Barbados?
There is a theory that Charles the Immigrant was a member of a Woolverton family from Barbados. Glenn Gohr mentioned records of the family there in Wolvertons Unlimited Vol. 5 Number 5, and Robert H. Schomburgk's "History of Barbados" mentions "Charles Wolferstone" who was sent by "a society of London merchants with sixty-four settlers to Barbados, who landed on the 5th of July 1628." Wolferstone was given a commission by the Earl of Carlisle to act as governor over the settlement which under his auspices a company of merchants proposed to effect in Barbados.
"The author of the 'Memoirs of the first Settlement of Barbados' expressly
states, that the Earl of Carlisle gave a commission to Charles Wolfcrstone
to act as governor over the settlement which under his auspices a
company of merchants proposed to effect in Barbados. This commission,
which bore date the 29th of March 1628, was granted by virtue of a
patent which the Earl had received from the King on the 2nd of June
1627, and which empowered Wolferstone to execute justice, decide con
troversies, keep his Majesty's peace, and punish offenders according to
the nature of their several offences, and according to the law of England.
Mr. John Swann was directed by the company of merchants who under
took to form this settlement, to be appointed Lieutenant-Governor, and a
convenient number of other persons, not exceeding twenty, were to be
chosen by Wolferstone as his Council; with which instructions he complied.
Sir William Tufton, who succeeded Wolferstone, held a session on the 23rd
of February, and by the advice of his Council he made several laws and
divided the island into six parishes."
The first English vessel which touched at Barbados appears to hare
been the " Olive Blossom (Oliph Blossome)." This vessel was fitted-out at the expense of
Sir Olive Leigh, Knight, and sailed from Woolwich on the 14th of April
1605, with colonists and stores for "Master Charles Leigh," his brother,
who had settled a colony in the river Wiapaco (at present Oyapoco).
She was commanded by Captain Cataline, and Richard Chambers acted
under him as sailing-master : in consequence of his unskilfulness they
were obliged to touch at Barbados. The crew, finding it destitute of
inhabitants, took possession of the country by erecting a cross upon the
spot where Jamestown was afterwards built, and cut upon the bark of a
tree which stood near, "James K. of E. and this island," that is, James,
King of England and this island. They then followed the shore, until their
progress was stopped by the river, which afterwards received the name
of the Indian River, where the explorers performed a similar ceremony
of taking occupation of the island : they did not however commence
any settlement, and only stayed to refresh themselves. From Barbados
they went to St. Lucia, where Mr. John Nicholl and Captain St. John
with the rest of the passengers, who proposed to have settled in Guiana,
resolved to stay. Sixty-seven were consequently left there on the 23rd
of August 1605, and the ship proceeded on its voyage to St. Vincent and
Cumana. The new settlers were surprised by the Indians in St. Lucia,
and the few who escaped arrived after many adventures at Carthagena.
John Nicholl returned in February 1606 to England, and published a
small work in which he gave a description of his adventures. In the
'Memoirs of the First Settlement of the Island of Barbados,' it is stated
that the Olive was returning from a voyage to Guinea when she touched
at Barbados : this is unconfirmed by any contemporary historian, while
the settlement of Charles Leigh in the river Wiapoco is authenticated by
several historians of that period.
Some Dutch vessels, which were specially licensed by the court of Spain
to trade to Brazil, landed in Barbados on their return to Europe, for the
purpose of procuring refreshments. On their arrival in Zealand they
gave a flattering account of the island, which was communicated by a
correspondent to Sir William Courteen, a merchant of London, who was
at that time deeply engaged in the trade with the New World. The
favourable account given by the Dutch navigators was shortly after-
wards confirmed by one of Courteen's own vessels, which on her return
from Brazil was driven by stress of weather on the coast of Barba-
dos. This must have occurred in 1624, at which time the Dutch West
India Company had sent a great armament for the conquest of Brazil
under Admiral Jacob Willekens and Colonel Jean van Dort, who in
May 1624 took possession of the city of S. Salvador or Bahia, and thus
opened the ports of Brazil to Dutch enterprise. It is probable that
Courteen's ship sailed under Dutch protection to Brazil. San Salvador
was retaken by the Portuguese in April 1625 ; consequently her voyage
must have taken place previous to that period, and most likely in the
middle of the year 1624.
Ligon says the vessel came from "Ternambock in Brasill " (Pernam-
buco); this is doubtless an error, as that port only fell into the hands of
the Dutch in 1630, and the jealousy of the Portuguese prevented any
foreign vessel from trading with their territories in Brazil.
The men on board Courteen's ship landed and stayed some time : they
found the island thickly overgrown with wood, nor did they meet with
any inhabitants. Ligon asserts however that there were wild hogs in
abundance, which he considered to have been left by the Portuguese, on
their landing here occasionally, for the purpose of breeding, in case that,
should they at any future time be driven again on this coast, they might
find fresh meat. The accounts which Sir William Courteen received
from his own people respecting the fertility and commodious situation
confirmed him in his plan of forming a settlement in Barbados.
Lord Ley, afterwards Earl of Marlborough and Lord High Treasurer,
had been informed of the favourable accounts which were given of Bar-
bados, and applied to James the First for a patent to secure the island to
him and his heirs for ever. Under his protection Sir William Courteen
fitted out two large ships, supplied with arms, ammunition, and the
necessary tools for commencing a settlement. Of these ships, one only,
the William and John, commanded by John Powell, arrived on the 17th of
February 1625 in Barbados, and landed on the leeward side of the island
forty English with seven or eight negroes; of the former William Arnold
was one of the first that stepped on shore. The colonists fortified
themselves in the neighbourhood of the spot which had been taken pos-
session of nearly twenty years previously by the crew of the Olive Blossom,
and laid the foundation of a town which, in honour of their sovereign,
they called Jamestown. They elected Captain William Dean their Go-
vernor, and thus Barbados was one of the few islands which fell into the
hands of Europeans without bloodshed and the extirpation of its abori-
ginal inhabitants.
In a petition which the Lieutenant-Governor, Council and General
Assembly of the island addressed to James the Second, they state par-
ticularly that the island was settled under James the First, who died in
1625, which renders it certain that the settlement of Courteen took place
that year, and not, as is sometimes erroneously stated, in 1627.
It was at that period very usual among men of rank and distinction
to embark their money in adventures and colonization beyond the seas :
the history of Sir Walter Raleigh is a striking proof of this. There is
therefore nothing surprising in seeing men like the Earl of Marlborough
and James Hay Earl of Carlisle the owners of ships engaged in trade
with the American colonies. It is asserted that the Earl of Carlisle ob-
tained from James the First a grant, or warrant for a grant, under the
great seal, of all the Caribbean islands, which the king erected into a
province, under the name of Carliola, on the model of the Palatinate of
Durham. Lord Carlisle's ship, the Hopewell, returned with Mr. Thomas
Warner from St. Christopher's in 1624; and through his interest
Warner was knighted by Charles the First, who had recently ascended
the throne. Warner was sent back as Governor to St. Christopher's in
1625. The report of the adventure of Sir William Courteen to settle
Barbados no doubt induced Lord Carlisle to get his former grant con-
firmed, and his application was successful : Charles the First granted to
him all the Caribbee islands by letters patent, under the great seal of
England. The Earl of Marlborough opposed this grant.on the ground of
priority of right, which produced a tedious litigation. The Earl of Carlisle
compromised with the Lord High Treasurer, by agreeing to pay to him
and his heirs for ever an annuity of three hundred pounds for his claim.
Marlborough therefore relinquished his right, and in consequence of this
arrangement the patent of the Earl of Carlisle passed the great seal on
the 2nd of June 1627, by which he became the sole proprietor of the
Caribbee islands, comprising " St. Christopher, Grenada, St. Vincent,
St. Lucia, Barbados, Martinique, Dominica, Mariegalante, Deseada, Todo
Santos, Guadaloupe, Antigua, Montserrat, Redondo, Barbuda, Nevis,
Eustatia, St. Bartholomew, St. Martin, Anguilla, Sombrero and Anegada,
and many other islands." This patent authorized the Earl of Carlisle
or his heirs to publish such laws, with the consent and approbation of
" the free inhabitants of the said province, or the greater part of them
thereunto to be called," as he or his heirs should think fit and best ; these
laws however "to be agreeable and not repugnant unto reason; nor
against, but as convenient and agreeable as may be, to the laws, statutes,
customs, and rights of our kingdom of England." The Earl of Carlisle,
or his heirs, or his magistrates or officers, were authorized, in case of
necessity, to make decrees and ordinances without all the people being
called together, which ordinances were to be kept inviolable "under the
pains therein expressed," provided they were not repugnant to reason, or
calculated to " the hurt or discomodity of any person or persons, either to
the binding, constraining, burthening or taking away, either their liberty,
goods or chattles." The patent further declares the province to be under
allegiance to the Crown of England, and that all his Majesty's subjects and
their children born in the island, or who should afterwards be born, became
natives and subjects of the king, his heirs and successors, and should be
as free as they who were born in England, and also "freely, quietly and
peaceably, to have and possess all the liberties, franchises and priveleges of
this kingdom, and them to use and enjoy as liege people of England."
This patent did not deter Sir William Courteen from prosecuting bis
scheme with vigour : the absence of Lord Carlisle on a diplomatic mis-
sion offered a favourable opportunity, and he applied to William Earl of
Pembroke, who had previously taken some interest in the settlement of
Barbados, to represent his case in such a light to the King as might lead to
a revocation of Lord Carlisle's patent, which Courteen considered a usur-
pation of his rights of discovery and pre-occupation. His application
was successful, and the Earl of Pembroke obtained from Charles the First
a grant of Barbados in trust for Courteen. At this juncture of affairs
the Earl of Carlisle returned from abroad, and understanding that a grant
had been obtained for an island which lay within his province of Car-
liola, he complained to the King of the advantage that had been taken of
his absence, and that he had been deprived of his property without being
heard. To appease his favourite, Charles the First revoked the patent to
the Lord Chamberlain, and reinstated Lord Carlisle in the possession of
Barbados. But Lord Carlisle, fearful from his experience of the past, lost
no time in using the privileges conferred upon him, and offered his lands
in Barbados for sale in such parcels as might suit the convenience of adven-
turers, stipulating that each person should pay him forty pounds of cotton
annually. A society of London merchants, consisting of Marmaduke
Brandon, Willim Perkin, Alexander Banister, Robert Wheatley, Edmond
Forster, Robert Swinnerton, Henry Wheatley, John Charles, and John
Farringdon, obtained a grant of ten thousand acres from the Earl much
in the nature of a lease, which lands were to be settled according to their
own directions, and upon their nomination under the management of a
person empowered to that effect. The company selected for this purpose
Charles Wolferstone, a native of Bermuda, who received a commission
from the Earl, which was dated the 29th of March 1628, and was granted
by virtue of the former patent from the King which he had received in
June 1627. Wolferstone took under his direction sixty-four settlers,
each of whom was authorized to take up one hundred acres of land.
The names of only two of these settlers have been handed down to us
in the ' Memoirs of the First Settlement" namely Mr. S. Bulkley and
Mr. John Summers, who settled in the present parish of St. George.
The new colonists arrived in Barbados on the 5th of July 1628, and
anchored in the bay, which was afterwards named after the Earl of Car-
lisle. They found Courteen's settlement in a very flourishing condition ;
but as two interests having one and the same purpose could not co-exist,
Wolferstone declared the settlement under the protection of the Earl of
Pembroke a usurpation, and issuing bis proclamation he summoned the
settlers to appear at the Bridge. In obedience to his instructions, he
appointed Mr. John Swann his deputy and lieutenant. The colonists
under the authority of the Earl of Carlisle having settled to the wind-
ward of the Earl of Pembroke's men, they assumed the name of Wind-
ward-men, while the first settlers at Jamestown were called the Leeward-
men. The latter made their appearance at the Bridge headed by Deane
their Governor; they would not however hear of submission to the
authority of the Earl of Carlisle, with the exception of Deane, who recog-
nising a countryman in Wolferstone tendered his adherence: the others
returned that night to their settlements, making " torches of wild canes "
to pick their way home through the darkness. A body of men under the
command of Deane, who had so treacherously deserted his former ad-
herents, was now despatched for their submission by Wolferstone. Those
who still held out for the Earl of Pembroke, selected John Powell, a son
of Captain Powell who brought them'over in the William and John, as
their commander, and marched out to meet their adversaries. They
met at the Palmetto Fort at the Hole ; but an engagement was pre-
vented by the interposition of a clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Kentlane, by
making a proposition that the disputes should be referred to the two Earls.
The Leeward-men submitted to the Earl of Carlisle's authority ad interim
on the 14th of September 1628, and John Powell became the prisoner of
Wolferstone.
The good understanding between the two parties did not last long. Henry
Powell arrived in Barbados on the 14th of January 1629, and brought with
him a commission from the Earl of Pembroke, appointing John Powell
Governor of the colony. Powell succeeded in surprising Wolferstone and
Deane, and having them conveyed on board his ship he sent them in irons
to England. The new Governor did not however remain long in power.
Captain Henry Hawley arrived on the 9th of April of that year, with a
commission from the Earl of Carlisle to establish his authority : he was
accompanied by Robert Wheatley, one of the merchants interested in the
ten thousand acres of land. He concealed the object of his arrival, and
invited Governor Powell on board his vessel, where he seized and sent
him prisoner to England. Hawley's sojourn at Barbados was short, and
on his departure he nominated Robert Wheatley Governor.
One of the sources of this history states that Wolferstone came to Barbados from Bermuda, An attempt has been made to see if there are any records showing passage or arrival to Bermuda by anyone of that name or close to it, but again passenger manifests are extremely incomplete and no evidence has been found of this yet. If Charles Woolverton was a descendant of Charles Wolferstone, he did not likely come from Barbados as Schomburgk mentions he was "returned to England in irons." It is unknown if this variation of the name has been traced any further.