Individual Details
Sir John Yeamans
(February 28, 1611 - August, 1674)
YEAMANS, Sir John, governor of South Carolina, born in Bristol, England, about 1605; died in Barbadoes about 1676. He was the son of a cavalier, and, not being in good circumstances, emigrated to Barbadoes and became a planter. In 1663 several residents of that island, not being satisfied with their condition, and desiring to establish a colony of their own, sent a vessel to examine the country extending from the 36th degree of north latitude to the river San Mateo, which had already been erected into a territory in London under the name of Carolina. The report being favorable, the planters purchased of the Indians a tract of land thirty-two miles square on Cape Fear river, and begged of the proprietaries a confirmation of the purchase and a separate charter of government. Not all their request was granted, but Sir John was appointed their governor, with a jurisdiction that extended from Cape Fear to San Marco. Tile country was called "Clarendon." In the autumn of 1665 he arrived from Barbadoes with a band of emigrants and founded a town on the south bank of Cape Fear river that proved so utter a failure that even its site is now in dispute. Yet the settlement flourished for a time, and exported boards, staves, and shingles to the parent colony. Tile traffic proved profitable, emigration increased, and in 1666 the plantation is said to have contained 800 souls. Yeamans seems to have managed affairs satisfactorily, but after a time he returned to the West Indies. In 1670 three ship-loads of emigrants that had arrived from England sailed up Ashley river and began a town on "the first; high land convenient for tillage and pasturing." In the copy of the original fundamental constitutions given them before leaving London, John Lock, Sir John Yeamans, and James Carteret were created landgraves. The following year the colony was increased by Dutch emigrants from New York and others from Holland, and by the arrival of Sir John from Barbadoes with African slaves, the first that were landed on this continent.
He proved, however, to be "a sordid calculator," bent only on acquiring a fortune. He encouraged expense, and enriched himself, but without gaining either respect or hat, red. The proprietaries complained that "it must be a bad soil" if industrious men could not get a living out of it, and protested that they did not propose to maintain the idle. In 1674 Yeamans was removed from office, and at once sailed for Barbadoes, where he soon afterward died. Virtual Americans Biographies / www.famousamericans.net
2. Sir John Yeamans is descended from a famous family line of Yeamans or Yeomans of Bristol, England. Sir Robert Yeamans a brother, was a High Sheriff and Mayor of Bristol. 3. Round House has stood on the corner at the foot of the big hill in Bathsheba [Barbados] for over 200 years. John (later Sir John) Yeamans had it built before he shot Colonel Benjamin Berringer and fled to Carolina. The exact details of the whole affair are a bit vague but it is clear that Yeamans had an affair with Colonel Benjamin Berringers' wife Margaret, and the rest, as they say, is history. It's about an hour horse ride from Bathsheba to the Abbey, in St Peter where the Berringers lived. Yeaman rode there quite often from the Round House. He went by day to organize workers with his friend and business partner Colin Berringer. Berringer and Yeamans were real estate speculators and planters. They were clearing the densely wooded area of Cherry Tree Hill, with the idea of selling land to the new arrivals who were coming to Barbados. The land was fertile and ideal for agriculture besides being close to Bathsheba and the spectacular view of Cherry Tree Hill. At dinners, the Berringers and John Yeamans talked of dreams, life, ambition, the military, adventure, and power. The Berringers loved his visits, but to Mrs. Berringer, John Yeamans was a saviour. She was lost in long, lonely days in a rambling mansion, tucked away in a wilderness of mahogany trees, far away from like minds and interest. Her husband did not understand her loneliness. He was content with his life, the business, the military reserves, the plantation and the stately home. Their home was a magnificent Jacobean mansion that Banjamin had built and decorated with taste. It was built in the classic style complete with four chimneys. Outside, the lawn stretched 100 feet to the great garden wall. Oleander, hibiscus, Ixora and tropical flowers grew, almost wild, in the formal beds. Royal palms lined the long drive. They were an established family living in luxury. The plantation was manned by black slaves and a few white men who had come to Barbados as indentured laborers. Sugar, which was introduced to Barbados in the 1630's, was very labor intensive and in the early days indentured laborers were recruited from England. They agreed to work for seven years without pay in exchange for their passage and keep. But this was not enough, young English men were kidnapped and they along with convicted criminals were shipped to Barbados. Some like Henry Morgan escaped the tyranny of this system and lived as buccaneers, raiding Spanish galleons as they carted cargo between Europe and the New world. Later white labor was replaced with black African slaves from Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Cameroon. Margaret Berringer felt lost and alone. She was uncomfortable with the workers and the slaves. One white worker, a foreman, had been a convicted criminal. He was crude and frightening. Often she stayed indoors just to avoid his stare and uncouth manner. "I am a prisoner in paradise," she thought. Margaret was an ambitious and determined woman who struggled with the prejudices of the day. Her father was Reverend John Forester, and her upbringing was strict and conservative. She felt she had always been a prisoner of some sort, hiding her emotions, pretending to be demure and lady like, to please her parents and live up to the expectations smothering her. She married Berringer because it was somehow expected. Women had no say, they were property, but to be fair Berringer was wealthy and powerful and the idea of living in his castle-like home was intriguing. The intrigue did not last. Cherry Tree Hill was a deserted forest where she remained hidden from everyone. Bridgetown was two and a half hours away by carriage; Speighstown was closer but people were moving to the south. They had few friends and no one just popped in as they did in Bridgetown. Yeamans visits brought relief, laughter, and excitement. She laughed at his jokes and loved his keen sense of the world. He understood so much and he understood her. They talked sometimes with little need of words, sensing thoughts, emotions and intentions. It seemed that they had known each other forever, even when they first met. Secretly they walked in the woods. Sometimes they rode their horses to Bathsheba and strolled along the deserted beach at Cattlewash. They found pretexts to meet whenever they could. Benjamin was an old fashioned man. Honor and respect were the foundations of his morality. He did not want to believe his wife was unfaithful but there were rumors. He overheard workers talking, he saw the secret in faces and was aware of the abrupt silence when he happened on plantation gossip. This was unusual, he connected it with Yeaman and his wife. One day as he walked through the grounds he saw Nyala, a leader amongst the slaves, alone crushing cane in the windmill grinder. "What do you know of the miss's and Mr. Yeamans," he asked point blank. "Some boys done see them together, he don't got no respect that Mr. Yeamans." Nyala never minced words. Yeamans had become careless with his affections, and Colonel Berringer, a military man of honour, had only one recourse. The duel was a spontaneous affair, arranged with the best British manners. "You know what this means, John. You can't be with another man's wife and not expect him to do something about it." "But, I love her," Yeamans replied. "These things happen, its not personal Benjamin". "All the same, no one makes a fool of me in my house and gets away with it, what will it be, pistols or sabers?" "Why not just a good punch up, old boy, there is no need for anything fatal, Benjamin." "Pistols then, and may the best man win." Yeamans did not want to kill Colonel Benjamin but he did not want to die. In a duel you can shoot to kill, to maim, or miss. He was sure that Benjamin would aim to kill and that left no choice. From a distance the body is like a dartboard, aim for the middle and you have a chance of hitting somewhere. Miss and you will certainly be hit in the return volley. The two men stood back to back and on command walked the twenty paces away from each other. They turned together and fired.
Yeamans married Mrs.Berringer and moved into the Abbey shortly after they buried Benjamin. But, life was not easy. Friends and family turned against them. The 1660s were hard times for Barbados. There had been a locust plague in 1663 that destroyed crops across the island. A fire had burned Bridgetown to the ground and provisions were scarce. A major hurricane in 1667 blew down sheds and uprooted trees on the plantation and the drought of 1668 just about ruined them. The final blow came when the Barbados court ruled that the Abbey be returned to Berringer's children. In 1669, the couple packed their bags and moved to Carolina. John Yeamans became a leading figure in founding the colony. He was appointed Governor after just three years. He died a few years later and Margaret, once again lost and alone, fell into the arms of a new man and remarried. The two great homes of these men still stand as icons of a different age. The Abbey now called St. Nicolas Abbey, was named after Berringer's grand-daughter who married George Nicholas. It is now a private home and a designated historic property that is open for public viewing on occasion. Yeamans legacy in Barbados ended with John. There were no more deaths from duels in Barbados. Round House, built of solid coral with walls that are several feet think, has survived its rugged environment. Today the Round House is a fine guesthouse and restaurant. This story is based on fact, but the account in Campbell's History of Barbados indicates that Berringer was poisoned and not shot. Whichever the case, it is thought that Yeamans killed Berringer or had him killed so that he could inherit his estate and his wife. The estate was eventually sold to the Cumberbatch brothers for payment of back taxes.
4. In the early 1600s John Yeamans, Sir John's father and husband of Blanche Germains, owned Bristol's largest brewery. It was much later sold to the Saunders family, who ran it for a hundred years. It eventually became the Georges' and then the Courage Brewery. Yeamans had 13 children, John was the eldest (born in 1611) and Robert was born in 1616. Sir John Yeamans (as he later became) was one of the early settlers to prosper on the Caribbean island of Barbados. He owned a sugar plantation in Barbados. Yeamans' brother Robert was the Sheriff, Mayor (in 1669) and Chief Magistrate of Bristol, as well as a ship owner and a merchant, who had an early involvement in the Caribbean trade. Redland Court was owned by Sir Robert Yeamans in the 1680s. He died childless. Sir John's grandson, Colonel Robert Yeamans of Barbados, eventually inherited the property.
The will of Sir John Yeamans has been reproduced in the South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Volume XI, Edited by Mabel Louise Webber and published by Walker, Evans and Cogswell Company of Charleston South Carolina in 1910. I have taken the liberty to update the language somewhat. This will can be found on page 2-7 of the Registrar?s Records, book for the years 1675-1696 in the Office of the Historical Commission, Columbus, South Carolina. It reads: December 13th 1675 A true copy of the last will and testament of Sir John Yeamans Knight and Baronet late of Carolina deceased proved and approved of by Sir William Yeamans Baronet son and heir to the said deceased and sole executor in the said will nominated (by the name of William Yeamans Esquire) as by the attestation of Sir Jonathan Attkins Governor of Barbados where unto he has set his hand and caused his Majesties great seal appointed for said Barbados and other of the Caribbean Islands to be affixed together with said Sir William Yeamans his letter of attorney to Colonel Joseph West and Lieutenant Colonel John Godfree or either of them attested with his hand and seal brought before proved and approved of by Colonel Joseph West Governor of this north part of the province of Carolina the 14th of September 1675. In the name of God Amen. I Sir John Yeamans Baronet being ready to imbarque my self to the province of Carolina and well considering the uncertainty of human condition by extraordinary hazards yet accompany such undertakings do therefore the settling of my worldly concernment declare this my last will and testament in manner following, hereby revoking all former wills whatsoever. First: I will that all the debts I duly owe be paid justly and with all diligence and paid by my executor here after named. Item: In the first place as is my affection I give and bequeath unto my wife the Lady Margaret Yeamans in full recompense of her dower thirty thousand pounds of ?Muscavados? sugar annually from the day of my death during her natural life and also during that term aforesaid I give and bequeath to her the entire use of the house where in I now dwell, together with all the lands belonging thereunto containing about forty five acres, bounding upon the lands of Henry Mills Esquire, Thomas Merricke Esquire and the lands of that Lieutenant Colonel Berrenger died seized together also with all the houses and edifices thereon being provided always that my said wife shall make habitation thereon, and not lease it out and to be the place ? her abode when so ever she please, so that she continue Item: I do bequeath also during my dear wife?s natural life these Negroes following (vide) old Hannah and her children Jupiter, little Tony and Joane also I give and bequeath unto her eight milk cows which have been accustomed to be milked about the house and all the hogs, turkeys, ducks and fowls that at present in any part of my possessions and my will is that the particular of stock in this last clause expressed shall be in her absolute power and disposal from the date of these presents, and also all the furniture of my said dwelling house and house hold stuff whatsoever. All my plate jewels, rings, money, linen bedding and all utensils in my said dwelling house being or thereunto belonging, and also my coach and the four horses and harnesses and also the choice of any one of my horses fit for riding for her use to be and remain to her and her heirs forever in recompense of the care and education of her children and in full consideration of her dower. Item: I give and bequeath unto my said wife all the Negroes young and old that Lt. Colonel Berringer died possessed of and that came to her afterwards by right of Administration and to me by intermarriage with her together also with all the increase. Item: My will is also that ye custody of all my children unmarried and under the age of twenty one years and till they shall attain it shall be in the care of my dear wife and that she educate them in such manner as shall seem fit to her judgment and they prove capable of and not withstanding the provision I have already made and the charge thereof may be less felt by my dear wife my will is that the executor hereafter named provide at his own charge one decent suit of apparel for each of my children yearly, the same to be delivered to my said wife for their use. Item: I give and bequeath unto my daughter Willoughby one hundred and twenty thousand pounds of Muscavados sugar to be paid by my executor within ten years after her marriage or when she arrives at the age of twenty one years, which ? first happen. Item: I give and bequeath unto my son Ro two hundred thousand pounds of good Muscavadoes sugar to by my executor when he shall arrive to the age of twenty one years. Item: I give and bequeath to my daughter Anne one hundred and twenty thousand pounds of good Muscavados sugar to be paid by my executor within two years after her marriage or when she comes to the age of twenty one years which of them shall first happen. Item: I give and bequeath unto my two sons George and Edward each of them one hundred and fifty thousand pounds of good Mucavadoes sugar to be paid to each of them when they or each of them shall arrive to the age of twenty one years by my executor. Item: I give and bequeath to my wife?s daughter Margaret forever 17 thousand pounds of Muscavadoes sugar within three years to be paid by my executor after her marriage or she attains to the age of twenty one years which shall first happen. Item: I give and bequeath unto my wife's son John forty thousand pounds of sugar within three years next after he shall attain to the age of twenty one years. Item: I give and Bequeath unto my daughter Mrs. Frances Hackett the present wife of Robert Hackett Esquire within four years after my decease twenty thousand pounds of sugar to buy her a ring by my executor. Item: I give to my wife's daughter Mrs. Maycoke five thousand pounds of sugar to buy her a ring to be paid by my executor. Item: I give to my wife's son Symon the choice of my horses for his own use, and to be delivered by my executor. Item: I give to my nephew Samuel Woorey twenty thousand pounds of sugar to be paid by my executor within three years after my decease in further lieu of his time spent with me. Item: my further will is that if my wife dies before my children or any of the arrive to their age or time of marriage as aforesaid, that then my executor to pay yearly every year five thousand pounds of Muscavados sugar for each of them maintenance and education to whomsoever my said wife shall appoint to have the custody of them, or for want of such appointment to whomsoever shall have them in custody to educate them and maintain them until they arrive respectively to their age or days of marriage. Item: I make my son William esquire my whole and sole executor for the payment of my debts and legacies herein mentioned and for the due and punctual proof of all other matters that to the duty of an executor belongs and do bequeath unto said son all my estates real and personal disposed of in the my will with all reversions and remainders to him and to his heirs for ever upon express condition that he does punctually perform all the bequests and orders in this will expressed and to this my last will and testament I have put my hand and seal this twentieth day of May in the year f our Lord one thousand six hundred seventy one. Test. John Yeamans (seal) William Browne Thomas Bamfield Nicholas Carteret Item: I do further will that my dear wife have my vessel ?Ketch? called by the name of the Hopewell now in voyage to Virginia and expected hither to enjoy for her and heirs for ever. Item: I give and bequeath unto my said dear wife two parcels of land containing twenty acres and ten acres in each one I bought of Phelps bounding on Mrs. Sandiford, and on Thomas Jones the other bought of James Masters and Henry Jones bounding on Mrs. Gay, my brother Foster and on Robert Clifton, to her and her heirs forever. To this addition also of my last will annexed to the other sheet I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 20th day of May 1671. Sealed and delivered these two sheets John Yeamans (seal) Containing my will in the presence of William Browne Thomas ?Beddingfield? Nicholas Carteret Barbados By his Excellency Mr. William Browne this day personally appeared before me and made oath on the holy Evangelists that he did see Sir John Yeamans Baronet sign, seal and publish this will as his last will and testament and that he was at the doing thereof of sound and disposing memory to the best of this deponents knowledge given under my hand the first day of December 1674 Jonathan Attkins A true copy attested the 15th day of June 1675 p Edwyn Steede Deputy Secretary Barbados By his Excellency These are to certify all whom these presents shall concern that upon the fifteenth day of June in the year of our Lord God one thousand six hundred seventy five, and the seven and twentieth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord Charles the Second by the grace of God of England, Scotland, France and Ireland King defender of the faith and ?cet? , personally appeared before me John ?Prysse? aged twenty five years or thereabouts, Clerk to Edwyn Steede Esquire Deputy Secretary of the aforesaid Island and made oath on the Holy Evangelists, that the annexed pages copies of the last will and testament of Sir John Yeamans Baronet and the letter testamentary thereon both attested under the hand of the said Edwyn Steede were by him said John Prysse examined and compared with the records now remaining in the said secretaries office, and that they are true copies of the said records in testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused His Majesties great seal appointed presents affixed the day and year above written. J. Atkins To all whom these presents shall come or may concern. [Ibid, page 7] Barbados By his Excellency ? know ye ? that 1st Dec. 1674, before me the last will and testament of Sir John Yeamans Baronet deceased was proved ? and therefore Sir William Yeamans Baronet, son and heir to said deceased and sole executor is admitted to take custody and administer all estate of said deceased 2nd Dec. 1674 Jonathan Atkins A copy attested by Edwyn Steede Deputy Secretary 15 June 1675 [Ibid, page 8] I Sir William Yeamans Baronet heir and sole executor of the last will and testament of Sir John Yeamans Baronet deceased, appoint well beloved friends Colonel Joseph West and Lieutenant Colonel John Godfrey my lawful attorneys in the Province of Carolina 16 June 1675 [witnesses] Will Yeamans William Mayers Dorcas Smith Carolina by the Governor The aforesaid William Mayers this day made oath before me that he saw said Sir William Yeamans sign etc. the above power of attorney. At Charles Town, 8th Sept. 1675 Re: Sir John Yeamans's will 1671 Arch Yeomans 2/19/06 http://genforum.genealogy.com/yeamans/messages/56.html
1. YEAMANS, Sir John, governor of South Carolina, born in Bristol, England, about 1605; died in Barbadoes about 1676. He was the son of a cavalier, and, not being in good circumstances, emigrated to Barbadoes and became a planter. In 1663 several residents of that island, not being satisfied with their condition, and desiring to establish a colony of their own, sent a vessel to examine the country extending from the 36th degree of north latitude to the river San Mateo, which had already been erected into a territory in London under the name of Carolina. The report being favorable, the planters purchased of the Indians a tract of land thirty-two miles square on Cape Fear river, and begged of the proprietaries a confirmation of the purchase and a separate charter of government. Not all their request was granted, but Sir John was appointed their governor, with a jurisdiction that extended from Cape Fear to San Marco. Tile country was called "Clarendon." In the autumn of 1665 he arrived from Barbadoes with a band of emigrants and founded a town on the south bank of Cape Fear river that proved so utter a failure that even its site is now in dispute. Yet the settlement flourished for a time, and exported boards, staves, and shingles to the parent colony. Tile traffic proved profitable, emigration increased, and in 1666 the plantation is said to have contained 800 souls. Yeamans seems to have managed affairs satisfactorily, but after a time he returned to the West Indies. In 1670 three ship-loads of emigrants that had arrived from England sailed up Ashley river and began a town on "the first; high land convenient for tillage and pasturing." In the copy of the original fundamental constitutions given them before leaving London, John Lock, Sir John Yeamans, and James Carteret were created landgraves. The following year the colony was increased by Dutch emigrants from New York and others from Holland, and by the arrival of Sir John from Barbadoes with African slaves, the first that were landed on this continent. He proved, however, to be "a sordid calculator," bent only on acquiring a fortune. He encouraged expense, and enriched himself, but without gaining either respect or hat, red. The proprietaries complained that "it must be a bad soil" if industrious men could not get a living out of it, and protested that they did not propose to maintain the idle. In 1674 Yeamans was removed from office, and at once sailed for Barbadoes, where he soon afterward died.
Virtual Americans Biographies / www.famousamericans.net
2. Sir John Yeamans is descended from a famous family line of Yeamans or Yeomans of Bristol, England. Sir Robert Yeamans (a brother or cousin) was a High Sheriff and Mayor of Bristol.
Sir John Yeamans' father or grandfather was involved in a plot to overthrow the parliamentary government instilled by the much hated Cromwell. The plot attempt to open the gates of the city to Prince Rupert was discovered and William Yeamans and Robert Yeamans were summarily executed in front of their home on what is today known as Wine Street near the ancient Bristol Castle.
Wikipedia
3. Round House has stood on the corner at the foot of the big hill in Bathsheba [Barbados] for over 200 years. John (later Sir John) Yeamans had it built before he shot Colonel Benjamin Berringer and fled to Carolina. The exact details of the whole affair are a bit vague but it is clear that Yeamans had an affair with Colonel Benjamin Berringers' wife Margaret, and the rest, as they say, is history.
It's about an hour horse ride from Bathsheba to the Abbey, in St Peter where the Berringers lived. Yeaman rode there quite often from the Round House. He went by day to organize workers with his friend and business partner Colin Berringer. Berringer and Yeamans were real estate speculators and planters. They were clearing the densely wooded area of Cherry Tree Hill, with the idea of selling land to the new arrivals who were coming to Barbados. The land was fertile and ideal for agriculture besides being close to Bathsheba and the spectacular view of Cherry Tree Hill. At dinners, the Berringers and John Yeamans talked of dreams, life, ambition, the military, adventure, and power.
The Berringers loved his visits, but to Mrs. Berringer, John Yeamans was a saviour. She was lost in long, lonely days in a rambling mansion, tucked away in a wilderness of mahogany trees, far away from like minds and interest. Her husband did not understand her loneliness. He was content with his life, the business, the military reserves, the plantation and the stately home. Their home was a magnificent Jacobean mansion that Banjamin had built and decorated with taste. It was built in the classic style complete with four chimneys. Outside, the lawn stretched 100 feet to the great garden wall. Oleander, hibiscus, Ixora and tropical flowers grew, almost wild, in the formal beds. Royal palms lined the long drive. They were an established family living in luxury.
The plantation was manned by black slaves and a few white men who had come to Barbados as indentured laborers. Sugar, which was introduced to Barbados in the 1630's, was very labor intensive and in the early days indentured laborers were recruited from England. They agreed to work for seven years without pay in exchange for their passage and keep. But this was not enough, young English men were kidnapped and they along with convicted criminals were shipped to Barbados. Some like Henry Morgan escaped the tyranny of this system and lived as buccaneers, raiding Spanish galleons as they carted cargo between Europe and the New world. Later white labor was replaced with black African slaves from Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Cameroon.
Margaret Berringer felt lost and alone. She was uncomfortable with the workers and the slaves. One white worker, a foreman, had been a convicted criminal. He was crude and frightening. Often she stayed indoors just to avoid his stare and uncouth manner. "I am a prisoner in paradise," she thought.
Margaret was an ambitious and determined woman who struggled with the prejudices of the day. Her father was Reverend John Forester, and her upbringing was strict and conservative. She felt she had always been a prisoner of some sort, hiding her emotions, pretending to be demure and lady like, to please her parents and live up to the expectations smothering her. She married Berringer because it was somehow expected. Women had no say, they were property, but to be fair Berringer was wealthy and powerful and the idea of living in his castle-like home was intriguing. The intrigue did not last. Cherry Tree Hill was a deserted forest where she remained hidden from everyone. Bridgetown was two and a half hours away by carriage; Speighstown was closer but people were moving to the south. They had few friends and no one just popped in as they did in Bridgetown.
Yeamans visits brought relief, laughter, and excitement. She laughed at his jokes and loved his keen sense of the world. He understood so much and he understood her. They talked sometimes with little need of words, sensing thoughts, emotions and intentions. It seemed that they had known each other forever, even when they first met. Secretly they walked in the woods. Sometimes they rode their horses to Bathsheba and strolled along the deserted beach at Cattlewash. They found pretexts to meet whenever they could.
Benjamin was an old fashioned man. Honor and respect were the foundations of his morality. He did not want to believe his wife was unfaithful but there were rumors. He overheard workers talking, he saw the secret in faces and was aware of the abrupt silence when he happened on plantation gossip. This was unusual, he connected it with Yeaman and his wife. One day as he walked through the grounds he saw Nyala, a leader amongst the slaves, alone crushing cane in the windmill grinder. "What do you know of the miss's and Mr. Yeamans," he asked point blank. "Some boys done see them together, he don't got no respect that Mr. Yeamans." Nyala never minced words.
Yeamans had become careless with his affections, and Colonel Berringer, a military man of honour, had only one recourse.
The duel was a spontaneous affair, arranged with the best British manners. "You know what this means, John. You can't be with another man's wife and not expect him to do something about it." "But, I love her," Yeamans replied. "These things happen, its not personal Benjamin". "All the same, no one makes a fool of me in my house and gets away with it, what will it be, pistols or sabers?" "Why not just a good punch up, old boy, there is no need for anything fatal, Benjamin." "Pistols then, and may the best man win."
Yeamans did not want to kill Colonel Benjamin but he did not want to die. In a duel you can shoot to kill, to maim, or miss. He was sure that Benjamin would aim to kill and that left no choice. From a distance the body is like a dartboard, aim for the middle and you have a chance of hitting somewhere. Miss and you will certainly be hit in the return volley. The two men stood back to back and on command walked the twenty paces away from each other. They turned together and fired.
Yeamans married Mrs.Berringer and moved into the Abbey shortly after they buried Benjamin. But, life was not easy. Friends and family turned against them. The 1660s were hard times for Barbados. There had been a locust plague in 1663 that destroyed crops across the island. A fire had burned Bridgetown to the ground and provisions were scarce. A major hurricane in 1667 blew down sheds and uprooted trees on the plantation and the drought of 1668 just about ruined them. The final blow came when the Barbados court ruled that the Abbey be returned to Berringer's children.
In 1669, the couple packed their bags and moved to Carolina. John Yeamans became a leading figure in founding the colony. He was appointed Governor after just three years. He died a few years later and Margaret, once again lost and alone, fell into the arms of a new man and remarried.
The two great homes of these men still stand as icons of a different age.
The Abbey now called St. Nicolas Abbey, was named after Berringer's grand-daughter who married George Nicholas. It is now a private home and a designated historic property that is open for public viewing on occasion. Yeamans legacy in Barbados ended with John. There were no more deaths from duels in Barbados. Round House, built of solid coral with walls that are several feet think, has survived its rugged environment. Today the Round House is a fine guesthouse and restaurant.
EDIT NOTES.
This story is based on fact, but the account in Campbell's History of Barbados indicates that Berringer was poisoned and not shot. Whichever the case, it is thought that Yeamans killed Berringer or had him killed so that he could inherit his estate and his wife. The estate was eventually sold to the Cumberbatch brothers for payment of back taxes.
www.carolana.com
4. In the early 1600s John Yeamans owned Bristol's largest brewery. It was much later sold to the Saunders family, who ran it for a hundred years. It eventually became the Georges' and then the Courage Brewery. Yeamans had 13 children, John was the eldest (born in 1610) and Robert was born in 1616.
Sir John Yeamans (as he later became) was one of the early settlers to prosper on the Caribbean island of Barbados. He owned a sugar plantation in Barbados.
Yeamans brother Robert was the Sheriff, Mayor (in 1669) and Chief Magistrate of Bristol, as well as a ship owner and a merchant, who had an early involvement in the Caribbean trade. Redland Court was owned by Sir Robert Yeamans in the 1680s. He died childless. Sir Johns grandson, Colonel Robert Yeamans of Barbados, eventually inherited Redland Court.
The will of Sir John Yeamans has been reproduced in the South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Volume XI, Edited by Mabel Louise Webber and published by Walker, Evans and Cogswell Company of Charleston South Carolina in 1910. I have taken the liberty to update the language somewhat. This will can be found on page 2-7 of the Registrars Records, book for the years 1675-1696 in the Office of the Historical Commission, Columbus, South Carolina. It reads:
December 13th 1675
A true copy of the last will and testament of Sir John Yeamans Knight and Baronet late of Carolina deceased proved and approved of by Sir William Yeamans Baronet son and heir to the said deceased and sole executor in the said will nominated (by the name of William Yeamans Esquire) as by the attestation of Sir Jonathan Attkins Governor of Barbados where unto he has set his hand and caused his Majesties great seal appointed for said Barbados and other of the Caribbean Islands to be affixed together with said Sir William Yeamans his letter of attorney to Colonel Joseph West and Lieutenant Colonel John Godfree or either of them attested with his hand and seal brought before proved and approved of by Colonel Joseph West Governor of this north part of the province of Carolina the 14th of September 1675.
In the name of God Amen. I Sir John Yeamans Baronet being ready to imbarque my self to the province of Carolina and well considering the uncertainty of human condition by extraordinary hazards yet accompany such undertakings do therefore the settling of my worldly concernment declare this my last will and testament in manner following, hereby revoking all former wills whatsoever.
First: I will that all the debts I duly owe be paid justly and with all diligence and paid by my executor here after named.
Item: In the first place as is my affection I give and bequeath unto my wife the Lady Margaret Yeamans in full recompense of her dower thirty thousand pounds of Muscavados sugar annually from the day of my death during her natural life and also during that term aforesaid I give and bequeath to her the entire use of the house where in I now dwell, together with all the lands belonging thereunto containing about forty five acres, bounding upon the lands of Henry Mills Esquire, Thomas Merricke Esquire and the lands of that Lieutenant Colonel Berrenger died seized together also with all the houses and edifices thereon being provided always that my said wife shall make habitation thereon, and not lease it out and to be the place her abode when so ever she please, so that she continue
Item: I do bequeath also during my dear wifes natural life these Negroes following (vide) old Hannah and her children Jupiter, little Tony and Joane also I give and bequeath unto her eight milk cows which have been accustomed to be milked about the house and all the hogs, turkeys, ducks and fowls that at present in any part of my possessions and my will is that the particular of stock in this last clause expressed shall be in her absolute power and disposal from the date of these presents, and also all the furniture of my said dwelling house and house hold stuff whatsoever. All my plate jewels, rings, money, linen bedding and all utensils in my said dwelling house being or thereunto belonging, and also my coach and the four horses and harnesses and also the choice of any one of my horses fit for riding for her use to be and remain to her and her heirs forever in recompense of the care and education of her children and in full consideration of her dower.
Item: I give and bequeath unto my said wife all the Negroes young and old that Lt. Colonel Berringer died possessed of and that came to her afterwards by right of Administration and to me by intermarriage with her together also with all the increase.
Item: My will is also that ye custody of all my children unmarried and under the age of twenty one years and till they shall attain it shall be in the care of my dear wife and that she educate them in such manner as shall seem fit to her judgment and they prove capable of and not withstanding the provision I have already made and the charge thereof may be less felt by my dear wife my will is that the executor hereafter named provide at his own charge one decent suit of apparel for each of my children yearly, the same to be delivered to my said wife for their use.
Item: I give and bequeath unto my daughter Willoughby one hundred and twenty thousand pounds of Muscavados sugar to be paid by my executor within ten years after her marriage or when she arrives at the age of twenty one years, which first happen.
Item: I give and bequeath unto my son Ro two hundred thousand pounds of good Muscavadoes sugar to by my executor when he shall arrive to the age of twenty one years.
Item: I give and bequeath to my daughter Anne one hundred and twenty thousand pounds of good Muscavados sugar to be paid by my executor within two years after her marriage or when she comes to the age of twenty one years which of them shall first happen.
Item: I give and bequeath unto my two sons George and Edward each of them one hundred and fifty thousand pounds of good Mucavadoes sugar to be paid to each of them when they or each of them shall arrive to the age of twenty one years by my executor.
Item: I give and bequeath to my wifes daughter Margaret forever 17 thousand pounds of Muscavadoes sugar within three years to be paid by my executor after her marriage or she attains to the age of twenty one years which shall first happen.
Item: I give and bequeath unto my wifes son John forty thousand pounds of sugar within three years next after he shall attain to the age of twenty one years.
Item: I give and Bequeath unto my daughter Mrs. Frances Hackett the present wife of Robert Hackett Esquire within four years after my decease twenty thousand pounds of sugar to buy her a ring by my executor.
Item: I give to my wifes daughter
Mrs. Ma Maycoke five thousand pounds of sugar to buy her a ring to be paid by my executor.
Item: I give to my wifes son Symon the choice of my horses for his own use, and to be delivered by my executor.
Item: I give to my nephew Samuel Woorey twenty thousand pounds of sugar to be paid by my executor within three years after my decease in further lieu of his time spent with me.
Item: my further will is that if my wife dies before my children or any of the arrive to their age or time of marriage as aforesaid, that then my executor to pay yearly every year five thousand pounds of Muscavados sugar for each of them maintenance and education to whomsoever my said wife shall appoint to have the custody of them, or for want of such appointment to whomsoever shall have them in custody to educate them and maintain them until they arrive respectively to their age or days of marriage.
Item: I make my son William esquire my whole and sole executor for the payment of my debts and legacies herein mentioned and for the due and punctual proof of all other matters that to the duty of an executor belongs and do bequeath unto said son all my estates real and personal disposed of in the my will with all reversions and remainders to him and to his heirs for ever upon express condition that he does punctually perform all the bequests and orders in this will expressed and to this my last will and testament I have put my hand and seal this twentieth day of May in the year f our Lord one thousand six hundred seventy one.
Test. John Yeamans (seal)
William Browne
Thomas Bamfield
Nicholas Carteret
Item: I do further will that my dear wife have my vessel Ketch called by the name of the Hopewell now in voyage to Virginia and expected hither to enjoy for her and heirs for ever.
Item: I give and bequeath unto my said dear wife two parcels of land containing twenty acres and ten acres in each one I bought of Phelps bounding on Mrs. Sandiford, and on Thomas Jones the other bought of James Masters and Henry Jones bounding on Mrs. Gay, my brother Foster and on Robert Clifton, to her and her heirs forever. To this addition also of my last will annexed to the other sheet I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 20th day of May 1671.
Sealed and delivered these two sheets John Yeamans (seal)
Containing my will in the presence of
William Browne
Thomas Beddingfield
Nicholas Carteret
Barbados
By his Excellency
Mr. William Browne this day personally appeared before me and made oath on the holy Evangelists that he did see Sir John Yeamans Baronet sign, seal and publish this will as his last will and testament and that he was at the doing thereof of sound and disposing memory to the best of this deponents knowledge given under my hand the first day of December 1674
Jonathan Attkins
A true copy attested the
15th day of June 1675
p Edwyn Steede Deputy Secretary
Barbados
By his Excellency
These are to certify all whom these presents shall concern that upon the fifteenth day of June in the year of our Lord God one thousand six hundred seventy five, and the seven and twentieth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord Charles the Second by the grace of God of England, Scotland, France and Ireland King defender of the faith and cet , personally appeared before me John Prysse aged twenty five years or thereabouts, Clerk to Edwyn Steede Esquire Deputy Secretary of the aforesaid Island and made oath on the Holy Evangelists, that the annexed pages copies of the last will and testament of Sir John Yeamans Baronet and the letter testamentary thereon both attested under the hand of the said Edwyn Steede were by him said John Prysse examined and compared with the records now remaining in the said secretaries office, and that they are true copies of the said records in testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused His Majesties great seal appointed presents affixed the day and year above written.
J. Atkins
To all whom these presents shall come or may concern.
[Ibid, page 7]
Barbados
By his Excellency know ye that 1st Dec. 1674, before me the last will and testament of Sir John Yeamans Baronet deceased was proved and therefore Sir William Yeamans Baronet, son and heir to said deceased and sole executor is admitted to take custody and administer all estate of said deceased 2nd Dec. 1674
Jonathan Atkins
A copy attested by
Edwyn Steede Deputy Secretary
15 June 1675
[Ibid, page 8] I Sir William Yeamans Baronet heir and sole executor of the last will and testament of Sir John Yeamans Baronet deceased, appoint well beloved friends Colonel Joseph West and Lieutenant Colonel John Godfrey my lawful attorneys in the Province of Carolina 16 June 1675
[witnesses] Will Yeamans
William Mayers
Dorcas Smith
Carolina by the Governor
The aforesaid William Mayers this day made oath before me that he saw said Sir William Yeamans sign etc. the above power of attorney. At Charles Town, 8th Sept. 1675
Re: Sir John Yeamans's will 1671 Arch Yeomans 2/19/06
Library of Congress. Sir John Yeamans, Proprietary governor of Carolina and landgrave, was born in Bristol, England, where he was baptized at St. Mary Redcliffe on 28 Feb. 1611, the son of John, a Bristol brewer, and Blanche Germain Yeamans. He married a Miss Limp, who probably was the mother of his five sons, William, Robert, George, Edward, and one whose name is unknown, and three daughters, Frances, Willoughby, and Anne. He migrated to Barbados by 1638 and formed a partnership for land acquisition with Benjamin Berringer by 1641. In 1643 Yeamans and Berringer were living on the same plantation in St. Peter Parish, but after 1648 the partnership was dissolved.
Yeamans accumulated wealth as a successful planter and gained political prominence in the colony's assembly, on the council, and as a judge in the courts of common pleas. He acquired the confidence of John Colleton, a former royalist officer turned planter and politician. With the restoration of Charles II, Colleton successfully developed the concept, which appears to have been his idea initially, for the establishment of the Proprietary colony of Carolina. As the principal spokesman for the eight Lords Proprietors of Carolina, Colleton took the lead in trying to attract settlers to that colony.
Prior to his intense involvement in the settlement of Carolina, Yeamans married, on 11 Apr. 1661 Margaret Foster, the daughter of the Reverend John Foster and the widow of Yeamans's former business partner, Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Berringer. The Berringers were the parents of Mary, Simon, John, and Margaret, who was born after the death of her father. Evidence has been uncovered that the last years of the Berringer marriage were unhappy, that Margaret had transferred her affection to John Yeamans, and that the Berringers were virtually separated. Berringer died in January 1661 after a prolonged and undetermined illness. Suspicion was raised at the time, admittedly by Yeamans's political enemies, that Yeamans and Margaret Berringer had conspired to murder her husband. Yeamans was cleared of these accusations by the council of Barbados, and the Berringer estate passed to Margaret Yeamans and her children. For a time the Yeamanses lived on Nicholas Plantation (now St. Nicholas Abbey), built by Benjamin Berringer after 1656 and considered one of the three great Jacobean houses surviving in the Western Hemisphere.
The attention of the first prospective Carolina settlers focused on the Lower Cape Fear region, which the Proprietors named the County of Clarendon. Here a colony sponsored by the Corporation of Barbadian Adventurers from Barbados and elsewhere established itself in 1664. The Lords Proprietors, however, soon shifted their interest to a more southerly site near Port Royal. Taking advantage of this interest, another group of Barbadians, led by Yeamans, Sir Thomas Modyford, and Peter Colleton, negotiated through Yeamans's son Major William Yeamans a Proprietary endorsement for a colony at Port Royal. As a mark of their favor and to add to Yeamans's prestige, the Proprietors prevailed on King Charles to confer upon him the honor of knight baronet on 12 Jan. 1665. On the preceding day the Proprietors had appointed him "Governor of our County of Clarendon neare Cape Faire and of all that tract of ground which lyeth southerly as farr as the river St. Mathias."
An illustration titles 'Landing of Yeamans and his colonists' from an 1890 history book. Image from the New York Public Library.
In October 1665 Yeamans sailed from Barbados for the Cape Fear with three ships planning to explore southward from there to Port Royal, where he hoped to found a colony. As Yeamans's fleet attempted to enter the Cape Fear River, his largest vessel ran aground and sank. Though most of the passengers were saved, his supplies were lost, including the cannon with which he intended to fortify the Port Royal settlement. Shortly after this Yeamans sent another of his vessels to Virginia to obtain food, clothing, and other supplies for the Clarendon settlers, only to have it wreck on the return voyage.
Yeamans remained on the Cape Fear from early November until shortly after Christmas. Here the governor made plans for Robert Sandford, secretary of the colony, to undertake an exploratory voyage to the south, which was later successfully carried out. Having presided over a meeting of the General Assembly of Clarendon, the governor boarded his one remaining vessel and sailed for Barbados never again to return. For another year and a half the Clarendon settlement hung on, but by the close of the summer of 1667 the last of its settlers departed, and Clarendon County ceased to exist. Its governor meanwhile was embroiled in the uncertain and often tempestuous politics of Barbados and seems to have made no effort to save his colony.
Under the vigorous leadership of Lord Ashley, soon to be created Earl of Shaftesbury, the Proprietors in 1669 renewed their efforts to settle Carolina and dispatched a fleet of three ships with colonists aboard bound for the Port Royal area. With the fleet went a blank commission as governor and commander-in-chief addressed to Sir John Yeamans, at Barbados, who was instructed to fill in the document with his own name or that of another of his choice. Yeamans took command of the expedition, hired the sloop Three Brothers to replace a vessel that had sunk off Barbados, and sailed for Carolina. A great storm scattered the fleet, and the two surviving ships sought safety in Bermuda. Here Yeamans decided, for reasons that are unclear, to withdraw from the expedition and to return to Barbados. He then appointed William Sayle, a septuagenarian and a former governor of Bermuda who had had some earlier connection with Carolina, to take his place as governor.
The expedition then proceeded to Carolina where it established a colony not at Port Royal, but at Albemarle Point on the Ashley River. This colony became the nucleus of South Carolina. Yeamans finally reached the colony in the summer of 1671 with his wife, some of his children, and about fifty immigrants from Barbados in his party. The Proprietors on 5 Apr. 1671 had bestowed upon him the title of landgrave. This was the highest rank in the colony's nobility created by the Proprietors under their new framework of government known as the Fundamental Constitutions. Yeamans expected to be immediately acclaimed as governor of the colony, for under the provisions of the Fundamental Constitutions when a Proprietor was not present in Carolina, the highest ranking member of the native nobility would become governor. Joseph West, who had been named governor following the death of William Sayle, refused to give up his office until he received orders from the Proprietors.
Meanwhile, Yeamans established a plantation on Wappoo Creek and reportedly introduced slavery to the colony. Despite repeated efforts to gain the governorship, he was stymied until the Proprietors, acting in accordance with the provisions of the Fundamental Constitutions, ordered that the landgrave be given preference to a commoner and sent him a commission.
On 26 Mar. 1672 the Council proclaimed Sir John governor. In an effort to provide needed food supplies for the colony in 1672 and 1673, Yeamans made liberal use of the Proprietors' credit without their approval. It was also charged in the colony that he had attempted to make huge profits from the food shortages and that his actions had helped bring on these shortages. Displeased at last with Sir John after years of the closest association, the Proprietors on 25 Apr. 1674 revoked his commission as governor and proceeded to appoint Joseph West as his successor. Before this news reached the colony, however, Governor Yeamans died, and on 13 Aug. 1674 Joseph West was named to succeed him.
Lady Margaret remained in South Carolina for several years securing additional land grants that she left to her daughter Margaret, who later became the wife of Colonel James Moore, the founder of a second and permanent settlement on the Cape Fear. Lady Margaret eventually married Captain William Walley and returned to Barbados, where she died.
Sir John Yeamans continues to be an enigmatic figure. He clearly deserves credit as a founder of the two Charles Townes-first on the Cape Fear and then in southern Carolina-but his terms as governor of each of the colonies were more controversial. Circumstances conspired to overwhelm the fledgling Cape Fear colony, but Yeamans initially tried to save the settlement. His interest, however, lay farther south. His tenure in the southern colony was marred by dissension, although again he attempted, even beyond Proprietary limits, to meet the colony's most pressing problems. The accusation that he alienated his friend's wife and then murdered him cannot be absolutely proven, but the circumstantial possibility seriously compromises his character. Seen in the best light, Yeamans may be viewed as an energetic and restless adventurer who was actively involved in the West Indian colonization of the mainland, playing a significant role in the founding of the Carolinas.
He proved, however, to be "a sordid calculator," bent only on acquiring a fortune. He encouraged expense, and enriched himself, but without gaining either respect or hat, red. The proprietaries complained that "it must be a bad soil" if industrious men could not get a living out of it, and protested that they did not propose to maintain the idle. In 1674 Yeamans was removed from office, and at once sailed for Barbadoes, where he soon afterward died. Virtual Americans Biographies / www.famousamericans.net
2. Sir John Yeamans is descended from a famous family line of Yeamans or Yeomans of Bristol, England. Sir Robert Yeamans a brother, was a High Sheriff and Mayor of Bristol. 3. Round House has stood on the corner at the foot of the big hill in Bathsheba [Barbados] for over 200 years. John (later Sir John) Yeamans had it built before he shot Colonel Benjamin Berringer and fled to Carolina. The exact details of the whole affair are a bit vague but it is clear that Yeamans had an affair with Colonel Benjamin Berringers' wife Margaret, and the rest, as they say, is history. It's about an hour horse ride from Bathsheba to the Abbey, in St Peter where the Berringers lived. Yeaman rode there quite often from the Round House. He went by day to organize workers with his friend and business partner Colin Berringer. Berringer and Yeamans were real estate speculators and planters. They were clearing the densely wooded area of Cherry Tree Hill, with the idea of selling land to the new arrivals who were coming to Barbados. The land was fertile and ideal for agriculture besides being close to Bathsheba and the spectacular view of Cherry Tree Hill. At dinners, the Berringers and John Yeamans talked of dreams, life, ambition, the military, adventure, and power. The Berringers loved his visits, but to Mrs. Berringer, John Yeamans was a saviour. She was lost in long, lonely days in a rambling mansion, tucked away in a wilderness of mahogany trees, far away from like minds and interest. Her husband did not understand her loneliness. He was content with his life, the business, the military reserves, the plantation and the stately home. Their home was a magnificent Jacobean mansion that Banjamin had built and decorated with taste. It was built in the classic style complete with four chimneys. Outside, the lawn stretched 100 feet to the great garden wall. Oleander, hibiscus, Ixora and tropical flowers grew, almost wild, in the formal beds. Royal palms lined the long drive. They were an established family living in luxury. The plantation was manned by black slaves and a few white men who had come to Barbados as indentured laborers. Sugar, which was introduced to Barbados in the 1630's, was very labor intensive and in the early days indentured laborers were recruited from England. They agreed to work for seven years without pay in exchange for their passage and keep. But this was not enough, young English men were kidnapped and they along with convicted criminals were shipped to Barbados. Some like Henry Morgan escaped the tyranny of this system and lived as buccaneers, raiding Spanish galleons as they carted cargo between Europe and the New world. Later white labor was replaced with black African slaves from Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Cameroon. Margaret Berringer felt lost and alone. She was uncomfortable with the workers and the slaves. One white worker, a foreman, had been a convicted criminal. He was crude and frightening. Often she stayed indoors just to avoid his stare and uncouth manner. "I am a prisoner in paradise," she thought. Margaret was an ambitious and determined woman who struggled with the prejudices of the day. Her father was Reverend John Forester, and her upbringing was strict and conservative. She felt she had always been a prisoner of some sort, hiding her emotions, pretending to be demure and lady like, to please her parents and live up to the expectations smothering her. She married Berringer because it was somehow expected. Women had no say, they were property, but to be fair Berringer was wealthy and powerful and the idea of living in his castle-like home was intriguing. The intrigue did not last. Cherry Tree Hill was a deserted forest where she remained hidden from everyone. Bridgetown was two and a half hours away by carriage; Speighstown was closer but people were moving to the south. They had few friends and no one just popped in as they did in Bridgetown. Yeamans visits brought relief, laughter, and excitement. She laughed at his jokes and loved his keen sense of the world. He understood so much and he understood her. They talked sometimes with little need of words, sensing thoughts, emotions and intentions. It seemed that they had known each other forever, even when they first met. Secretly they walked in the woods. Sometimes they rode their horses to Bathsheba and strolled along the deserted beach at Cattlewash. They found pretexts to meet whenever they could. Benjamin was an old fashioned man. Honor and respect were the foundations of his morality. He did not want to believe his wife was unfaithful but there were rumors. He overheard workers talking, he saw the secret in faces and was aware of the abrupt silence when he happened on plantation gossip. This was unusual, he connected it with Yeaman and his wife. One day as he walked through the grounds he saw Nyala, a leader amongst the slaves, alone crushing cane in the windmill grinder. "What do you know of the miss's and Mr. Yeamans," he asked point blank. "Some boys done see them together, he don't got no respect that Mr. Yeamans." Nyala never minced words. Yeamans had become careless with his affections, and Colonel Berringer, a military man of honour, had only one recourse. The duel was a spontaneous affair, arranged with the best British manners. "You know what this means, John. You can't be with another man's wife and not expect him to do something about it." "But, I love her," Yeamans replied. "These things happen, its not personal Benjamin". "All the same, no one makes a fool of me in my house and gets away with it, what will it be, pistols or sabers?" "Why not just a good punch up, old boy, there is no need for anything fatal, Benjamin." "Pistols then, and may the best man win." Yeamans did not want to kill Colonel Benjamin but he did not want to die. In a duel you can shoot to kill, to maim, or miss. He was sure that Benjamin would aim to kill and that left no choice. From a distance the body is like a dartboard, aim for the middle and you have a chance of hitting somewhere. Miss and you will certainly be hit in the return volley. The two men stood back to back and on command walked the twenty paces away from each other. They turned together and fired.
Yeamans married Mrs.Berringer and moved into the Abbey shortly after they buried Benjamin. But, life was not easy. Friends and family turned against them. The 1660s were hard times for Barbados. There had been a locust plague in 1663 that destroyed crops across the island. A fire had burned Bridgetown to the ground and provisions were scarce. A major hurricane in 1667 blew down sheds and uprooted trees on the plantation and the drought of 1668 just about ruined them. The final blow came when the Barbados court ruled that the Abbey be returned to Berringer's children. In 1669, the couple packed their bags and moved to Carolina. John Yeamans became a leading figure in founding the colony. He was appointed Governor after just three years. He died a few years later and Margaret, once again lost and alone, fell into the arms of a new man and remarried. The two great homes of these men still stand as icons of a different age. The Abbey now called St. Nicolas Abbey, was named after Berringer's grand-daughter who married George Nicholas. It is now a private home and a designated historic property that is open for public viewing on occasion. Yeamans legacy in Barbados ended with John. There were no more deaths from duels in Barbados. Round House, built of solid coral with walls that are several feet think, has survived its rugged environment. Today the Round House is a fine guesthouse and restaurant. This story is based on fact, but the account in Campbell's History of Barbados indicates that Berringer was poisoned and not shot. Whichever the case, it is thought that Yeamans killed Berringer or had him killed so that he could inherit his estate and his wife. The estate was eventually sold to the Cumberbatch brothers for payment of back taxes.
4. In the early 1600s John Yeamans, Sir John's father and husband of Blanche Germains, owned Bristol's largest brewery. It was much later sold to the Saunders family, who ran it for a hundred years. It eventually became the Georges' and then the Courage Brewery. Yeamans had 13 children, John was the eldest (born in 1611) and Robert was born in 1616. Sir John Yeamans (as he later became) was one of the early settlers to prosper on the Caribbean island of Barbados. He owned a sugar plantation in Barbados. Yeamans' brother Robert was the Sheriff, Mayor (in 1669) and Chief Magistrate of Bristol, as well as a ship owner and a merchant, who had an early involvement in the Caribbean trade. Redland Court was owned by Sir Robert Yeamans in the 1680s. He died childless. Sir John's grandson, Colonel Robert Yeamans of Barbados, eventually inherited the property.
The will of Sir John Yeamans has been reproduced in the South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Volume XI, Edited by Mabel Louise Webber and published by Walker, Evans and Cogswell Company of Charleston South Carolina in 1910. I have taken the liberty to update the language somewhat. This will can be found on page 2-7 of the Registrar?s Records, book for the years 1675-1696 in the Office of the Historical Commission, Columbus, South Carolina. It reads: December 13th 1675 A true copy of the last will and testament of Sir John Yeamans Knight and Baronet late of Carolina deceased proved and approved of by Sir William Yeamans Baronet son and heir to the said deceased and sole executor in the said will nominated (by the name of William Yeamans Esquire) as by the attestation of Sir Jonathan Attkins Governor of Barbados where unto he has set his hand and caused his Majesties great seal appointed for said Barbados and other of the Caribbean Islands to be affixed together with said Sir William Yeamans his letter of attorney to Colonel Joseph West and Lieutenant Colonel John Godfree or either of them attested with his hand and seal brought before proved and approved of by Colonel Joseph West Governor of this north part of the province of Carolina the 14th of September 1675. In the name of God Amen. I Sir John Yeamans Baronet being ready to imbarque my self to the province of Carolina and well considering the uncertainty of human condition by extraordinary hazards yet accompany such undertakings do therefore the settling of my worldly concernment declare this my last will and testament in manner following, hereby revoking all former wills whatsoever. First: I will that all the debts I duly owe be paid justly and with all diligence and paid by my executor here after named. Item: In the first place as is my affection I give and bequeath unto my wife the Lady Margaret Yeamans in full recompense of her dower thirty thousand pounds of ?Muscavados? sugar annually from the day of my death during her natural life and also during that term aforesaid I give and bequeath to her the entire use of the house where in I now dwell, together with all the lands belonging thereunto containing about forty five acres, bounding upon the lands of Henry Mills Esquire, Thomas Merricke Esquire and the lands of that Lieutenant Colonel Berrenger died seized together also with all the houses and edifices thereon being provided always that my said wife shall make habitation thereon, and not lease it out and to be the place ? her abode when so ever she please, so that she continue Item: I do bequeath also during my dear wife?s natural life these Negroes following (vide) old Hannah and her children Jupiter, little Tony and Joane also I give and bequeath unto her eight milk cows which have been accustomed to be milked about the house and all the hogs, turkeys, ducks and fowls that at present in any part of my possessions and my will is that the particular of stock in this last clause expressed shall be in her absolute power and disposal from the date of these presents, and also all the furniture of my said dwelling house and house hold stuff whatsoever. All my plate jewels, rings, money, linen bedding and all utensils in my said dwelling house being or thereunto belonging, and also my coach and the four horses and harnesses and also the choice of any one of my horses fit for riding for her use to be and remain to her and her heirs forever in recompense of the care and education of her children and in full consideration of her dower. Item: I give and bequeath unto my said wife all the Negroes young and old that Lt. Colonel Berringer died possessed of and that came to her afterwards by right of Administration and to me by intermarriage with her together also with all the increase. Item: My will is also that ye custody of all my children unmarried and under the age of twenty one years and till they shall attain it shall be in the care of my dear wife and that she educate them in such manner as shall seem fit to her judgment and they prove capable of and not withstanding the provision I have already made and the charge thereof may be less felt by my dear wife my will is that the executor hereafter named provide at his own charge one decent suit of apparel for each of my children yearly, the same to be delivered to my said wife for their use. Item: I give and bequeath unto my daughter Willoughby one hundred and twenty thousand pounds of Muscavados sugar to be paid by my executor within ten years after her marriage or when she arrives at the age of twenty one years, which ? first happen. Item: I give and bequeath unto my son Ro two hundred thousand pounds of good Muscavadoes sugar to by my executor when he shall arrive to the age of twenty one years. Item: I give and bequeath to my daughter Anne one hundred and twenty thousand pounds of good Muscavados sugar to be paid by my executor within two years after her marriage or when she comes to the age of twenty one years which of them shall first happen. Item: I give and bequeath unto my two sons George and Edward each of them one hundred and fifty thousand pounds of good Mucavadoes sugar to be paid to each of them when they or each of them shall arrive to the age of twenty one years by my executor. Item: I give and bequeath to my wife?s daughter Margaret forever 17 thousand pounds of Muscavadoes sugar within three years to be paid by my executor after her marriage or she attains to the age of twenty one years which shall first happen. Item: I give and bequeath unto my wife's son John forty thousand pounds of sugar within three years next after he shall attain to the age of twenty one years. Item: I give and Bequeath unto my daughter Mrs. Frances Hackett the present wife of Robert Hackett Esquire within four years after my decease twenty thousand pounds of sugar to buy her a ring by my executor. Item: I give to my wife's daughter Mrs. Maycoke five thousand pounds of sugar to buy her a ring to be paid by my executor. Item: I give to my wife's son Symon the choice of my horses for his own use, and to be delivered by my executor. Item: I give to my nephew Samuel Woorey twenty thousand pounds of sugar to be paid by my executor within three years after my decease in further lieu of his time spent with me. Item: my further will is that if my wife dies before my children or any of the arrive to their age or time of marriage as aforesaid, that then my executor to pay yearly every year five thousand pounds of Muscavados sugar for each of them maintenance and education to whomsoever my said wife shall appoint to have the custody of them, or for want of such appointment to whomsoever shall have them in custody to educate them and maintain them until they arrive respectively to their age or days of marriage. Item: I make my son William esquire my whole and sole executor for the payment of my debts and legacies herein mentioned and for the due and punctual proof of all other matters that to the duty of an executor belongs and do bequeath unto said son all my estates real and personal disposed of in the my will with all reversions and remainders to him and to his heirs for ever upon express condition that he does punctually perform all the bequests and orders in this will expressed and to this my last will and testament I have put my hand and seal this twentieth day of May in the year f our Lord one thousand six hundred seventy one. Test. John Yeamans (seal) William Browne Thomas Bamfield Nicholas Carteret Item: I do further will that my dear wife have my vessel ?Ketch? called by the name of the Hopewell now in voyage to Virginia and expected hither to enjoy for her and heirs for ever. Item: I give and bequeath unto my said dear wife two parcels of land containing twenty acres and ten acres in each one I bought of Phelps bounding on Mrs. Sandiford, and on Thomas Jones the other bought of James Masters and Henry Jones bounding on Mrs. Gay, my brother Foster and on Robert Clifton, to her and her heirs forever. To this addition also of my last will annexed to the other sheet I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 20th day of May 1671. Sealed and delivered these two sheets John Yeamans (seal) Containing my will in the presence of William Browne Thomas ?Beddingfield? Nicholas Carteret Barbados By his Excellency Mr. William Browne this day personally appeared before me and made oath on the holy Evangelists that he did see Sir John Yeamans Baronet sign, seal and publish this will as his last will and testament and that he was at the doing thereof of sound and disposing memory to the best of this deponents knowledge given under my hand the first day of December 1674 Jonathan Attkins A true copy attested the 15th day of June 1675 p Edwyn Steede Deputy Secretary Barbados By his Excellency These are to certify all whom these presents shall concern that upon the fifteenth day of June in the year of our Lord God one thousand six hundred seventy five, and the seven and twentieth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord Charles the Second by the grace of God of England, Scotland, France and Ireland King defender of the faith and ?cet? , personally appeared before me John ?Prysse? aged twenty five years or thereabouts, Clerk to Edwyn Steede Esquire Deputy Secretary of the aforesaid Island and made oath on the Holy Evangelists, that the annexed pages copies of the last will and testament of Sir John Yeamans Baronet and the letter testamentary thereon both attested under the hand of the said Edwyn Steede were by him said John Prysse examined and compared with the records now remaining in the said secretaries office, and that they are true copies of the said records in testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused His Majesties great seal appointed presents affixed the day and year above written. J. Atkins To all whom these presents shall come or may concern. [Ibid, page 7] Barbados By his Excellency ? know ye ? that 1st Dec. 1674, before me the last will and testament of Sir John Yeamans Baronet deceased was proved ? and therefore Sir William Yeamans Baronet, son and heir to said deceased and sole executor is admitted to take custody and administer all estate of said deceased 2nd Dec. 1674 Jonathan Atkins A copy attested by Edwyn Steede Deputy Secretary 15 June 1675 [Ibid, page 8] I Sir William Yeamans Baronet heir and sole executor of the last will and testament of Sir John Yeamans Baronet deceased, appoint well beloved friends Colonel Joseph West and Lieutenant Colonel John Godfrey my lawful attorneys in the Province of Carolina 16 June 1675 [witnesses] Will Yeamans William Mayers Dorcas Smith Carolina by the Governor The aforesaid William Mayers this day made oath before me that he saw said Sir William Yeamans sign etc. the above power of attorney. At Charles Town, 8th Sept. 1675 Re: Sir John Yeamans's will 1671 Arch Yeomans 2/19/06 http://genforum.genealogy.com/yeamans/messages/56.html
1. YEAMANS, Sir John, governor of South Carolina, born in Bristol, England, about 1605; died in Barbadoes about 1676. He was the son of a cavalier, and, not being in good circumstances, emigrated to Barbadoes and became a planter. In 1663 several residents of that island, not being satisfied with their condition, and desiring to establish a colony of their own, sent a vessel to examine the country extending from the 36th degree of north latitude to the river San Mateo, which had already been erected into a territory in London under the name of Carolina. The report being favorable, the planters purchased of the Indians a tract of land thirty-two miles square on Cape Fear river, and begged of the proprietaries a confirmation of the purchase and a separate charter of government. Not all their request was granted, but Sir John was appointed their governor, with a jurisdiction that extended from Cape Fear to San Marco. Tile country was called "Clarendon." In the autumn of 1665 he arrived from Barbadoes with a band of emigrants and founded a town on the south bank of Cape Fear river that proved so utter a failure that even its site is now in dispute. Yet the settlement flourished for a time, and exported boards, staves, and shingles to the parent colony. Tile traffic proved profitable, emigration increased, and in 1666 the plantation is said to have contained 800 souls. Yeamans seems to have managed affairs satisfactorily, but after a time he returned to the West Indies. In 1670 three ship-loads of emigrants that had arrived from England sailed up Ashley river and began a town on "the first; high land convenient for tillage and pasturing." In the copy of the original fundamental constitutions given them before leaving London, John Lock, Sir John Yeamans, and James Carteret were created landgraves. The following year the colony was increased by Dutch emigrants from New York and others from Holland, and by the arrival of Sir John from Barbadoes with African slaves, the first that were landed on this continent. He proved, however, to be "a sordid calculator," bent only on acquiring a fortune. He encouraged expense, and enriched himself, but without gaining either respect or hat, red. The proprietaries complained that "it must be a bad soil" if industrious men could not get a living out of it, and protested that they did not propose to maintain the idle. In 1674 Yeamans was removed from office, and at once sailed for Barbadoes, where he soon afterward died.
Virtual Americans Biographies / www.famousamericans.net
2. Sir John Yeamans is descended from a famous family line of Yeamans or Yeomans of Bristol, England. Sir Robert Yeamans (a brother or cousin) was a High Sheriff and Mayor of Bristol.
Sir John Yeamans' father or grandfather was involved in a plot to overthrow the parliamentary government instilled by the much hated Cromwell. The plot attempt to open the gates of the city to Prince Rupert was discovered and William Yeamans and Robert Yeamans were summarily executed in front of their home on what is today known as Wine Street near the ancient Bristol Castle.
Wikipedia
3. Round House has stood on the corner at the foot of the big hill in Bathsheba [Barbados] for over 200 years. John (later Sir John) Yeamans had it built before he shot Colonel Benjamin Berringer and fled to Carolina. The exact details of the whole affair are a bit vague but it is clear that Yeamans had an affair with Colonel Benjamin Berringers' wife Margaret, and the rest, as they say, is history.
It's about an hour horse ride from Bathsheba to the Abbey, in St Peter where the Berringers lived. Yeaman rode there quite often from the Round House. He went by day to organize workers with his friend and business partner Colin Berringer. Berringer and Yeamans were real estate speculators and planters. They were clearing the densely wooded area of Cherry Tree Hill, with the idea of selling land to the new arrivals who were coming to Barbados. The land was fertile and ideal for agriculture besides being close to Bathsheba and the spectacular view of Cherry Tree Hill. At dinners, the Berringers and John Yeamans talked of dreams, life, ambition, the military, adventure, and power.
The Berringers loved his visits, but to Mrs. Berringer, John Yeamans was a saviour. She was lost in long, lonely days in a rambling mansion, tucked away in a wilderness of mahogany trees, far away from like minds and interest. Her husband did not understand her loneliness. He was content with his life, the business, the military reserves, the plantation and the stately home. Their home was a magnificent Jacobean mansion that Banjamin had built and decorated with taste. It was built in the classic style complete with four chimneys. Outside, the lawn stretched 100 feet to the great garden wall. Oleander, hibiscus, Ixora and tropical flowers grew, almost wild, in the formal beds. Royal palms lined the long drive. They were an established family living in luxury.
The plantation was manned by black slaves and a few white men who had come to Barbados as indentured laborers. Sugar, which was introduced to Barbados in the 1630's, was very labor intensive and in the early days indentured laborers were recruited from England. They agreed to work for seven years without pay in exchange for their passage and keep. But this was not enough, young English men were kidnapped and they along with convicted criminals were shipped to Barbados. Some like Henry Morgan escaped the tyranny of this system and lived as buccaneers, raiding Spanish galleons as they carted cargo between Europe and the New world. Later white labor was replaced with black African slaves from Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Cameroon.
Margaret Berringer felt lost and alone. She was uncomfortable with the workers and the slaves. One white worker, a foreman, had been a convicted criminal. He was crude and frightening. Often she stayed indoors just to avoid his stare and uncouth manner. "I am a prisoner in paradise," she thought.
Margaret was an ambitious and determined woman who struggled with the prejudices of the day. Her father was Reverend John Forester, and her upbringing was strict and conservative. She felt she had always been a prisoner of some sort, hiding her emotions, pretending to be demure and lady like, to please her parents and live up to the expectations smothering her. She married Berringer because it was somehow expected. Women had no say, they were property, but to be fair Berringer was wealthy and powerful and the idea of living in his castle-like home was intriguing. The intrigue did not last. Cherry Tree Hill was a deserted forest where she remained hidden from everyone. Bridgetown was two and a half hours away by carriage; Speighstown was closer but people were moving to the south. They had few friends and no one just popped in as they did in Bridgetown.
Yeamans visits brought relief, laughter, and excitement. She laughed at his jokes and loved his keen sense of the world. He understood so much and he understood her. They talked sometimes with little need of words, sensing thoughts, emotions and intentions. It seemed that they had known each other forever, even when they first met. Secretly they walked in the woods. Sometimes they rode their horses to Bathsheba and strolled along the deserted beach at Cattlewash. They found pretexts to meet whenever they could.
Benjamin was an old fashioned man. Honor and respect were the foundations of his morality. He did not want to believe his wife was unfaithful but there were rumors. He overheard workers talking, he saw the secret in faces and was aware of the abrupt silence when he happened on plantation gossip. This was unusual, he connected it with Yeaman and his wife. One day as he walked through the grounds he saw Nyala, a leader amongst the slaves, alone crushing cane in the windmill grinder. "What do you know of the miss's and Mr. Yeamans," he asked point blank. "Some boys done see them together, he don't got no respect that Mr. Yeamans." Nyala never minced words.
Yeamans had become careless with his affections, and Colonel Berringer, a military man of honour, had only one recourse.
The duel was a spontaneous affair, arranged with the best British manners. "You know what this means, John. You can't be with another man's wife and not expect him to do something about it." "But, I love her," Yeamans replied. "These things happen, its not personal Benjamin". "All the same, no one makes a fool of me in my house and gets away with it, what will it be, pistols or sabers?" "Why not just a good punch up, old boy, there is no need for anything fatal, Benjamin." "Pistols then, and may the best man win."
Yeamans did not want to kill Colonel Benjamin but he did not want to die. In a duel you can shoot to kill, to maim, or miss. He was sure that Benjamin would aim to kill and that left no choice. From a distance the body is like a dartboard, aim for the middle and you have a chance of hitting somewhere. Miss and you will certainly be hit in the return volley. The two men stood back to back and on command walked the twenty paces away from each other. They turned together and fired.
Yeamans married Mrs.Berringer and moved into the Abbey shortly after they buried Benjamin. But, life was not easy. Friends and family turned against them. The 1660s were hard times for Barbados. There had been a locust plague in 1663 that destroyed crops across the island. A fire had burned Bridgetown to the ground and provisions were scarce. A major hurricane in 1667 blew down sheds and uprooted trees on the plantation and the drought of 1668 just about ruined them. The final blow came when the Barbados court ruled that the Abbey be returned to Berringer's children.
In 1669, the couple packed their bags and moved to Carolina. John Yeamans became a leading figure in founding the colony. He was appointed Governor after just three years. He died a few years later and Margaret, once again lost and alone, fell into the arms of a new man and remarried.
The two great homes of these men still stand as icons of a different age.
The Abbey now called St. Nicolas Abbey, was named after Berringer's grand-daughter who married George Nicholas. It is now a private home and a designated historic property that is open for public viewing on occasion. Yeamans legacy in Barbados ended with John. There were no more deaths from duels in Barbados. Round House, built of solid coral with walls that are several feet think, has survived its rugged environment. Today the Round House is a fine guesthouse and restaurant.
EDIT NOTES.
This story is based on fact, but the account in Campbell's History of Barbados indicates that Berringer was poisoned and not shot. Whichever the case, it is thought that Yeamans killed Berringer or had him killed so that he could inherit his estate and his wife. The estate was eventually sold to the Cumberbatch brothers for payment of back taxes.
www.carolana.com
4. In the early 1600s John Yeamans owned Bristol's largest brewery. It was much later sold to the Saunders family, who ran it for a hundred years. It eventually became the Georges' and then the Courage Brewery. Yeamans had 13 children, John was the eldest (born in 1610) and Robert was born in 1616.
Sir John Yeamans (as he later became) was one of the early settlers to prosper on the Caribbean island of Barbados. He owned a sugar plantation in Barbados.
Yeamans brother Robert was the Sheriff, Mayor (in 1669) and Chief Magistrate of Bristol, as well as a ship owner and a merchant, who had an early involvement in the Caribbean trade. Redland Court was owned by Sir Robert Yeamans in the 1680s. He died childless. Sir Johns grandson, Colonel Robert Yeamans of Barbados, eventually inherited Redland Court.
The will of Sir John Yeamans has been reproduced in the South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Volume XI, Edited by Mabel Louise Webber and published by Walker, Evans and Cogswell Company of Charleston South Carolina in 1910. I have taken the liberty to update the language somewhat. This will can be found on page 2-7 of the Registrars Records, book for the years 1675-1696 in the Office of the Historical Commission, Columbus, South Carolina. It reads:
December 13th 1675
A true copy of the last will and testament of Sir John Yeamans Knight and Baronet late of Carolina deceased proved and approved of by Sir William Yeamans Baronet son and heir to the said deceased and sole executor in the said will nominated (by the name of William Yeamans Esquire) as by the attestation of Sir Jonathan Attkins Governor of Barbados where unto he has set his hand and caused his Majesties great seal appointed for said Barbados and other of the Caribbean Islands to be affixed together with said Sir William Yeamans his letter of attorney to Colonel Joseph West and Lieutenant Colonel John Godfree or either of them attested with his hand and seal brought before proved and approved of by Colonel Joseph West Governor of this north part of the province of Carolina the 14th of September 1675.
In the name of God Amen. I Sir John Yeamans Baronet being ready to imbarque my self to the province of Carolina and well considering the uncertainty of human condition by extraordinary hazards yet accompany such undertakings do therefore the settling of my worldly concernment declare this my last will and testament in manner following, hereby revoking all former wills whatsoever.
First: I will that all the debts I duly owe be paid justly and with all diligence and paid by my executor here after named.
Item: In the first place as is my affection I give and bequeath unto my wife the Lady Margaret Yeamans in full recompense of her dower thirty thousand pounds of Muscavados sugar annually from the day of my death during her natural life and also during that term aforesaid I give and bequeath to her the entire use of the house where in I now dwell, together with all the lands belonging thereunto containing about forty five acres, bounding upon the lands of Henry Mills Esquire, Thomas Merricke Esquire and the lands of that Lieutenant Colonel Berrenger died seized together also with all the houses and edifices thereon being provided always that my said wife shall make habitation thereon, and not lease it out and to be the place her abode when so ever she please, so that she continue
Item: I do bequeath also during my dear wifes natural life these Negroes following (vide) old Hannah and her children Jupiter, little Tony and Joane also I give and bequeath unto her eight milk cows which have been accustomed to be milked about the house and all the hogs, turkeys, ducks and fowls that at present in any part of my possessions and my will is that the particular of stock in this last clause expressed shall be in her absolute power and disposal from the date of these presents, and also all the furniture of my said dwelling house and house hold stuff whatsoever. All my plate jewels, rings, money, linen bedding and all utensils in my said dwelling house being or thereunto belonging, and also my coach and the four horses and harnesses and also the choice of any one of my horses fit for riding for her use to be and remain to her and her heirs forever in recompense of the care and education of her children and in full consideration of her dower.
Item: I give and bequeath unto my said wife all the Negroes young and old that Lt. Colonel Berringer died possessed of and that came to her afterwards by right of Administration and to me by intermarriage with her together also with all the increase.
Item: My will is also that ye custody of all my children unmarried and under the age of twenty one years and till they shall attain it shall be in the care of my dear wife and that she educate them in such manner as shall seem fit to her judgment and they prove capable of and not withstanding the provision I have already made and the charge thereof may be less felt by my dear wife my will is that the executor hereafter named provide at his own charge one decent suit of apparel for each of my children yearly, the same to be delivered to my said wife for their use.
Item: I give and bequeath unto my daughter Willoughby one hundred and twenty thousand pounds of Muscavados sugar to be paid by my executor within ten years after her marriage or when she arrives at the age of twenty one years, which first happen.
Item: I give and bequeath unto my son Ro two hundred thousand pounds of good Muscavadoes sugar to by my executor when he shall arrive to the age of twenty one years.
Item: I give and bequeath to my daughter Anne one hundred and twenty thousand pounds of good Muscavados sugar to be paid by my executor within two years after her marriage or when she comes to the age of twenty one years which of them shall first happen.
Item: I give and bequeath unto my two sons George and Edward each of them one hundred and fifty thousand pounds of good Mucavadoes sugar to be paid to each of them when they or each of them shall arrive to the age of twenty one years by my executor.
Item: I give and bequeath to my wifes daughter Margaret forever 17 thousand pounds of Muscavadoes sugar within three years to be paid by my executor after her marriage or she attains to the age of twenty one years which shall first happen.
Item: I give and bequeath unto my wifes son John forty thousand pounds of sugar within three years next after he shall attain to the age of twenty one years.
Item: I give and Bequeath unto my daughter Mrs. Frances Hackett the present wife of Robert Hackett Esquire within four years after my decease twenty thousand pounds of sugar to buy her a ring by my executor.
Item: I give to my wifes daughter
Mrs. Ma Maycoke five thousand pounds of sugar to buy her a ring to be paid by my executor.
Item: I give to my wifes son Symon the choice of my horses for his own use, and to be delivered by my executor.
Item: I give to my nephew Samuel Woorey twenty thousand pounds of sugar to be paid by my executor within three years after my decease in further lieu of his time spent with me.
Item: my further will is that if my wife dies before my children or any of the arrive to their age or time of marriage as aforesaid, that then my executor to pay yearly every year five thousand pounds of Muscavados sugar for each of them maintenance and education to whomsoever my said wife shall appoint to have the custody of them, or for want of such appointment to whomsoever shall have them in custody to educate them and maintain them until they arrive respectively to their age or days of marriage.
Item: I make my son William esquire my whole and sole executor for the payment of my debts and legacies herein mentioned and for the due and punctual proof of all other matters that to the duty of an executor belongs and do bequeath unto said son all my estates real and personal disposed of in the my will with all reversions and remainders to him and to his heirs for ever upon express condition that he does punctually perform all the bequests and orders in this will expressed and to this my last will and testament I have put my hand and seal this twentieth day of May in the year f our Lord one thousand six hundred seventy one.
Test. John Yeamans (seal)
William Browne
Thomas Bamfield
Nicholas Carteret
Item: I do further will that my dear wife have my vessel Ketch called by the name of the Hopewell now in voyage to Virginia and expected hither to enjoy for her and heirs for ever.
Item: I give and bequeath unto my said dear wife two parcels of land containing twenty acres and ten acres in each one I bought of Phelps bounding on Mrs. Sandiford, and on Thomas Jones the other bought of James Masters and Henry Jones bounding on Mrs. Gay, my brother Foster and on Robert Clifton, to her and her heirs forever. To this addition also of my last will annexed to the other sheet I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 20th day of May 1671.
Sealed and delivered these two sheets John Yeamans (seal)
Containing my will in the presence of
William Browne
Thomas Beddingfield
Nicholas Carteret
Barbados
By his Excellency
Mr. William Browne this day personally appeared before me and made oath on the holy Evangelists that he did see Sir John Yeamans Baronet sign, seal and publish this will as his last will and testament and that he was at the doing thereof of sound and disposing memory to the best of this deponents knowledge given under my hand the first day of December 1674
Jonathan Attkins
A true copy attested the
15th day of June 1675
p Edwyn Steede Deputy Secretary
Barbados
By his Excellency
These are to certify all whom these presents shall concern that upon the fifteenth day of June in the year of our Lord God one thousand six hundred seventy five, and the seven and twentieth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord Charles the Second by the grace of God of England, Scotland, France and Ireland King defender of the faith and cet , personally appeared before me John Prysse aged twenty five years or thereabouts, Clerk to Edwyn Steede Esquire Deputy Secretary of the aforesaid Island and made oath on the Holy Evangelists, that the annexed pages copies of the last will and testament of Sir John Yeamans Baronet and the letter testamentary thereon both attested under the hand of the said Edwyn Steede were by him said John Prysse examined and compared with the records now remaining in the said secretaries office, and that they are true copies of the said records in testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused His Majesties great seal appointed presents affixed the day and year above written.
J. Atkins
To all whom these presents shall come or may concern.
[Ibid, page 7]
Barbados
By his Excellency know ye that 1st Dec. 1674, before me the last will and testament of Sir John Yeamans Baronet deceased was proved and therefore Sir William Yeamans Baronet, son and heir to said deceased and sole executor is admitted to take custody and administer all estate of said deceased 2nd Dec. 1674
Jonathan Atkins
A copy attested by
Edwyn Steede Deputy Secretary
15 June 1675
[Ibid, page 8] I Sir William Yeamans Baronet heir and sole executor of the last will and testament of Sir John Yeamans Baronet deceased, appoint well beloved friends Colonel Joseph West and Lieutenant Colonel John Godfrey my lawful attorneys in the Province of Carolina 16 June 1675
[witnesses] Will Yeamans
William Mayers
Dorcas Smith
Carolina by the Governor
The aforesaid William Mayers this day made oath before me that he saw said Sir William Yeamans sign etc. the above power of attorney. At Charles Town, 8th Sept. 1675
Re: Sir John Yeamans's will 1671 Arch Yeomans 2/19/06
Library of Congress. Sir John Yeamans, Proprietary governor of Carolina and landgrave, was born in Bristol, England, where he was baptized at St. Mary Redcliffe on 28 Feb. 1611, the son of John, a Bristol brewer, and Blanche Germain Yeamans. He married a Miss Limp, who probably was the mother of his five sons, William, Robert, George, Edward, and one whose name is unknown, and three daughters, Frances, Willoughby, and Anne. He migrated to Barbados by 1638 and formed a partnership for land acquisition with Benjamin Berringer by 1641. In 1643 Yeamans and Berringer were living on the same plantation in St. Peter Parish, but after 1648 the partnership was dissolved.
Yeamans accumulated wealth as a successful planter and gained political prominence in the colony's assembly, on the council, and as a judge in the courts of common pleas. He acquired the confidence of John Colleton, a former royalist officer turned planter and politician. With the restoration of Charles II, Colleton successfully developed the concept, which appears to have been his idea initially, for the establishment of the Proprietary colony of Carolina. As the principal spokesman for the eight Lords Proprietors of Carolina, Colleton took the lead in trying to attract settlers to that colony.
Prior to his intense involvement in the settlement of Carolina, Yeamans married, on 11 Apr. 1661 Margaret Foster, the daughter of the Reverend John Foster and the widow of Yeamans's former business partner, Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Berringer. The Berringers were the parents of Mary, Simon, John, and Margaret, who was born after the death of her father. Evidence has been uncovered that the last years of the Berringer marriage were unhappy, that Margaret had transferred her affection to John Yeamans, and that the Berringers were virtually separated. Berringer died in January 1661 after a prolonged and undetermined illness. Suspicion was raised at the time, admittedly by Yeamans's political enemies, that Yeamans and Margaret Berringer had conspired to murder her husband. Yeamans was cleared of these accusations by the council of Barbados, and the Berringer estate passed to Margaret Yeamans and her children. For a time the Yeamanses lived on Nicholas Plantation (now St. Nicholas Abbey), built by Benjamin Berringer after 1656 and considered one of the three great Jacobean houses surviving in the Western Hemisphere.
The attention of the first prospective Carolina settlers focused on the Lower Cape Fear region, which the Proprietors named the County of Clarendon. Here a colony sponsored by the Corporation of Barbadian Adventurers from Barbados and elsewhere established itself in 1664. The Lords Proprietors, however, soon shifted their interest to a more southerly site near Port Royal. Taking advantage of this interest, another group of Barbadians, led by Yeamans, Sir Thomas Modyford, and Peter Colleton, negotiated through Yeamans's son Major William Yeamans a Proprietary endorsement for a colony at Port Royal. As a mark of their favor and to add to Yeamans's prestige, the Proprietors prevailed on King Charles to confer upon him the honor of knight baronet on 12 Jan. 1665. On the preceding day the Proprietors had appointed him "Governor of our County of Clarendon neare Cape Faire and of all that tract of ground which lyeth southerly as farr as the river St. Mathias."
An illustration titles 'Landing of Yeamans and his colonists' from an 1890 history book. Image from the New York Public Library.
In October 1665 Yeamans sailed from Barbados for the Cape Fear with three ships planning to explore southward from there to Port Royal, where he hoped to found a colony. As Yeamans's fleet attempted to enter the Cape Fear River, his largest vessel ran aground and sank. Though most of the passengers were saved, his supplies were lost, including the cannon with which he intended to fortify the Port Royal settlement. Shortly after this Yeamans sent another of his vessels to Virginia to obtain food, clothing, and other supplies for the Clarendon settlers, only to have it wreck on the return voyage.
Yeamans remained on the Cape Fear from early November until shortly after Christmas. Here the governor made plans for Robert Sandford, secretary of the colony, to undertake an exploratory voyage to the south, which was later successfully carried out. Having presided over a meeting of the General Assembly of Clarendon, the governor boarded his one remaining vessel and sailed for Barbados never again to return. For another year and a half the Clarendon settlement hung on, but by the close of the summer of 1667 the last of its settlers departed, and Clarendon County ceased to exist. Its governor meanwhile was embroiled in the uncertain and often tempestuous politics of Barbados and seems to have made no effort to save his colony.
Under the vigorous leadership of Lord Ashley, soon to be created Earl of Shaftesbury, the Proprietors in 1669 renewed their efforts to settle Carolina and dispatched a fleet of three ships with colonists aboard bound for the Port Royal area. With the fleet went a blank commission as governor and commander-in-chief addressed to Sir John Yeamans, at Barbados, who was instructed to fill in the document with his own name or that of another of his choice. Yeamans took command of the expedition, hired the sloop Three Brothers to replace a vessel that had sunk off Barbados, and sailed for Carolina. A great storm scattered the fleet, and the two surviving ships sought safety in Bermuda. Here Yeamans decided, for reasons that are unclear, to withdraw from the expedition and to return to Barbados. He then appointed William Sayle, a septuagenarian and a former governor of Bermuda who had had some earlier connection with Carolina, to take his place as governor.
The expedition then proceeded to Carolina where it established a colony not at Port Royal, but at Albemarle Point on the Ashley River. This colony became the nucleus of South Carolina. Yeamans finally reached the colony in the summer of 1671 with his wife, some of his children, and about fifty immigrants from Barbados in his party. The Proprietors on 5 Apr. 1671 had bestowed upon him the title of landgrave. This was the highest rank in the colony's nobility created by the Proprietors under their new framework of government known as the Fundamental Constitutions. Yeamans expected to be immediately acclaimed as governor of the colony, for under the provisions of the Fundamental Constitutions when a Proprietor was not present in Carolina, the highest ranking member of the native nobility would become governor. Joseph West, who had been named governor following the death of William Sayle, refused to give up his office until he received orders from the Proprietors.
Meanwhile, Yeamans established a plantation on Wappoo Creek and reportedly introduced slavery to the colony. Despite repeated efforts to gain the governorship, he was stymied until the Proprietors, acting in accordance with the provisions of the Fundamental Constitutions, ordered that the landgrave be given preference to a commoner and sent him a commission.
On 26 Mar. 1672 the Council proclaimed Sir John governor. In an effort to provide needed food supplies for the colony in 1672 and 1673, Yeamans made liberal use of the Proprietors' credit without their approval. It was also charged in the colony that he had attempted to make huge profits from the food shortages and that his actions had helped bring on these shortages. Displeased at last with Sir John after years of the closest association, the Proprietors on 25 Apr. 1674 revoked his commission as governor and proceeded to appoint Joseph West as his successor. Before this news reached the colony, however, Governor Yeamans died, and on 13 Aug. 1674 Joseph West was named to succeed him.
Lady Margaret remained in South Carolina for several years securing additional land grants that she left to her daughter Margaret, who later became the wife of Colonel James Moore, the founder of a second and permanent settlement on the Cape Fear. Lady Margaret eventually married Captain William Walley and returned to Barbados, where she died.
Sir John Yeamans continues to be an enigmatic figure. He clearly deserves credit as a founder of the two Charles Townes-first on the Cape Fear and then in southern Carolina-but his terms as governor of each of the colonies were more controversial. Circumstances conspired to overwhelm the fledgling Cape Fear colony, but Yeamans initially tried to save the settlement. His interest, however, lay farther south. His tenure in the southern colony was marred by dissension, although again he attempted, even beyond Proprietary limits, to meet the colony's most pressing problems. The accusation that he alienated his friend's wife and then murdered him cannot be absolutely proven, but the circumstantial possibility seriously compromises his character. Seen in the best light, Yeamans may be viewed as an energetic and restless adventurer who was actively involved in the West Indian colonization of the mainland, playing a significant role in the founding of the Carolinas.
Events
| Marriage | Bet 2 and April 11, 1661 | St John, Barbados - Margaret Foster | |||
| Birth | February 28, 1611 | St. Mary, Redcliffe, Bristol, England |  | ||
| Baptism | February 28, 1611 | St. Mary's, Redcliffe, Bristol, England | |||
| Marriage | Abt, 1620 | ||||
| Marriage | Abt, 1633 | Bristol England - Miss Limp | |||
| Death | August, 1674 | Barbados | |||
| Residence | Barbados | |
Families
| Spouse | Margaret Foster (1613 - 1720) |
| Child | Robert Yeamans (1664 - 1728) |
| Child | George Yeamans (1667 - ) |
| Child | Willoughby Yeamans (1669 - ) |
| Child | Edward Yeamans (1670 - ) |
| Child | Anne Yeamans (1671 - ) |
| Spouse | Miss Limp (1613 - 1645) |
| Child | Margaret Yeamans ( - ) |
| Child | John Yeamans ( - 1668) |
| Child | William Yeamans (1637 - 1678) |
| Child | Frances Yeamans (1643 - ) |
| Father | John Yeamans (1587 - 1645) |
| Mother | Blanche Germain (1590 - 1647) |
| Sibling | Margaret Yeamans (1612 - ) |
| Sibling | Elizabeth Yeamans (1612 - ) |
| Sibling | William Yeamans (1613 - ) |
| Sibling | Mary Yeamans (1614 - ) |
| Sibling | Richard Yeamans (1615 - ) |
| Sibling | Anne Yeamans (1616 - ) |
| Sibling | Sir Robert Yeamans (1617 - 1687) |
| Sibling | Joseph Yeamans (1617 - 1686) |
| Sibling | Deborah Yeamans (1618 - ) |
| Sibling | Sarah Yeamans (1620 - 1647) |
| Sibling | Martha Yeamans (1622 - 1647) |
| Sibling | Johana Yeamans (1623 - 1687) |
| Sibling | George Yeamans (1626 - ) |
Endnotes
1. Yates Publishing, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004), Source number: 800.000; Source type: Electronic Database; Number of Pages: 1; Submitter Code: JN1.
2. Ancestry.com, English Settlers in Barbados, 1637-1800 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007).
3. Ancestry.com, English Settlers in Barbados, 1637-1800 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007).