Part One

In February, 1627, 80 English settlers and 10 slaves, captured on the crossing, began the first settlement of Barbados naming it Jamestown (today known as Holetown). They began by cultivation of tobacco and cotton which they obtained from Dutch settlements in Guyana on the northern coast of South America. These crops were only moderately successful but in 1637 sugar cane was introduced. This crop proved to be a gold mine for the planters and by the 1640's had replaced tobacco and cotton as the principal crop. They became the first in the new world to establish large sugar plantations and their wealth grew rapidly. This evolution to large land holdings by a few planters led many of their young sons to seek opportunities in Virginia, Massachusetts, and the Carolina's.
Barbados' surviving parish registers were all copied during the mid-19th century and deposited in a central registry. And it is these copied parish registers, housed in the Barbados Department of Archives, which form the basis of excellent reference works
In 1982 Mr. E.L. Pemberton visited the island and copied many documents related to the Pemberton surname.

William Pemberton was listed as a landowner of more than 10 acres in a 1638 census of the island. This listing coming only 11 years after the colony was first settled indicates William was likely one of the first settlers,although we have not found a passenger list or other document to confirm this. As you can see from the map the island is quite small and this coupled with the fact E.L. Pemberton found only one Pemberton plantation on a map of the island dated 1685, leads us to believe that William was probably the progenitor of all of the Barbadian Pembertons. Although there is no clear evidence that he was the father of James we are listing him as such in our files for reference purposes only. This will give his name exposure on the web and, perhaps, generate additional leads from interested researchers who read it there.

James Pemberton is the only Pemberton listed among property owners of 25 or more acres in the next census dated 1679, which would seem to indicate the demise of the above mentioned William prior to this date. This census also contained a listing of baptisms and another of burials. Here we find John Pemberton son of James baptized on 9 Aug 1679 and John son of James buried 11 Aug 1679. Two additional sons of James, William and Charles are shown baptized on 28 Aug 1679. James wrote a will on 7 Aug 1701 in which he divided his property into two estates; first the portion located in St. George's Parish he left to his son John and second that in St. John's Parish was left to son Charles. The will states that John was to inherit his share when he reached the age of 21 and Charles on the death of James' wife Rebecca.

Our main concern is with John Pemberton bp 9 Aug 1679 and whether or not he could be the same person as John Pemberton of Virginia and father of George described in many different Pemberton family histories and other references. The dates 9 Aug 1679 and 28 Aug 1679 are given in one account by Mr. Eli Jay who wrote:

                    "We do find this name in the early records of St. John's Parish in Virginia when on August 9, 1679
              John Pemberton, son of James was baptized and on August 28 of the same year, William and James
                           Pemberton, sons of James.....".

There can be little doubt that Mr. Jay and other writers were incorrect in assuming that John Pemberton of Virginia was one and the same person as the John Pemberton of Bardados:

1. The Census of 1679 shows a John was buried on 11 Aug 1679.

2. The John mentioned in James' will is referred to as a minor in 1701 which clearly rules out the possibility that John bp 9 Aug 1679 could be the same person.

3. If the John of Virginia was the John bp 9 Aug 1679 then, unless he was baptized at a very advanced age, how could he have been able to execute a real estate transaction with Mr. Richard Littlepage, Sr. who died 20 Apr 1688 a little more than 7 years later? (See deed of 20 Jan 1702.)

4. The records of St. John's parish were destroyed in the Civil War 40 plus years before Jay wrote his account.

We can find no reasonable way to link the Pembertons of Barbados to those of Virginia however we will include them in our file as an unlinked family beginning with William Pemberton.

1. E.L Pemberton, elpemberton@qwest.net, Facts on Pemberton Ancestry Barbados, West Indies, December, 1982. , "Another bit of research that I became involved in back in 1982 was a trip to Barbados to check on the Baptisms of the John, William and Charles Pemberton reported in several books on Pembertons. I also visited the Parish of St. John in Barbados. From the Barbados Department of Archives there are positive records showing the 1679 Census of Baptisms for St. John Parish. This gives the dates of August 9 for John, sonne of James Pemberton and August 28 for William and Charles, sonns of Mr. James Pemberton"

3. Walter L. Van Brocklin, Van Brocklin Family Genealogy,Pg 68 ff:
"There seems to have been two sons of Broer Cornelis named Gysbert. This could easily explain why one of them was called Gerrit Gyjbertsen rather than by his real name, Gysbert Cornelissen. It is not hard to explain why two sons of one man would be named the same as those of us who search into ancient vital records find that this happened quite often. In earlier times, the infant mortality rate was considerably higher than it is in these modern times. Let us reason that the first son, Gysbert, happened to be sick at the time his next younger brother was born. The parents decided to give the same name to him because it was likely that the first Gysbert would not survive, and remember that in this particular family there must be a Gilbert in each generation."

4. Eli Jay, Centennial Anniversary Of West Branch MM, Ohio 1807-1907, Leesburg Public Library, Leesburg, FL, Gpf 929.102 F 911 (ISL). Copy provided by Wendy Farley of Wildwood, FL.

Part One - Barbados