Show ContentsPembertyn History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Pembertyn is a name whose history is connected to the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Pembertyn family once 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 Pembertyn surname lived by the barley farm near a hill.

Early Origins of the Pembertyn family

The surname Pembertyn 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 Pembertyn family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Pembertyn 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 Pembertyn History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pembertyn 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 Pembertyn family name include Pemberton, Pembertone, Pembartone, Pambarton and others.

Early Notables of the Pembertyn 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...
Another 52 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Pembertyn Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Pembertyn family

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, 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 Pembertyn surname or a spelling variation of the name include: Alice and John Pemberton, who came to Salem, Mass in 1630; James Pemberton, his wife and two children settled in Barbados in 1630; Phineas Pemberton settled with his wife Phoebe in Maryland in 1682.



  1. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.


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