Ballard Beckford Nembhard (1761 - 1821)
St. Mary/Kingston/St. Elizabeth/England
Ballard Beckford Nembhard Dep. Adj. Gen. for Surrey, Lt. Col. Hon. The 3rd child of Doctor Nembhard was born in 1761. He became an attorney-at-law, in Kingston and Council member in 1808. He was the most illustrious and distinguished of the first generation Nembhard children. He acquired wealth through inheritance and his career, and became an established absentee landlord residing between Jamaica and England. In England he lived at All Saints in Southampton and he also owned a home, New Place House, Southampton. He purchased 450 acres of land in St Elizabeth around 1787 probably from his father in law. In 1787 at aged 26 he married Ann Brooks born in 1767, daughter of Christopher and Deborah Brooks who owned several tracts of land including Burnt Ground in St. Elizabeth. His land in St. Elizabeth was known as Hounslow (formerly known as Comma Penn). By the time of his death of internal gout in 1821 he was Lt. Col. Hon. Ballard Beckford Nembhard. He was buried at Catacombs, All Saints Church, Southampton, Hampshire, England. At his death his estate and slaves were passed on to his wife Ann and their sons. His Will also stated that upon the death of his wife and eldest son Ballard Jacques certain named slaves were to be freed. His wife Ann died in 1818 in Harley Street, London, aged 51. As young men, his sons become landed gentry and as such lived extravagant lifestyles (they did not need to work as they could live of the tenancy rental income of their properties).
Ballard's mother-in-law Deborah Brooks often acted as agent for the Nembhards who were largely absent landlords. In the early 1800s when the law required slave owners to record the names of their slaves it was Deborah Brooks who recorded slave names on the annual register on behalf of Ballard and later William. Her name appears on the original registry of slaves as 'agent' for Ballard Beckford Nembhard.
At the time of Ballard's death Jamaica Almanac for 1822 showed he owned 85 slaves and 417 stock.
Children of Ballard Beckford and Ann Brooks Nembhard, St Elizabeth
b. 1788 John Nembhard died 1791 age 3
b. 1789 Ballard Jacques Nembhard - connected to St. Elizabeth/England/Wales
b. 1791 Letitia Nembhard - England
b. 1795 Henry Nembhard connected: Clarendon/France/England
b. 1796 William Nembhard connected: St. Elizabeth/St. James/England
b. 1802 Eliza Nembhard connected: St. Elizabeth/St. James/England
b. 1804 Edward Nembhard - Jamaica
b. 1809 Thomas Hay Nembhard - England
Ballard Jacques Nembhard
Born 1789 and educated at Eton School, England in 1802-05 Ballard went into the military in 1812 and served in the Peninsular War. 34th Regiment of foot. Fought in the Pennisular War, was placed on half pay in 1818 (as he may have been injured). He married Jane Lloyd Jones of Plas Madoc, North Wales. He died in 1822 a year after his father Ballard, and is buried in Denbigh,Wales. In his Will he left all his estate unconditionally to his wife Jane. Jane later remarried.
Records found in the Jamaica Family Search archives show the following slaves were manumized following his death:
Fortune, Celia, Daniel, Statera, Prue, Christmas alias Hannah McKean – March 1822.
Letitia Nembhard
Born 1791 married William Raynsford Taylor of Madras Civil Service in 1817. She died in 1862 and is buried with her husband in Brighton, England.
Henry Nembhard
Born 1795 was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, England in 1819. "He became wild and extravagant at College and after being refused a marriage proposal by a Miss Sophia Louisa Rowe he took it to heart and disappeared (around the time of his father death). In 1838 whilst Elizabeth Frances Brooks Nembhard (his sister in law) was travelling through France where she stopped in a small town to change horses she accidentally found him imprisoned in jail for a small debt. She paid the debt and took him back to England. He was reconciled with Miss Rowe who was still single. They were married in 1846 at Lee, Blackheath. He subsequently took holy orders and became a rector of Instow, near Bideford 1866-70. He died in 1876 highly respected and is buried in Bideford, North Devon".
The slave register shows that Henry owned several slaves in St. Elizabeth around 1823. At the end of slavery Henry and his brother Edward like many planters, were compensated for having to free their enslaved people. See Edward below.
William Nembhard
Born 1796 inherited a considerable amount of his father’s Hounslow estate and that of his elder brother Henry in St. Elizabeth. In 1827 he married Elizabeth Frances Brooks born July 1808 at Burnt Ground, the eldest daughter of George Brooks of Blenheim, Manchester, Jamaica and Sarah Tharp Petgrave (nee Wright, baptised July 1756). Six years later in 1833 William died in London, aged 37. He is buried in Marylebone burial ground, Paddington Street. At his death his estates Hounslow and Kensington, including slaves were passed down to his children in trust, William Nembhard (II) and Eva Nembhard, who were 6 and 3 years old respectively.
Elizabeth Francis (Brooks) Nembhard widow of William Nembhard Snr. (who died aged 37). Towards the end of slavery like many other former slave owners, Elizabeth and her children left Jamaica for Europe. She settled in a town called Canstatt, Germany with Eva. She died in June 1874 aged 65 at Christoph Strasse 2A, in Canstatt, and her Will was proved at the Principal Registry by her executor (and son-in-law) Reverend Paul Edward Gottheil who at that time was a missionary. She died leaving affects under £1,500. Her property was passed on to her daughter Eva Gottheil (nee Nembhard).
William Nembhard (II) born in Jamaica 1827 Ballard’s grandson inherited the estates Kensington (St. James) and Hounslow (St. Elizabeth) with its stocks and slaves and managed the estate under the guidance of his mother Elizabeth Frances Brooks. Following the sale of his estates in 1845, he led a distinguished military career in India, becoming deputy commissioner, at Jubbulpoor 1858-1865, and Commissioner of East Brear 1867-1877. In 1860 William married Louisa Fanny Whealler in Croydon, London. Medals he received in recognition included: Burmah, with clasp for Pegu, and Indian mutiny with clasp for Central India. He retired with rank of Major General in 1877. He and Louisa Fanny had a daughter called Mabel Nembhard born 1862 in Jubbulpoor, India (author of Nembhards of Jamaica). Major William Nembhard died at his home in London, Devonshire Place in 1905, and was buried in New Cemetery, Chalfont, St Peters. In his Will dated 1860 his left all his inheritance to his wife Louisa Fanny. She died in London in 1924.
Eva Nembhard
Eva was born in 1831, in the parish of St. Dorothy, Middlesex, Ja. (sister to William Nembhard II). Her mother Elizabeth Frances Brooks Nembhard owned half a share in the Kensington Estate, St Elizabeth/St James. Eva married Paul Edward Gottheil in Germany where she settled and raised her children. Her husband a missionary was employed at the time to the British Society for the Promotion of Christianity among Jews. In Germany, Eva (Nembhard) Gottheil and her husband the Reverend Paul Gottheil had eight children: Gustav b. 1853 in Canstatt; William b. 1855; Jessie b. 1857; Marion b. 1858; Eva b.1860; Elisabeth Brooks b. 1861; Constanze Druet b.1863; and Rebekka b.1869 Stuttgart, Wurttemberg. Eva died in 1895 in Munich, Germany.
1841 Census in Midlothian, Scotland shows that Elizabeth, William (13 yrs) and Eva (10 years) were living in Scotland.
Note about Eva's husband:
Rev. Paul Eduard Gottheil was the elder brother of Rabbi Gustav Gottheil, of the Temple Emmanuel, New York (one of the most influential, well-known and controversial Reform Jewish leaders of his time ). Paul was born at Franstadt (Germany), April 5, 1818, died at Stuttgart in 1893. Reverend Gottheil was one of the most distinguished converts and missionaries in the nineteenth century. He studied theology at Basel and then entered the service of the British Society in 1848, in which he continued all his life. He was for many years minister of the English Church at Canstatt, and then minister of the Diakonessenhaus at Stuttgart. In both offices he was very successful.
Note about William Nembhard (II) and Eva Nembhard
From Nembhard of Jamaica:
“Owing to the depreciation of all Jamaican property it would have been advisable to sell the Hounslow and Kensington Estates on the death of their father in 1833 but owing to the tenor of his Will this was impossible until 1852 when Eva would become of age. By that time the estates themselves had greatly lost in productiveness and so far from being a source of income Mrs Nembhard (Elizabeth Frances) and her son, William had to make yearly allowance for their upkeep, a severe tax. When at last it was legally permissible to sell them, one fetched no more than £100 while the other not even money could be obtained. It was parted with for a hundred head of cattle, which sold for about £80.00. According to Mabel Nembhard, this ended the connection of the
original Nembhard family with Jamaica.”
The slave register shows that William Nembhard and Eva Nembhard owned several slaves in St. Elizabeth. The register also shows that their grandmother Deborah Brooks owned slaves with the surname Nembhard.
1845 Jamaica Almanac shows that John Maitland owned stock and apprentices (former slaves) at Hounslow, St. Elizabeth. A history of the Maitlands of Jamaica is also available on the internet.
Eliza Nembhard
Daughter of Ballard Beckford Nembhard, born 1802 in Chalfont, England married Robert Alexander Pre, son of Sir Robert Alexander, a baronet from the House of Alexander. She died in 1850 buried in Old Cemetery, Chalfont, St. Peters, England.
Edward Nembhard
Son of Ballard Beckford Nembhard born in St. Elizabeth in 1804, died unmarried in 1836 aged 32. At his death his property was passed to his sister-in-law, Elizabeth Francis Brooks Nembhard, widow to his late brother William and £400 each to his natural sons Henry, John and William and sole Executors. (No other details of Henry, John and William found in Mabel's publication). Although Elizabeth assumed Executor-ship to the Will, she disclaimed all beneficial interest to the inheritance. These sons may have been mixed/mulatto and it is not clear what happened to these illegitimate sons when the Nembhards returned to Europe. Perhaps they remained in St. Elizabeth or elsewhere in Jamaica, or went abroad? (There is a story that the Nembhards from St. Elizabeth were spawned from three Nembhard brothers!)
Under The Slavery Abolition Act 1833, brothers Edward and Rev. Henry Nembhard were compensated for having to free their enslaved people, like most planters at the time, even though the system of Apprenticeship was implemented. The records show the following claims were successfully made:
Kensington Estate
12 enslaved
Edward Nembhard received £118 8s 3d 5th December 1836
Rev Henry Nembhard received £63 4s 9d 20th February 1837
18 enslaved
Edward Nembhard received £431 2s 11d 10th October 1836
Hounslow Estate
26 enslaved
Edward Nembhard received £450s 19s 3d 10th October 1836
36 enslaved
Edward Nembhard received £508 19s 5d 27th February 1837
Rev Henry Nembhard received £270 10s 5d 27th February 1837
Thomas Hay Nembhard
Ballard’s youngest son, born 1809 in England went into the British military, and gained the rank of Captain. He retired in 1844 in England. He died in 1892 aged 84 and was buried at Locksbrook cemetery, in Bath, England. Adela Harriet was his first wife. They married in Somerset in 1837. She died the following year in September, the same month she gave birth to their daughter Gertrude Eliza Nembhard, 1838. He re-married Eliza Eyre in 1844 at Eyre Court Church in the county of Galway. Eliza died in Bath in 1891 and was buried at Locksbrook cemetery with her husband.
Gertrude Eliza Nembhard born 1838 married her cousin Captain John Guy Courtenay Everard 1859 at Instow, North Devon. She died in 1908 and was buried at Enmore, Somerset. Their son Thomas Hay Nembhard Evered, Imperial Yeomany died in 1901 of wounds received in the South African war.
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