered
by her descendants."
"It seems then that the early history of the family may have been
somewhat as follows. In those tumultuous years when Edward II was fleeing
through the West of England from his Queen and his Barons, a son of Ralph
de Coverall came from the North to the South of Shropshire, and settled at
Hallon, taking, we know not why, the name of le Barker. A hundred years later
one of his descendants went to Aston, while another returned to the North,
and obtaining property at Colchurst, not far from Calverhall or Coverall,
where his forefathers had lived, he very naturally assumed the name of
Coverall as an alias. Double names were fairly common in the Middle Ages as
they are now, but while nowadays the old and new names are hyphened, they
were then connected by the word alias for a few generations, after
which one or the other was usually dropped. So it was that for a time the
Barkers of Colchurst and Wolverton in North Shropshire styled themselves
alias Coverall, and called their ancestor so at the Visitation, though
it does not appear that this designation was ever actually used either at
Worfield, Claverley, or Hopton Castle, where it would have had no
associations."
William le Barker, probably the son of
Ralph de Coverall.
He obtained land at Hallon in Worfield, co. Salop, 1327; granted to his
daughters reversion of a small holding in Hallon occupied by Simon Poynant,
1340.
His children, living in 1340, were:
Roger Barker of Hallon was born before 1319,
the son of William le Barker.
He married Alice [Unknown] who survived him.
Their children were:
- Robert of Hallon who received a holding there from his mother in 1369 and inherited land called Winter Place and Barker's land, died in 1428. His wife Isabel died about 1425. Their son Roger of Hallon married Alice [Unknown] about 1421, held Barker's land, and died in 1474;
- William;
- Henry of Hallon, acquired land there from John Dod, called Lovestick's land, about 1404 married Margery, daughter of William Wermode and Joan his wife, who then surrendered to him land called Chamberlayne's and Massie's lands in Hallon, and his son was William of Hallon;
- Alice who married John Gerbord about 1352 and received land from her father.
William Barker of Hallon, called in the
Visitations "alias Coverall," was the second son of
Roger Barker and Alice [Unknown].
He received from Alice his mother land in Hallon in 1369.
He married (1) Alice Seisdon, daughter of Hammond Seisdon and Matilda his wife who surrendered to him Yeldson's land and Buryland in Hallon.
Their children were:
- Richard (called Roger) of Hallon, Beadle of the Manor 1429-48, held land called Chemehill "near the hollow way in Hallon," married Agnes [Unknown] about 1438 (Agnes died in 1477), had a son William, and died in 1469;
- Agnes who married John Hulle before 1412.
William married (2) Margaret Goulston, daughter and heir of Francis Goulston of Goulston, co. Salop. In 1413 she received land called Veldhouse in Hallon from her husband's brother Robert.
Their children were:
- Barker alias Coverall;
- John of Aston in Claverley who married Elizabeth Greene, daughter and coheir of William Greene of Aston and Margery his wife, who then surrendered to him Dod's lands in Aston [on the death of William Greene in 1443 he inherited further property there, including Redwardyne rudings], had a son John, bought lands in Aston from Jenkyn Gatacre in 1439 and others called Dalicote lands from Isabel Gatacre in 1449, and died about 1507.
William died in 1412.
Barker alias Coverall of Colchurst (Colehurst),
near Market Drayton, co. Salop, was the son of
William Barker of Hallon and Margaret Goulston.
His sons were:
- Thomas; and
- Randall who "for killing of a man fled out of Shropshire, and took sanctuary at the Abbey of Vale Royall, and served the Abbot who gave him land in Little Over, co. Chester, temp. Hen VII," Harl. MS. 2153, p.88, whose descendants long continued at Little Over and Vale Royal.
Thomas Barker alias Coverall of Colchurst
was the son of Barker alias Coverall of Colchurst.
His children were:
- John; and
- Margaret who married William Hill of Blore, uncle of Sir Rowland Hill.
John Barker alias Coverall of Colchurst was
the son of Thomas Barker.
He married Joyce Burton, daughter of Edward Burton of Longnor, co. Salop, Groom of the Stole to Hen. VII. Joyce probably died before 1524.
Their sons were:
- John alias Coverall of Wolverton (Woolerton), near Market Drayton, co. Salop, who married Elizabeth Hill, daughter of Thomas Hill and sister of Sir Rowland Hill, Kt. Lord Mayor of London in 1549; and
- William.
William Barker of Colchurst was the son of
John Barker and Joyce Burton.
He married Joan Horne, daughter of William Horne of Child's Ercoll, co. Salop. Their descendants continued at Colchurst and Longslowe, near Drayton, till the eighteenth century.
Their eldest son was:
William Barker was born about 1535 at
Colchurst, Shropshire, England, the son of
William Barker of Colchurst and Joan Horne.
He married Mary Tyttelley about 1557 at
Tytelley, Cheshire, England. Mary was sister and heir of William Tyttelley of
Tyttelley, co. Chester.
Their children were:
- John, born about 1558 at Bristol,
Gloucester, England;
- Andrew, born about 1560 at Hopton Castle, Shropshire; and
- Dorothy, born about 1562 at Hopton Castle.
Their descendants long continued at Hopton Castle, and one of them, Andrew Barker, purchased the Manor of Fairford, co. Glos. 1660. This latter estate was eventually bequeathed by Esther Barker in 1789 to John Raymond, who then assumed by license the name and arms of Barker.
William died at Hopton Castle.
John BARKER was born about 1558 at Bristol,
Gloucester, England, the son of William Barker
and Mary Tyttelley.
He married Edith Blanchard
on 28 December 1579 at Marshfield, Gloucester.
Their children, all born at Bristol, were:
- John, born about 1580;
- Joyce, born about 1582, married ? Bigges about 1605 at Bristol, and married Andrew Charlton before 1623 at Bristol;
- Mary, born about 1583;
- ?, born about 1584 and married Edward Hales about 1604 at Bristol;
- ?, born about 1584;
- William, born about 1587 and died after 1607;
- Andrew, born about 1589 and died after 1607;
- Thomas, born about 1591 and died after 1607; and
- Robert, born about 1593 and died after 1607.
John died 13 September 1607 at Bristol and was buried there at St. Werburgh's Church.
John BARKER was born about 1580 at Bristol,
Gloucester, England, the son of John Barker
and Edith Blanchard.
He married Mary ? about 1605 at Bristol.
Their child was:
- John, born about 1606 at Bristol and died in 1639 at Bristol.
John then married Elizabeth Spicer about 1607 at Bristol.
Their children were:
- Andrew, born about 1608 and died after 20 September 1639 at Bristol;
- Elizabeth, born about 1610 at Bristol; and
- William, born about 1612 at Bristol and died in 1637 at Bristol.
John died on 24 April 1636 at Southmead Manor, Westbury-on-Trym, Gloucester and was buried at St. Werburgh's Church, Bristol.
Elizabeth BARKER was born about 1610 at
Bristol, Gloucester, England, the daughter of John Barker
and Elizabeth Spicer.
She married John Gunning
about 1630 at Bristol.
She was buried at St. Walburgh, Bristol. Her will was proved on 23 December 1669 at Somerset, England.
[Most of the above information was derived from "The Barkers of Aston" written by A. L. Barker, M.A. in 1932, a copy of portions of that document being received on 16 November 1996 from Edward Barker, jedgbarker@aol.com]