Robert Freeman (bef. 1630 - aft. 1671)

Born before 1630 in England

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Biography

This profile is part of the Freeman Name Study.

Lieutenant Colonel Robert Freeman was a Jamaican planter and councillor.

Robert Freeman held land (nearly 1340 acres) in St David's Parish, Jamaica, close, and possibly next to, land held by Thomas Freeman.^[1][2]

Robert Freeman first appears in the records in 1664 having been appointed to the first Jamaican House Assembly in October 1663, the first meeting of the Assembly taking place in January 1664. At this time he represented the area of Morant (ie Freeman's Bay).^[3] Robert was Secretary to the Jamaican Council some time after 1671 having been appointed to that post by Sir Thomas Lynch Knight, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica.^[4] He appears as witness in a number of government documents at this time.^[5] Robert was also appointed by Sir Thomas Lynch as one of the Collectors and Receivers of Imposts.

Points for Further Research

Robert was possibly the brother, or cousin of, Thomas Freeman and William Freeman. Humphrey Freeman, another early Jamaican settler, may also have been a relation. The notes to Humphrey's monumental inscription in St Catherine's reads as follows: "There was a Sir Robert Freeman connected with the affairs of Virginia, about the middle of the seventeenth century. In 1671, William Freeman was Member of Council in Jamaica. Thomas, Robert, and Humphrey Freeman were members of the first General Assembly of Jamaica in 1663. Robert was Speaker of the House of Assembly in 1664. The arms on this monument appear to be the same as those of Freeman of Castle Cor."^[6]

Is there a connection to the Freemans who built Castle Cor in Ireland in the mid-seventeenth century? And is this the same Robert Freeman with "affairs in Virginia"?

Sources

1. ↑ Sketch pedigrees of some of the early settlers in Jamaica. Comp. from the records of the Court of chancery of the island with a list of the inhabitants in 1670 and other matter relative to the early history of the same by Noel B Livingston, 1909. Page 113. Information derived from a 1670 survey of the island of Jamaica.
2. ↑ Jamaica Family Search.com, transcript of 1670 survey of St David's parish, Jamaica.
3. ↑ Historic Jamaica, by Frank Cundall, London, 1915. Page 15.
4. ↑ Official and Other Personages of Jamaica from 1655 to 1790 quoting W. A. FEURTADO, Kingston, Jamaica, 1896.
5. ↑ Interesting tracts, relating to the island of Jamaica by Lewis, Lunan, and Jones, 1800.
6. ↑ Jamaican Family Search Genealogy Research Library, Monumental Inscriptions, St Catherine's. Item #48.