The Tabraham family
Tabraham in Wicken
The earliest appearance of my Tabraham family is in the mid-18th Century parish records of the fenland village of Wicken, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom.
The family also provide me with my second maternal ancestral connection to the Cross family. However, it's not yet clear as to where this connection fits in relation to my other one.
Were the Tabraham family Jewish?
In 1761, just five years before the birth of confirmed ancestor Richard Tabraham, a Robert Tabraham appears in the same baptism records (Wicken). Like Richard, his parents are not named, but Robert's entry does have a note stating that he is 'a Jew (converted and baptised)'.
Was this a brother, or even his father converting from Judaism? Might the Tabraham family be of Jewish origin?
Less than 100 years earlier in 1656, Jews had been allowed to legally settle again in Britain, having been banished since the late 13th Century.
Whilst Jewish communities grew in London and Devon, there were some Jews in nearby Cambridge, who had come to teach Hebrew at its University.
The earliest Tabraham to appear in Wicken's records is the burial of an Agnes Taberham in May 1571.
Variants of the Tabraham surname
I have identified 3 spellings for the Tabraham surname so far, coming from a small number of Cambridgeshire parishes:
- Taberham
- Tabraham
- Tabram
- Tabrum
Tabraham family connections
The Tabraham family are linked to a number of my ancestral families including: