Elizabeth Barrett Browning

What do you think?

http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Samples2/fred05.htm

The first member of this famous family who came to Jamaica was Hersey Barrett. This pioneer was one of the number in the army of occupation under Penn and Venables. He was the great-great-great-great grandfather of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the poetess of 50, Wimpole Street in London.

The first recorded land patent in the Barrett name was recorded in 1663 in Spanish Town, given and granted by King Charles II to Hersey Barrett and his heirs for encouragement to continue in the Island of Jamaica. This patent is signed by Sir Thomas Modyford, governor, and close friend of Henry Morgan. This is to this present time, a Barrett Street in Spanish Town, and it is probably that the land granted to the family in 1663 was situated in this area of the town.

Hersey Barrett had to sons: Hersey born in 1650 in England, and Samuel born in Jamaica in 1662. He also had a property in Vere between Carlisle Bay and Milk River called “Withywood”, Hersey the pioneer died in 1685. His wife, circa 1670, and his son Hersey in 1726 aged 76. He is buried in the Cathedral in Spanish Town and his tombstone can still be seen there.

Samuel Barrett died in the French invasion at Carlisle Bay age 32, leaving three children, Richard, Samuel and Anne.

Samuel Jnr. acquired land on the Northcoast in St. James called “Cornwall”. He married Elizabeth Wisdom. The Wisdoms were early settlers of the North Coast and owned land near Martha Brae in St. James. Samuel married Elizabeth circa 1721. In 1834 Edward Barrett, their fourth son was born. They eventually had 15 children.

Cinnamon Hill Great House was started by Samuel and finished by his son Edward. Samuel died in 1760 at Cinnamon Hill and was buried in the graveyard there. Edward married Judith Goodin of Spring Estate a few miles west of Rose Hall in 1760. Their daughter Elizabeth married Charles Moulton in 1781, and from this union sprang the Moulton-Barrett family.

Charles Moulton’s father was supposed to be in command of a man-of-war stationed in the West Indies. He was from Norfolk, and the family held lands in Shipden and Ormsby overlooking the North Sea from 1450.

The first child of the union Sarah Goodin Moulton born 1783 at Cinnamon Hill, immortalized by the famous portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence, “Pinkie”, painted when she was 12 years old. She died shortly afterwards in 1795.

Edward Barrett Moulton, the second child, was born in 1785, also at Cinnamon Hill, and was later to become the father of Elizabeth Barrett of Wimpole Street, wife of Robert Browning.

Edward Barrett Moulton took the name and arms of Barrett by license in 1798, becoming known as Edward Barrett Moulton-Barrett.

Both Sarah and Edward left Jamaica at an early age to be educated in England, and never again did they return to the island of their birth.

About Edward, Robert Browning, later to become his son-in-law, tells us that ‘on the early death of his father, he was brought from Jamaica to England, as a ward to Chief Baron Lord Abinger.’ He attending school at Harrow. In 1805 he married Mary Clarke of Newcastle-on-Tyne. Their first child Elizabeth (the poetess), was born in March 1806. There were ten more children later from this union.

Very interesting, Angus and Hatte--I had no idea of this connection!

I bought the book Karen and will be reading it. It sounds fascinating.

The other interesting Creole European historic figure of that era I found but Haitian is Alexandre Dumas, pere. His grandmother was Afro-Caribbean.

google EBB and Jamaica and you'll find all sorts of interesting things which I linked to in the other discussion thread -- interview with Ebony with the author of the biography I am about to read and a site of the top 100 Black Britons that they have put EBB on.

I had no idea how interesting the Jamaican planters were and how much back and forth there was with Europe.