Pember History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The name Pember is of Anglo-Saxon origin and came from when a family lived in the township of Pemberton which was in Wigan in the county of Lancashire. This surname was originally derived from Old Welsh and Old English terms which denoted that the original bearers of the Pember surname lived by the barley farm near a hill.

Early Origins of the Pember family

The surname Pember was first found in Lancashire at Pemberton, a township, in the parish and union of Wigan, hundred of West Derby. Adam de Pemberton, who held lands here, was living in the reign of Richard I. In the 34th of Edward I., another Adam de Pemberton brought an action of trespass against Thurstan de Northlegh and Matilda his wife, for cutting down his woods at Pemberton under pretext of taking estovers. 1 Another early branch of the family was found at Aislaby in Durham. "There was anciently a chapel dedicated to St. Thomas the Martyr, which was founded by William de Aslakby (now Aislaby) and Agnes his wife, in 1313; and the place was for several generations the residence of the family of Pemberton, whose mansion has been converted into an inn and several other tenements." 1

Early History of the Pember family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Pember research. Another 91 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1560, 1595, 1611, 1624, 1694, 1697 and 1771 are included under the topic Early Pember History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pember Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Pember family name include Pemberton, Pembertone, Pembartone, Pambarton and others.

Early Notables of the Pember family

Distinguished members of the family include

Robert Pember (died 1560), an English classical scholar, he was a reader in Greek at Trinity College, Cambridge and taught Roger Ascham Greek
Henry Pemberton (1694-1771), was an English physician and writer from London. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society and edited some of Sir Isaac Newton's work
Sir Francis Pemberton (1624-1697) was an English judge, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench. "The mansion of Millichope Park, Munslow, Salop, the seat of the Rev. R. N. Pemberton, is in the pure Gr...

Pember migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Pember surname or a spelling variation of the name include :

Pember Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Charles Pember, who landed in Maryland in 1656 2

Pember Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Fra Pember, who arrived in Virginia in 1701 2
Alice Pember, who arrived in Virginia in 1701 2
Mary Pember, who landed in Georgia in 1735 2

Pember migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Pember Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Rev. F. Pember, British settler travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Hydaspes" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 28th October 1868 3
Mrs. Pember, British settler travelling from Gravesend with 2 children aboard the ship "Hydaspes" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 28th October 1868 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Pember (post 1700) +

Ronald Henry "Ron" Pember (1934-2022), British actor, stage director and dramatist, known for The Invisible Man (1984), Secret Army (1977) and American Playhouse (1980)
Franklin Tanner Pember (1841-1924), American entrepreneur, naturalist and philanthropist, founder of Pember Library and the Pember Museum of Natural History in Granville, New York
Dave Pember (b. 1978), American Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2002
Phoebe Yates Levy Pember (1823-1913), American Jewish nurse and female administrator of Chimborazo Hospital at Richmond, Virginia during the American Civil War
Edward Henry Pember QC JP (1833-1911), English barrister, father of Francis William Pember, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University
Francis William Pember (1862-1954), English cricketer from Hatfield, Hertfordshire
George Hawkins "G.H." Pember (1837-1910), English theologian and author
Francis William Pember JP (1862-1954), British barrister, Warden of All Souls College, Oxford (1914-1932) and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University (1926-1929)
Arthur Pember (1835-1886), British sportsman, journalist and author, first president of The Football Association (1863-1867)
Ron Pember (b. 1934), British actor, stage director and dramatist

Citations +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html