Chart 26. Pembertons of Philadelphia.

This branch commences with William Pemberton, of Aspull, Lancashire, who died in 1642, and whose children were baptised at Wigan. Of these children, Ralph, the only son, married Margaret daughter of Thomas Seddon, of Warrington, in 1648, and had two sons, of whom Joseph, the younger, died young. Phineas, the elder son, married Phoebe daughter of James Harrison, a shoemaker, and a Minister of the Society of Friends, and himself joined that Society. James Harrison was an intimate friend of William Penn, and at first acted as his agent in England, but in 1681 he was appointed his agent in America, and he was accompanied thither in 1682 by Phineas Pemberton and his family, including his father, Ralph.

The information on the Chart is derived chiefly from printed sources, but also from correspondence with the late Mr. Henry Pemberton (No. 51), who died in 1910, at the age of 84, and from the Registers of Wigan, and of the Society of Friends.

The authorities referred to are “The Annual Register," Vol. 51. Titcomb’s "Early New England People," Comly’s “The Friends’ Miscellany," Gilpin’s "Exiles in Virginia,” “Life and Travels of John Pemberton” (Friends Library, Vol. 6), Watson’s “Annals of Philadelphia," a pamphlet by Mrs. Babcock, a Memorandum by Mr. Henry Pemberton, and "Genealogical Notes relating to the Lloyd, Pemberton, and other families” from original MSS. of James Pemberton Parke, and Townsend Ward. The suggestion made in the "New England Historical and Genealogical Register,” Vol. 46, that Ralph, father of Phineas, may have been “the second son of Ralph and Frances Pemberton,* parents of the future Judge, etc.," is quite impossible, and he was certainly the son of William of Aspull.

Mr. Henry Pemberton, senior, died in 1910, and his son in 1913, but the widow of the latter has lately been in England, and with her help the Chart has been brought up to date. From a seal in her possession, which belonged to William Pemberton of Aspull (No. l), it seems that in the crest of this branch the dragon’s head is not erect, but facing dexter, as in the case of the Leigh Pembertons.

* See Chart 14, No. 2.

Charts 27 and 28. Pembertons of Boston.

Practically all the information in this Chart has been obtained from the “New England Historical and Genealogical Register,” Vol. 46 (1892), but Miss Titcomb’s “Early New England People” contains a letter written by a James Pemberton, of Boston* to Israel Pemberton of Philadelphia† in 1703, and also one from Thomas Pemberton, of Boston (No 52), the Antiquary, to James Pemberton of Philadelphia (Chart 26, No. 22), which latter gives many details concerning the ancestors of Thomas. This family commences with James Pemberton, who is said to have emigrated from Wales about 1650. His brother John, who also emigrated, returned to England. The descendants of the Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton (No. 13) are given in Chart 28. It has not been found possible to bring the Chart up to date, as there has been no communication with any of the members of this family.

* Miss Titcomb thinks this was James IV. (No. 18) but the compiler of this Chart thinks it was James II. (No. 5).

† Certainly Israel 1. (Chart 26. No. 9) the son of Phineas, the emigrant.

Chart 29. Durham. Pembertons of Stanhope,
Aislaby, Bainbridge Holme, The Barnes, etc.

At present no connection has been traced between this branch of the family and any of the other branches. For some time it was considered that the different arms indicated a distinct origin, but from what has been said in the Introduction,* it will be seen that the arms of the Durham family very closely resemble those borne in the 2nd and 3rd quarters by several other branches, notably the Northamptonshire family (Chart 9), and the St. Albans family (Charts 10, 11, 12). If, as we surmise, the quarterings were originally borne by William of Somershall who heads the Northamptonshire Chart, this would point to a Lancashire origin for the Durham family as well, and considering the predominance of the name John we would suggest John Pemberton II. (Chart 1, No. 19) as a possible ancestor.

The present head of the family is Mr. John S. G. Pemberton, formerly M. P. for Sunderland.

The principal authorities consulted in compiling the Chart are:—

1. Harleian MSS., 1168 fo. 25b, containing the Visitation of Durham in 1575, and 1153 fo. 33ff, 1540 fo. 83b and 84, and 1397 fo. 222b, containing the Visitation of 1615.

2. Surtees’ “History of Durham,” in 4 Vols., with Pedigrees of Pemberton in Vols. 1 and 3.

3. J. Burke’s “Commoners,” Vol. 2, pp. 70-78 and 684 (Ed. 1836).

4. J. B. Burke’s “Landed Gentry” (Ed., 1900) which commences with John Pemberton, of Stanhope (No. 1). Later editions omit all the names on the Chart before John Pemberton of Hilton (No. 33). There is possibly a slight uncertainty concerning the parentage of this John, but the fact that the family still quarter the Hindmarsh† arms seems to connect them definitely with Richard Pemberton (No. 7), who married Alice Hindmarsh, and so with John of Stanhope.

* p. xiii. above
† In 2nd quarter. “Gules, on a mound a hind lodged all proper.”

Charts 30—33. Ireland and Canada.

At least three groups of Pembertons have been found in Ireland, but the exact connection between them has not been traced. It seems highly probable, however, that the second and third are derived from the first. These groups are

1. Descendants of John Pemberton, of Ormskirk, co. Lancs., and co. Carlow, Ireland (Chart 30). This family, or part of it, merged into that of Pemberton-Pigott.

2. Descendants of Joseph Pemberton, cutler, of Dublin, many of whom emigrated and settled in British Columbia (Charts 31-32).

3. Descendants of Benjamin Pemberton, “Bricklayer,” of Raheny, co. Dublin, many of whom also emigrated, and settled in Quebec, Montreal, Toronto, Kingston and other parts of Canada (Chart 33).

It will be seen from the Charts that the last two families have many living representatives, and several of these have given much personal assistance in the compilation.

Chart 34. London. Sir James Pemberton, Lord Mayor.

Sir James was born at Wrightington in the Parish of Eccleston, Lancashire. His arms show a crescent for difference, indicating that he was the second son, so probably Sir John (No. 3) was the eldest of the family.

The future Sir James came to London some time before 1581, and lived at “The black Spread Eagle in West Cheap.” He was Sheriff in 1602-3, and consequently at the Accession of King James I., by whom he was knighted. Nine years later he became Lord Mayor.

Besides this family and that of Gough House, given in the next Chart, there were several Pemberton families in London, from the 15th Century onwards. Of these the three principal ones were:

(1) Family of Hugh Pemberton, Merchant Taylor, who lived in the Parish of St. Martin, Outwich. He died in 1500, and a monument to him and his wife Katherine (Rypon) who died 1508, was erected in St. Martin’s Church, and on the demolition of that Church in 1874 was removed to St. Helen’s, Bishopsgate. Hugh was Sheriff in 1490. He had a brother, Robert, a clerk at Wells Cathedral, and probably the Rev. John Pemberton, Rector of St. Mary’s, Whitechapel, 1502, was another brother. Hugh had four sons, Thomas, Sir Robot, Knight of Rhodes, Rowland and Matthew (d. 1517). The last named was the only one to marry; his wife’s name was Mary, and she subsequently married William Whaddam. Matthew had two sons, William (b. 1513), and Thomas (b. 1517), and a daughter, Katherine, and owned land in Eltham, Kent. A Thomas, probably his son, also owned land there in 1552, so there is probably a connection between this family and that of Eltham (Chart 36).

(2) The family of John Pemberton, citizen and stationer of Fleet Street (d. 1739), who had four sons and a daughter by his wife Rebecca (d. 1748). The two elder sons, John and Henry, carried on their father’s business. The names of the two younger were George and Thomas, but nothing is known of them.

(3) The family of Dr. Henry Pemberton, F.R S. (b 1694, d. 1771). His grandfather married Jane Angier of Reading, whose Will is dated 1698. She left three sons, Edward, John and William, and a daughter Elizabeth, who married Luke Wise. Edward was a citizen and fruiterer of London, and he and his wife Elizabeth had three sons, John, Henry and Edward, and two daughters. The elder son, John, was also a fruiterer. Dr. Henry was a very famous surgeon and Professor of Physics at Gresham College. Nothing is known of the third son, Edward, or of the two sons (John and Edward) of his Uncle William.

Chart 35. London. Descendants of Thomas
Pemberton, of Gough House, Chelsea.

Up to the present it has not been found possible to connect this family with any other, in spite of diligent search on the part of many of its members, who include the well-known solicitors of the firm, “Lee and Pemberton,” from whom much assistance has been received in compiling this Chart. Until 1897 the family used the ordinary Pemberton arms, but as the authority could not be traced a new grant was made in that year and registered at the College of Arms, the new arms being those given on the Chart. Some facts seem to point to an East Indian and others to a West Indian connection.

In the former direction there is the friendship of Thomas Pemberton (No. 1) with Sir Busick Harwood, after whom he named his second son, and who was at one time an Assistant-Surgeon on the Bengal Establishment, while Thomas himself was employed under the H.E.I.C., in the Transfer Office at the East India House in London.

Pointing in the direction of the West Indies is the fact that Thomas' eldest son emigrated before 1789, and settled at St. Kitts, which suggests that he may have been connected with the Pembertons already settled there.*

*See Chart 13.

Chart 36. Kent. Pembertons of Eltham
and Charlton.

Several Pembertons lived or owned land in Eltham in the 15th and 16th Centuries. These included (1) James, “Garcio of the King’s Chamber,” and Keeper of both the old and new (1481) Park*; (2) Richard Pemberton and Elizabeth his wife, and Peter Pemberton and Elizabeth his wife (1481 and 1493),† and the family of Richard; and (3) Thomas Pemberton in 1552. In the note on Chart 34 we saw that Hugh Pemberton, Merchant Taylor, of London, who died in 1500, married Katharine Rypon, who was almost certainly the daughter of Robert Rypon, of Eltham. Their son, Matthew, owned land in Eltham,§ and the above mentioned Thomas is almost certainly the son of Matthew, born in 1517. The other Eltham Pembertons probably belonged to the same family.

At Charlton the Rev. John Pemberton was instituted as Rector in 1626, and suffered for his opinions in the stormy years that followed. At the same time there lived at Charlton a Thomas Pemberton, probably a brother of the Rector.

In 1629 “William Pemberton, of St. Olave’s, .Southwark, son of Miles Pemberton, of Moreton, Cheshire,” mortgaged some property to ‘‘John Pemberton, of Charlton, Clerk.”‡ This points to a connection between the Charlton family and that of Moreton, which we deal with in the next Chart (37). The Miles, mentioned above, is almost certainly the brother of William, Parson of High Ongar, Essex, and there were two younger brothers, Thomas and John, both under 16 in 1592, when their father died. It is therefore more than probable that these two are the Thomas and John of Charlton. It is true that a “John Pemberton, of Moreton” died at Moreton in 1647, and that administration was granted to his widow and “Thomas Pemberton of Moreton, husbandman,”¶ but these two may have been the sons of Miles (Chart 37, Nos 13, 14). On the other hand Miles' sons may have been the Thomas and John of Charlton. The Charlton Registers also contain the marriage of “Matthie” Pemberton, of Coggeshall, Essex (see Chart 38, No. 3) to Anne Emmerson of Ipswich, widow, in October 1633, and this again suggests a connection between the Rector of Charlton and the family of William Pemberton of Rendlesham, Suffolk, to which Matthie belonged.

* Hasted's "Kent,” pp. 177 and 279.

† Hasted’s “Kent,” p. 208.

§ Will dated 1515.

‡ Close Rolls, 5 Car. I., Part 35, No. 2, This William was a citizen and brewer of Lambeth, whose Will was proved in P.C.C. in 1657.

¶ W. Fergusson Irvine’s MS., “Bidston Registers”

Chart 37. Rev. William Pemberton, D.D.,
Rector of High Ongar, co. Essex.

According to the Funeral Certificate, this William was the “2nd son of Henry Pemberton of Merton (Moreton) co. Chester,” and the Will of his father* supplies a few details concerning that family. The Arms, it will be noticed, are the same as the Northants family (Chart 9), and others which combine the buckets and the griffins’ heads. We have already noticed (Chart 36) the probable connection of the Charlton family with that of Moreton, and consequently with William of Ongar. This William was instituted as Rector of High Ongar in 1611, and in the following year married Mary, daughter of Sir Edward Cope, of Bury St. Edmunds. She died in 1621 and William in 1622, at the age of 45. Foster† assigns to this William several particulars which really belong to William of Rendlesham (Chart 38, No. 1), with whom he wrongly identifies him, e.g., William of Ongar was not born until 1577 (being 35 at the time of his marriage in 1612), but Foster makes him a B.A. of Pembroke College, Cambridge in 1572. William of Rendlesham died in 1598, and William of Ongar in 1622. The only items that refer to William of Ongar in Foster’s list are that he was Fellow of Christ’s College, Cambridge, in 1600, and unduly elected Master of the same College in 1610.

There had been Pembertons at Moreton since at least 1535, when two were tenants of lands belonging to Birkenhead Monastery,§ but in only two cases besides the family of William of High Ongar has it been possible to connect the individuals mentioned. There is (1) Arthur Pemberton (d. 1629) who married Margery Hancock (d. cir. 1660), and had sons Richard and Robert and a daughter, and (2) Robert Pemberton (d. 1632) who married Ellen Urmston, and had sons Edward and Miles, a daughter, and a grandson Robert, son of Edward.‡

Turning to the family of William, Parson of High Ongar, we have already seen|| that his father, Henry, had four sons, Miles, William, Thomas and John, and also that a Miles was the father of William Pemberton of St. Olave’s, Southwark, who in 1629 mortgaged property to John Pemberton, Rector of Charlton. We have to decide whether this was Miles, son of Robert (No. 26), or the son of Henry (No. 5), or another. Now a William Irbie, of Moreton, in his Will of 1618‡ mentions amongst others “Miles, my son-in-law, and his two youngest children Thomas and John” and also a William, Henry, Robert, and John Pemberton. Miles and Ellen his wife were executors. This shows that Miles had elder children. Then William, of Southwark (afterwards of Lambeth), brewer, left a Will in 1657¶ which shows that his wife had been buried at Lambeth, and his mother and grandfather in Bidston Church (Moreton being a hamlet in the Parish of Bidston). He mentions a brother Henry and sisters Isabel, Jane, Anne and Ellen, and cousins Robert Pemberton and Thomas Gill. If we add the names of Miles’ “two youngest children” mentioned above, we find his sons are William, Henry, Thomas and John, which are exactly the names of the father and brothers of Miles (No. 5) the brother of William of Ongar, whilst Jane was the name of his mother and Ellen of his wife, though of course the latter point proves nothing. It is true that a child of the other Miles (No. 26) would have had a cousin Robert and a cousin Gill (No. 25) but a Katherine Pemberton, probably the aunt of William (No. 7), also married Richard Gill in 1605. The two families were probably closely connected. The coincidence of names given above is too weighty to be ignored, and we have based the chart on the assumption that William, of Lambeth, belonged to the family of William of High Ongar.

* Mr. Fergusson-Irvine’s MS. book, “Bidston Registers.”

† AL Ox., Early Series, Vol. 3, and Wood’s Fasti 122, p. 219.

§ Irvine’s MS. “ Bidston Registers,” kindly lent to the compiler.

‡ From Wills given in Irvine’s “Bidston Registers.”

|| Note on Chart 36.

¶ Proved in P.C.C.

Chart 38. Pembertons of Rendlesham and
Bredfield, Suffolk.

This group of families in Suffolk present some difficulty as to their mutual relationship. The information, up to the present, is derived almost entirely from Wills, and probably a search of the Registers would clear up many points.

The first Will is that of WILLIAM PEMBERTON, B.D., of Rendlesham, dated 22nd Oct., 1598.*

In it he mentions his wife ELIZABETH; and sons, RICHARD, “ MATTHIE,”† Joseph, Benjamin and Paul, and daughters Scholastica and Anne, all the children being minors.

Now we have further Wills between 1625 and 1650 of a Richard, Matthias, Joseph and Paul Pemberton, who were brothers of each other and had a brother Benjamin (who had died before any of them) and two sisters, the name of one being Anne. The name of the other sister is not given, but that it was Scholastica is rendered most probable by the fact that both Matthias and Richard gave one of their daughters this very uncommon name. If this be the case, then the second family would correspond name for name with that of William of Rendlesham, and the conclusion would be irresistible that the Wills are those of his sons.

There remains, however, a difficulty. Paul (No. 6) in his Will of 1625 refers to “my mother Mary Whickett, widow,” whereas the wife of William of Rendlesham, who survived him, was Elizabeth. If the two families are identical, the only solution seems to be that Paul is referring to a mother-in-law, though there is no other evidence that he was married. The Chart, however, is based on this assumption.

William Pemberton, of Bredfield, was certainly a relation of the Rendlesham family, Joseph Pemberton (No. 4) being described as a “kinsman” in William’s Will (1640) of which he was executor. There have been Pembertons living at Bredfield until quite recent years.

We referred in the last Chart (37) to Foster’s confusion of William of Rendlesham with William of High Ongar. It may be well here to extract what refers to the former. “1572-3 B.A. Pembroke College, Cambs., 1576 M.A. (incorporated 11 July 1581 at Oxford) . . . 1584 Rector of Rendlesham, co. Suffolk, 1585 Rector of Ufford” (near Rendlesham). John Pemberton, son of William, of Bredfield, became a prominent person in Ipswich, and died there in 1719.

* Proved P.C.C. 4 May 1599, 42 Kidd.

† So written also in the Marriage Registers of Charlton. See note on Chart 36.

Chart 39. Family of Rev. Joseph Hardwick
Pemberton, of Havering-atte-Bower, Essex.

This family is probably descended from those given in the preceding Chart. Saxted is attached to the Parish of Framlingham, not very far from Rendlesham and Bredfield. The Arms differ from those of any other family, but the three griffins’ heads appear on the chevron.*

The Rev. Joseph Hardwick Pemberton, whose name we have given to the Chart, is well known, apart from his ministerial work, as the celebrated rose-grower.

The family of Pemberton-Barnes is derived from this Mr. Pemberton’s uncle.

* Fox-Davies’ “Armorial Families.” Mr. Pemberton describes the arms as “teasels’ heads,” the sign of a weaver.

Chart 40. The ffrench-Pembertons, of
New Zealand.

This family is descended from a Robert Pemberton (1789-1877) concerning whose parentage there was always a mystery. The following information is derived from correspondence with his daughter, Miss E. Mary Pemberton (No. 6) (who is living at Folkestone), his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Charles ffrench-Pemberton (No. 3), of Sefton, N.Z., and his grand-daughter, Mrs. Ensor, now Mrs. J. C. Butt, of Rollesby Hall, Norfolk (No. 15).

Robert Pemberton would never speak of his parentage, and was always regarded as the adopted son of a Mrs. Southbrook. This lady was the daughter of Count Philip Denoyer who came over from France during the Revolution, and the god-daughter of Queen Charlotte, and as a child spent much of her time at Kensington Palace. After her marriage with Mr. Southbrook she became acquainted with young Robert Pemberton, to whom she became greatly attached, and of whom she took the greatest care, so that he always looked upon her as his mother. He attended Levées at Court with her and her friends until his own marriage in 1824, when he was 40 years old. On his coming of age Robert had £500 settled on him, but it is not known by whom. His wife was Elizabeth Anne Evans, by whom he had five children. In 1838 the family went to France, living at first in the Provinces, and later in Paris. There the eldest son, Robert, studied at the Sorbonne, and took his Bachelor’s degree. Among his father’s many friends was Lady Broomhead, widow of General Broomhead, and daughter of Lord ffrench. She stood as godmother to Robert Pemberton’s second son, Charles ffrench, who thus introduced the distinctive name into this family. In consequence of the revolutionary disturbances in 1848 the Pembertons returned to England and lived at Chelsea until the marriage of the son Charles in 1856, when the son went to New Zealand, and the father moved to St. Albans where he died at the age of 90, in 1877.

Preface	v.
Introduction	XI.

How to Search Text of Entire Book

PART I.