Chart 13. St. Albans Family. West Indian Branch.

A large branch of Pembertons was established in the Leeward Islands of Nevis and St. Christopher in the 17th Century, and some members are still there, while descendants of others, including the father of the compiler of these notes, migrated to the East Indies, and are to be found in various parts of the world to-day.

Hitherto no attempt appears to have been made to trace the history of this Branch, or its connection with any of the families which were in existence in England in the 17th Century.

The length of time which has elapsed since the first emigration, and the deplorable state of the Parish Registers of Nevis before the middle of the 18th Century, made the tracing of the pedigree extremely difficult, but it is considered that sufficient evidence has been collected to establish the descent of this branch from Robert Pemberton IV. of Peterborough* and so to Roger Pemberton I. of St. Albans. This Robert Pemberton’s grandfather (Robert II.),† was a Turkey merchant of the Parish of St. Mary-le-Bow, in the city of London, and he married Susan, daughter of Roger Glover, of Beaucote, co. Berks., and died in 1628.

The grounds on which this connection is based may be briefly summarised as follows:

(1) Before the year 1636 a brother of the above-named Susan Glover (grandmother of Robert IV.) was settled in Nevis, which makes it prima facie more probable that the Pemberton settlers of 50 years later were her descendants rather than those of any other branch of the family in England.

(2) The connection between the families of Glover and Pemberton appears to have been maintained on friendly terms at least until the year 1648, when Robert III..§ a son of Robert Pemberton II. and Susan his wife, was made a Trustee for a portion of the estate of John Glover, another brother of Susan.

(3) One line of the descendants of Robert Pemberton II. and Susan his wife can be clearly traced at Peterborough to Robert IV., their grandson, and his son Roger V.,¶ but no further, whilst the Nevis family begins with a Robert who had a son Roger. The dates are in all respects suitable to the theory that the first Robert and Roger of Nevis are identical with Robert IV. and Roger V. of Peterborough.

(4) The names Roger and Robert appear in every generation of the earlier descendants of Robert II. and Susan Pemberton in England, the eldest son being generally Roger, and the second Robert, and the same two names are of very frequent occurrence in the Nevis family, but not in any other branch of the family.

(5) The coat of arms and the crest used by the Nevis family are identical with those of the St. Albans and Peterborough family, without the quarterings. Taking these five points together, the conclusion arrived at seems practically certain.

* Chart 12, No. 5.

†Chart 10. No. 8, and Chart 12.

§ Chart 12, No. 2.

¶ Chart 12, No. 19.