A South Carolina Genealogy:Information about Benjamin Berringer
Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Berringer (b. 1620, d. January 1660/61)
Notes for Benjamin Berringer:Planter on Barbados.Also appears as George Berringer.
Colonel Benjamin Berringer (or Barringer) was born in England, and left London on the ship Gilbert, commanded by a man named Crawford, about May 7, 1656, and arrived in Barbados a little more than a month later, about June 11. He was married to Margaret Foster and they had four children. He must have been quite wealthy, as it is thought that he was the owner of of St. Nicholas Abbey, a mansion still in existence today.
There has been a lot of confusion and controversy among researchers about whether James Moore's wife was a daughter of John Yeamans, the widow of John Yeamans, or, a step-daughter of John Yeamans. The above sources subscribe to the third theory and report that Col. Benjamin Barringer and Margaret Foster, both of Barbados, married and had four children, including Margaret, who later married Gov. James Moore, who was born after her father's death. Colonel Barringer died in January 1660, and was buried in the Church of All Saints, St. Peter's Parish, in Barbados. He left a nuncupative will. His widow, Margaret Foster Barringer, then married Sir John Yeamans, who later became Governor of Carolina, and they moved to Charleston, South Carolina.
Ann Lewis also reported that she talked to Joe Haymore of Sanford, North Carolina, who has done a lot of research in this area. He had concluded that Yeamans and Barringer had neighboring plantations in Barbados. Barringer was a sea captain and was away for long periods of time. He believed that his wife, Margaret and Yeamans were seeing each other and when he returned and found his wife pregnant, he called Yeamans out to a duel. Barringer was killed and Yeamans soon married Margaret Barringer. So---if Haymore is right, then Gov James Moore did marry a Yeamans!
There is an excellent and detailed map of old Barbados in Source #5; it is undated and unsigned, but it was apparently done by a Quaker surveyor named Richard Ford in 1674 or earlier in the 1670s (Source #5, pages 13-14). It shows many of the large plantations, as well as wind mills, cattle mills, and water mills, all used in the manufacture of sugar. On this map, Berringer and Yeamans have plantations next to each other, and are close to the Foster and Merrick family plantations. These are in the northeast part of the island, I believe in (or close to) All Saint's Parish (that is what it looks like on the map). There are two Davis plantations a little to the south of the Berringer and Yeamans properties, in St. Joseph's (or St. Andrew's) Parish; families which have plantations near the Davises are Gibbs (Gibbes), Merrick, and Richards. A second Yeamans plantation is between these two clusters.
See the notes for Sir John Yeamans and David Davis for related information.
From Source #3:
"St. Nicholas Abbey, located in the parish of St. Peter, was built in 1660 and is one of only three genuine Jacobean mansions in the Western Hemisphere. Barbados is home to two of these mansions ... St. Nicholas Abbey and Drax Hall.
"Distinguishing features of this magnificent, well-preserved mansion are: curved Dutch gables, chimney stacks and coral stone finials, a Chinese Chippendale staircase and fine antiques and china. A rare 1930s film of sugar plantation life can also be viewed.
"St. Nicholas Abbey is not without its tale of tragedy! The house appears to have been built by Colonel Benjamin Berringer. His neighbour, friend and business partner was John (later Sir John) Yeamans. When Yeamans began to pay attention to Mrs. Berringer, a feud erupted between Yeamans and Colonel Berringer, culminating in a duel in which Berringer was killed. Soon after, Sir John married Mrs. Berringer and claimed the Abbey. A court ruling later returned the property to Berringer's children and the property was named after Berringer's granddaughter who married George Nicholas.
"Meanwhile, Sir John and Berringer's widow left Barbados in 1669 and helped found the colony that is South Carolina, with Sir John eventually becoming Governor of that settlement in 1672. When he died two years later, his widow married again ... for the third time!"
More About Benjamin Berringer and Margaret Foster:
Marriage: Abt. 1646
Children of Benjamin Berringer and Margaret Foster are:
- +Margaret Berringer, b. 1662, Barbados, d. 09 June 1720, South Carolina.