252
NOTES AND QUERIES. [i2;s. vii. SEPT. 25, 1020.
South of London, in whose charge he left his
son Thomas to be sent to school and after-
wards bound an apprentice at South 's
discretion. He refers to his Plantations in
Montserrat, and his storehouse in Plymouth
in the same Island, and to his ships and other
property at. Bristol. On his decease a
commission was granted to his widow Anne
Herbert to administer his estate, his son
being a minor, and on Jan. 4, 1699-1700,
his will was proved by his son Thomas, who
had previously attained full age.
The will of this Thomas Herbert, son of the above Edward, was signed April 7, 1701, and proved June 25, 1702. He describes himself as a chyrurgeon, mentions his " dear mother Ann Salmon wife of Doctor William Salmon," his grandmother Ann Ellis, his Cousin Ann Carroll, Capt. Humphrey South, and Capt. South'^ wife to whom he left small legacies, and his Aunt Hannah Ellis to whom he left
" All my Plantations land and ground in the Island of Montserrat and the reversion and rever- sions rents and arrearages of rents servants slaves cattle houses and appurtena.n ces to the same belonging And also all houses and lands there of which my deceased father Edward Herbert died seized."
He appointed his Aunt Hannah Ellis his sole Executrix. On examining his Probate Act, dated June 25, 1702, I found him described as late of H.M.S. The Falmouth, surgeon, bachelor, deceased. It is therefore quite clear that Edward Herbert of Bristol and Montserrat who married Anne Ellis, and his son Thomas, bachelor, and surgeon, were no" respectively, identical with the Hsrbert who married Mary Mountstephen and Thomas his son who recovered the Plan- tations from Harvey in 1701. If further evidence was necessary it can be furnished by particulars I found in the Colonial Papers at the Record Office, viz., that the Attorney- General in reporting to the Lords Commis- sioners for Trade and Plantations as to the Estate which Thomas Herbert recovered, states :
" When it first accru'd to him it was jointly as co-partner with Jone the wife of John Barnes which Jone was sister to the said John Mount- stephen, and the said Thomas Herbert was son and heir of Mary the other sister but the said Jone being since dead without issue the said Herbert is now sole heir."
This shows that the mother of Thomas Herbert was Mary, not Anne. And further, it was stated by the Harvey faction that the Governor of the Leeward Islands was in collusion with Herbert to purchase the Plantations if Herbert recovered them, and
so was endeavouring improperly to influence
the Court in Herbert's favour, and the Gover-
nor, in consequence, addressed a question to
several members of the General Assembly
at Antigua, who had sat jn the Assembly at
Nevis, as to whether they had ever heard any
such rumours about him. John Perrie, Esq.,
Speaker of the General Assembly, was one
of those to whom the Governor's question
was sent, and he replied : -
" I never heard either publicly or privately that . ever your Excellency had a thought of buying Herbert's Plantations or either of them although very conversant with most of the people of all ranks and particularly acquainted with Mr. Mead's friends and Mr. Herbert, his Wife, and Relations, and never heard the least mention of it from any or either of them."
This proves that Thomas Herbert of ' Nevis was at that time a married man, whereas Thomas, son of Edward Herbert of Bristol and Montserrat, died, as has been shown, a bachelor.
There can be 110 doubt that the Thomas Herbert who recovered his estate in 1701 was not the Thomas who married Dorothy Lytton but father of that Thomas. The husband of Dorothy Lytton was of a later generation, and his younger brother Joseph, who was subsequently President of Nevis, is stated in the burial register of St. John's Church, at Nevis, as Mr. V. L. OLIVER records, to have been over 70 (? 78) at his death in 1767. If 78 his birth year would have been 1689. His eldest brother Thomas is said to have married Dorothy Lytton in 1699.
I have little doubt that the Herberts of Nevis descended from a branch of the Herbert family of Wales, and that the chief difficulty in establishing a connexion between them is due to the fact that prior to, and at the time of, their settling in the Island the Nevis Her- berts were of small estate. The rise of the family in Nevis followed upon the recovery of the Plantations which Thomas Herbert in- herited through his mother Mary Mount- Stephen.
There is much interesting information, about these Herberts, subsequent to 1700, drawn from parish registers and other sources in Nevis, and published in ' Carib- beana,' which is edited by Mr. V. L. OLIVER, who is now undoubtedly the leading autho- rity on British families who settled in the West Indies.
In conclusion it may be of interest to state that Edward Herbert of Bristol and Mont- serrat, merchant, was son of Edward Herbert of the Grange, in Monmouthshire, who was
