A Middleton & No Pembertons in Tithing Maps of Nantwich

Searched the tithing maps (http://maps.cheshire.gov.uk/tithemaps/) for any Pembertons and Middletons near Nantwich. Found only William Middleton, who occupied a croft (plot 81) owned by William Foster and John Minshull in the township of Alvaston. William's use was mowing. It was recorded as 1 rood and 8 perches. A rood is an acre and 8 perches is 132 feet so am not certain what that means. The shape of the parcel is a fat teardrop.

The World Wide Pemberton Family website is Ready

Member registration has been working for several weeks, payment of membership dues has been working for a couple weeks, the content is ready for prime time (I think) and we will begin our membership drive soon. Meanwhile, if you are interested in the Pemberton lineages (and DNA has proven there are several) then you will want to join now before dues go up. Join here.

The First Pemberton?

There is a mention of a very early Pemberton on the website for The Hissem-Montague Family here: http://balder.prohosting.com/shissem/Hissem_Villiers.html

Pembertons move south into Shropshire (south of Marbury)

The Encyclopedia of heraldry: or General armory of England, Scotland, and ... by John Burke, Sir Bernard Burke lists the following interesting comment:

(Pemberton (Millichope, co. Salop; descended from a family seated at Pemberton, co. Lancaster, some of whom removed at an early period into Shropshire. The present representative is the Rev. Bobert Norgrave Pemberton, of Millichope Hall, whose great uncle, Edward Pemberton, esq. was high sheriff of Shropshire in 1754)

Pemberton's from Middleton, St. George Parish, Durham Co

The Encyclopedia of heraldry: or General armory of England, Scotland, and ... by John Burke, Sir Bernard Burke lists the following interesting comment:

Pemberton (Aislaby, co. Durham, A.D. 1595; derived from John Pemberton of Stanhope, living in 1400. The last male heir, William Pemberton, of Middleton St. George, esq. d. num. in 1801, when the representation of the family devolved on his cousin George Allen, of Blackwell Grange, esq. M.P. grandson of James Allen, of Blackwell Grange, esq. by Elizabeth his wife, dau. of William Pemberton, esq. who was great-grandson of John Pemberton, of Aislaby, esq. by Isabel Grey, his wife, granddau. of Sir Ralph Grey, of Chillingham, knt. The present representative of the Pemberton family is William Allan, of Blackwell Grange, esq.)

A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, 1848, states in regard to Middleton (St. George):

"MIDDLETON (St. George), a parish, in the union of Darlington, S. W. division of Stockton ward, S. division of the county of Durham, 6 miles (E. S. E.) from Darlington; containing 433 inhabitants. This parish, which is bounded on the south by the river Tees, comprises about 3100 acres, and includes the village of Middleton-One-Row and the hamlet of Oak-Tree; the surface is undulated, the soil clay. ..." This is about 80 miles north of Middleton, Manchester Co.

Diary of Samuel Pepys and Green Olives

Reviewing old emails about the Pemberton's gatepost sign, I saw a reference to Samuel Pepys [say peeps] a Londoner of renown who kept an extensive diary from 1660 to 1669. Today, Wikipedia says, "Although Pepys had no maritime experience, he rose by patronage, hard work and his talent for administration, to be the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under both King Charles II and subsequently King James II." The diary is being published a bit at a time. A search today found a reference to a Pemberton that should have been spelled Pembleton - a dance instructor.

King Charles II married a girl from Portugal

And what do they grow there if it isn't olives - "While olives are green and commodities rough, this is ..."

First Pemberton DNA Sample Submitted

Today I sent the first DNA sample (mine) to Family Tree DNA. Meanwhile, my brother informs me that he submitted a sample years ago to the Sorenson DNA lab so it will be fun to see how closely we match. We are all hoping that many others will join in the DNA data base for the Pemberton surname. The Family Tree DNA project for Pemberton is here.

Will of Sarah Pemberton 1696

... And my body I commit to the Earth to be decently buryed by my late dear husband Sir Matthias Pemberton ... We presume the preposition "by" means "beside" not "through the instrumentality of".

Will of John Pemberton, 1648

Proved in London, 18 February 1651 No connection visible there.

The Pickax Dream

In my dream (see post of March 26th), the pickax was buried up to the handle collar (the handle lying horizontal on the soil), sharp end down in a recently tilled farm field. It occurs to me that the field may represent Pemberton's hough, and that John Pemberton, blacksmith, of Thornton Hough, may have come into owership of George Pemberton's hough - thus the pick is in the hough. More likely, the pick is in Thornton Hough. The signature mark on the little bit of paper attached to the top end of the pick, must be that of someone linking this John to one of my George's.

I have completed the transcription of the Will of John Pemberton, Blacksmith, of Thornton Hough, 1664, proved 1669 and John gives his wife's name as Margery and his children as John, Robert, William, and Elline. John blacksmith must have been born between 1605 and 1635.

There is a family showing up in the baptisms in St Oswald, Chester, Cheshire of interest here. George Pemberton is the father of these children: George 1640, John 1642, Hester 1643, and Elizabeth 1644. Its about 12 crow miles from Chester to Thorton Hough, which is on the Wirral. Was this son John named after the blacksmith, an uncle maybe? I have to work this a bit. Maybe the father of George the first was a John?

The only record I have found of a Sarah Middleton, who married George Pemberton I, is in Nantwich, 1661, so this George baptised in 1640 would almost have to be George Pemberton the zeroeth, and his father George Pemberton the -1th (if they are indeed in the same lineage).

Will of George Pemberton, yeoman, Wallesey, 1685

Finished transcribing today. This will is of particular interest because although it does not mention a son George, it does mention a daughter in law Elizabeth making it a tantalizing candidate for the will of our George Pemberton I whose son George married Elizabeth Brooks. However, there is a serious problem because George II and Elizabeth had children in Virginia beginning in 1718, 33 years after this will.

Meeting with Dixie Pemberton

I had the distinct pleasure of spending the afternoon with Dixie, my wonderful collaborator in this research. We finally could talk face to face after all these months of working together. It was so great!!

Finding John Pemberton blacksmith's family

Examined the will of John Pemberton blacksmith 1664: wife Margery, children John, Robert, William, and Elline. Sorted the baptismal records of the parishes (both the Cheshire Parish Register Transcription Project and the familySearch christenings data I extracted a few months ago) and tried to identify this family - could not find them. Specifically, I could not find a John with even two of the four children named. This is an interesting "not find" because it seems to say something about the completeness of the records. I think I shall try to do this same thing with the George Pemberton wills and see what happens.

Started the Pemberton Surname Research Blog

Today I started the Pemberton Surname Research blog here: http://pembertonsurname.blogspot.com/