George Holmes Pomeroy (abt. 1709 - bef. 1741)

Born about 1709 in Pallas, County Cork, Ireland

Ancestors

Died before 28 Mar 1741 before about age 32 in County Cork, Ireland [uncertain]

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Biography

Biography

George Holmes Pomeroy, fourth son of Thomas Holmes Pomeroy, was born in Pallas (Pallice), County Cork, Ireland. Very little is known of George.

He is named in a "Memorial of Deeds of Lease and Release Tripartite" dated 6-7 March 1726 executed by George's parents, by which Thomas entailed his estate. By the terms of the entail, George and his heirs (if any) would be fourth in line to inherit the estate in the event that his three elder brothers predeceased him and had no male heirs. If George were to inherit the estate, the property would be his to use throughout his life and afterwards would pass to his male heirs in order of birth. George was probably about 17 years of age at the time his parents made this entail.

George died sine prole before his father, as is shown by the will of George's father Thomas, which he made on 28 March 1741. In the will, Thomas bequeathed "To my wife, all my personal Estate and the Legacies bequeathed to Mr. Moses Deane to my children Sarah, Audriah, and George Holmes who are dead." (emphasis added)

From this it is shown that George had died prior to 28 March 1741. Since Thomas mentions no heirs of George in the will, George must have died as a young man, probably prior to getting married and evidently without having had any children.

Erroneous Identification

Despite the evidence of Thomas Holmes Pomeroy's 1741 will, professional genealogist Margaret Falley argued at length in Edwin Moore Pomeroy's History and Genealogy of the Pomeroy Family and Collateral Lines (1958), pp. 66-68, 74-81, that George Holmes Pomeroy did not after all die without heirs prior to March 1741, but rather through a great misfortune happened to end up in America without his family's knowledge, leading his father Thomas to believe that he had died. Edwin Moore Pomeroy thus identified George Holmes Pomeroy as the Pennsylvania settler George Pumrey/Pumroy (Pomeroy) who married and had nine children.

Nevertheless, Thomas Holmes Pomeroy did not say that his son George was "missing and presumed dead," but simply and matter-of-factly "dead." (Determining whether or not a potential heir to an estate was living was a matter of great importance -- Thomas would not have declared his son George dead if there were a chance that he still lived and possibly had male heirs.) Furthermore, George Pumrey of Pennsylvania is never said to have ever borne the surname "Holmes." Lastly, DNA tests have shown that George Pumrey's male-line descendants have a Y chromosome that is rather close to that of other Pomeroy families, which could not be the case if George Pumrey had actually been paternally a Holmes -- for a Pomeroy Y chromosome cannot be handed down by a woman, and yet George Holmes Pomeroy had inherited his surname of "Holmes Pomeroy" from the fact that his father Thomas' mother was a Pomeroy.^[1]

In light of these facts, it cannot be maintained that George Pumrey was George Holmes Pomeroy. The parentage and ancestry of George Pumrey are unknown.

See also the detailed analysis of Falley's genealogical conjectures and assertions at the Pomeroy Connections website.^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.familytreedna.com/public/pomeroy?iframe=yresults
2. ↑ https://sites.google.com/site/pomeroyconnections/samuel-pomeroy-of-pallice

• Pomeroy Global DNA Project (run by the Pomeroy Family Association) - Y-DNA Classic Chart -- https://www.familytreedna.com/public/pomeroy?iframe=yresults

• Pomeroy, Edwin. History and Genealogy of the Pomeroy Family and Collateral Lines (William McL. and J. Nevins Pomeroy, Philadelphia, 1958), pp. 66-68, 74-81

• Descendants of George Pomeroy, Pennsylvania -- http://sites.rootsmagic.com/PomeroyGeorge_Pennsylvania/