The Baruch Lousadas of Barbados

In the first line of this chart are the 4 Baruh Lousada 'siblings' - David, Aaron, Gracia and Abraham - who appear in Wilfred Samuel's 1680 survey (ref 5) as the first of the family in Barbados. With them above we place Rebecca #2001 (see note 14 below) and Abraham #1352 (son of Moses #46 of London and who may have appeared in Barbados later than Samuel's survey - see note 12 below). The parentage of the 'siblings' is shown here where we show that Aaron was a 1st cousin of the other 3 and that Gracia #43 was an older half-sister of the full brothers David #44 and Abraham #45. Where the 'siblings' died is shown in the chart and this demonstrates the mobility of Sephardic families in those times. All the Barbados Baruch Lousadas found in refs 61 and 132 are in the chart, as well as those in the wills discussed in note 11 below, excepting some who died young in Barbados, and the 4 offspring of Aaron #376 who moved to Jamaica. Barbados marriage records are lost except for those few published in ref 132, making it necessary to infer from related families that David #1263 had a married sister Rebecca #2111 (see note 10 below); and (as discussed in note 15 below) another married sister Rachel #1262. Solomon #712 (see note 2 below) succeeded his father Aaron in becoming the key local ancestor of the family, while his brother David #612 with his Surinam interests and Curacao daughter was not so productive (see note 5 below), and neither was their step-cousin Jacob #711 (see note 3 below). Moses #1565 and Moses #67 are discussed here.

 An Emanuel Baruh Louzada of Barbados appears in the London will of Sarah #384 (see note 7 below), and had a lifespan of 1737-92 (#287 ref 61). Rachel, a niece of Isaac Lindo whose will shows she was the daughter of David Baruh Louzada, was a widow when she married Emanuel a widower (ref 132 #10) in 1783. Most likely she had previously married Emanuel's brother Daniel when she was aged about 16, an age we infer from the birthdate of her probable daughter Esther #1573 (see note 7 below). Daniel taking after his uncle David was Hazan - cantor - for services in the Bridgetown synagogue. Their grave locations are revealing - ref 61 shows grave #286 was that of Esther d1775, Emanuel's first wife; #287 was that of Emanuel, #288 was that of Rachel and #289 was that of Daniel. The Lindo will, which as mentioned above shows Rachel #1811 to have been a niece, also shows that Ephraim Baruh Louzada was a nephew and Rebecca #1569 a niece. Ephraim and Esther #1573 - whom as mentioned above we think was Rachel's daughter with Daniel - both died on 10 Oct in the hurricane of 1780, and Ephraim at age 25 would have been the uncle of Esther aged 12. Rachel had thus suffered 3 major losses (husband, brother and daughter) in the 1779-80 period and perhaps her marriage to Emanuel in 1783 was a comfort; but it was not without challenge (see note 13 below).

It seems that Amelia Baruh may have carried the line forward to the present day if she was indeed the Barbados Baruh Lousada ancestor that Errol Barrow claimed he had. But there were other mixed-race Baruch Lousadas in Barbados (see note 6 below). An evocative portrayal of life in Barbados can be found in ref 92. The author's family knew Errol Barrow, who in 1966 became first post-independence Prime Minister of Barbados. Errol Barrow's elder sister Dame Ruth Nita Barrow became in 1990 the first woman appointed Governor-General of Barbados. Errol Barrow told Mordechai Arbell (ref 21) that he (Barrow) was descended from the Barbados Baruh Lousadas. So far we have not confirmed the link, and that would seem to require establishing the ancestry of Errol Barrow - working backward - a task we have barely started (see ref 354). A possible relative was the cricketer Ivan Barrow (ref 378).

Notes:

1. Aaron and Isaac were the last known Barbados Baruh Lousadas from ref 61. Aaron who died 26 Feb 1824 was on the Jewish burial register but there is no memorial. Isaac was on a separate record of Jewish burials and death was between 24 May 1831 and 16 Jul 1832. Because there seemed to be no alternative (Rachel had no surviving children - see comments on her will above) we suggest that they derive from a previously unknown third marriage of Jeremiah (to Esther #1998 d1808 Bridgetown) - this marriage would have been before 1778 (which is the date of the earliest marriage shown in ref 132) and after 1754 (the year Jeremiah's second wife Sarah died when he was 49). Aaron and Isaac must have contemplated burial in London, for the Bevis Marks burial register appears to show modest payments ending in 1824 (Aaron) and 1822 (Isaac).

2. We would expect Solomon Baruch Lousada to be a duplicated name, for the 1st son of each of the 3 brothers Aaron #714, Jeremiah #1189 and David #1263 would have been called Solomon after the paternal grandfather Solomon #712. He was buried at Bridgetown (#68 ref 61), had a wife Jael, and died on 29 Nov 1743 aged 65. The Solomon who died on 28 June 1746 but having no identified grave was probably the son of David #1263 (and does not appear in his father's 1759 will being already deceased), but the nephew Solomon who appears in the will of David #1263 must have been Solomon #1999 who might seem to have been the son of Jeremiah's 2nd marriage (see ref 294) but whom we take to be the son of Jeremiah's 1st marriage and stepson of his 2nd marriage (for the reason that there is no evidence of the burial of the earlier Solomon who would have arisen in the 1st marriage). But Aaron's wife Esther died quite young and we could identify no surviving or deceased children. It is probably Solomon #1999 who appears in ref 346 p59 as a contributor of 12 shillings in the 3rd quarter 1795 to the New York congregation.

3. Three 3 wives of a Jacob Baruh Louzada are buried at Bridgetown. After reviewing the evidence we conclude that Jacob #380 married Leah (who died 2 Feb 1702) in Barbados before he moved to Jamaica around 1705. Jacob #380 was in Barbados at the time of his mother's death in 1703, but no children of his are apparent then, and he seems to have died in Jamaica on 22 June 1722 where he was buried at Hunts Bay (ref 88); so he seems to have packed a lot into 19 years - a second marriage, 5 children and a move to Jamaica. The other 2 wives of Jacob Baruh Louzada buried at Bridgetown - namely Rebecca and Rachel - were probably wives of Jacob #711, son of David Baruch Louzada #44. Certainly we know of Rebecca from ref 5. See note 12 for a further comment on Jacob #711.

4. The long-lived Jeremiah became the senior family representative in Barbados after 1768; we wondered whether he may have been the key point of contact with the Barrows after their arrival in Barbados, leading to the business and marriage links between the Barrows and the Baruh Lousadas. However the Massiah family link was perhaps a stronger factor, and it led to the Barrows becoming related to Jeremiah. Jeremiah was the witness of the 1738 Barbados/Surinam deed written by his uncle David #612 (described in note 5 below).

5. As for David, the first son of Aaron #376, his father's will refers to him as going to London, but we have found a record of his 1741 Barbados death (ref 100), and earlier in 1703 he must have been in Barbados to have been an executor of the will of his mother Rachel Gomez Henriques. From this will we see that he had a daughter Rebecca (Ribca), but this name is likely to have been a mistranscription of 'Rachel' or 'Rahel' in the original Portuguese script for Rachel is what David's first-born daughter would have been called - certainly there is no evidence of the Barbados death of Rachel if Rebecca really was the correct transcription. Barbados will transcriptions are somewhat unreliable (ref 192), and in any case this is not our first encounter with this particular transcription error (this first encounter was in the will of Emanuel #135 discussed here). Before his death he signed a 1738 deed in which his Surinam assets are placed in the hands of the 'church wardens' there (see ref 112). This deed was evidently an adjunct to his will (see ref 224) in which he ratifies and confirms his 'writings' on his Surinam assets. In 1705 a deed was prepared for him and Rebecca Lopes Mirandella (ref 194) whose surname can be found in Surinam in 1695. She was probably his wife and they probably married in 1702 given the existence of their 1st child in 1703 discussed above. This child Rachel is discussed in note 11 below.

6. Ref 85 p12 gives us gravestone details of Master Frederick Baruh Lousada - data supplied to the author by Vere Langford Oliver. Frederick died aged 13 on 20 Apr 1816, and was buried at St Mary's Church Bridgetown. He was probably of mixed-blood as ref 21 p200 suggests. And on 4 Dec 1827 in the Parish of St Michaels, Thomas Harris married Esther Baruch Lousada and both were noted as free coloured as was a witness John Montefiore; they had a daughter Catharine Rose who was baptised on 10 Sep 1828. The Abraham Baruh Lousada appearing in note 8 may also have been a mixed race-descendant. We have not linked these people with Errol Barrow.

7. The will of Sarah Baruh Lousada #384 gives a bequest to Daniel and Emanuel Baruh Lousada, sons of Jeremiah #1189. Daniel's (probable) widow Rachel #1181 died childless in 1810 - but the child Esther #1573 who died in the hurricane of 1780 could have been hers. Ephraim #1558, Rebecca #1569 and Rachel #1811 as children of David #1263 appear in the will of Isaac Lindo which was written in 1774 and proved in November 1780. Neither Esther #1573 nor Esther #1998 appear in Isaac's will; Esther #1998 was probably born in the 1740-5 period and married to a Baruch Lousada (see note 9 below) before Isaac Lindo wrote his will, while Esther #1573 was in the next generation being born in 1767 to daughter Rachel #1811 then only 16 or 17. Thus Rachel #1811 was probably married (to Daniel #1557) when the will was written in 1774, a widow when the will was proven in 1780, and married (to Emanuel #1500) in 1783. Daniel #1557 and Emanuel #1500 do not appear in the will of Isaac Lindo. Emanuel #1500 does appear as executor of the will of Simon Massiah d1775, who was an uncle of Isaac Lindo's future daughter-in-law Rachel Massiah. It is hard to avoid a conclusion that Isaac Lindo was especially attached to Ephraim #1558, Rebecca #1569 and Rachel #1181 for reasons we discuss here (scroll to note 10).

8. An Abraham Baruh Lousada makes an appearance in ref 131 Chapter 11 p210 as a freemason apparently around the 1797-1829 period. We have no basis upon which to place him in the above chart as no other evidence of him has been found. He may have been an additional mixed-race family member (see note 6).

9. Esther Baruch Lousada #1998 is shown by ref 61 in Appendix I (those on the Jewish Burial Register but with no memorial) as dying 13 Tisri 5569 as a Baruch Lousada wife for she carried those surnames without being a spinster like Rebecca #1569. She must have been the third wife and niece of Jeremiah #1189 and the mother of Aaron and Isaac shown above (see note 1). As Jeremiah's 2nd wife died in 1754, it is likely that Esther #1998 married him around the time her probable father David #1263 died in 1759. As she appears to have been born in the 1740-5 period, she was still a teenager when she married, and in 1759 she would have been in the 14-19 age range. One cannot imagine Jeremiah waiting more than a few years to remarry.

10. Rebecca #2111 is shown in the chart, and is the only one of the suggested 3 'Baruch Lousadas' in ref 210 whom we have accepted as a Baruch Lousada. For as discussed here (note 12) we believe the other candidates were not Baruch Lousadas. We noted there that it required just one of the suggested Baruch Lousadas to actually be a Baruch Lousada in achieve the brother-in-law relationship shown in ref 210 between Isaac Lindo, David #1263, and the Massiah brothers Benjamin and Judah. She was Rebecca #2111 who married Abraham Massiah and died in 1749.

11. The wills of David #612, David #1263 and Rachel #1181 were transcribed by Pat Stafford and provided on 30 Oct 2017 (ref 224). These wills added usefully to our understanding of the Barbados Baruch Lousadas. For instance, they show that David #1263 had a daughter Esther, meaning we are now able to identify her with the Baruch Lousada wife in ref 61 who died on 13 Tisri 5569 and has no memorial - see note 4 for her husband and 9 for her death; she can be distinguished from Esther #1563 who was born well after David #1263 died. Thus we can add Esther #1998 to the 3 children of David known from Isaac Lindo's will, making 7 in total since Solomon, Jael and Luna died young. The name 'Jael' is derived from the paternal grandmother, which in turn is derived from the Valverde/Navarro influx from Dutch Brazil. The will of David #1263 also shows links by marriage to the Massiahs and Lindos of Barbados as discussed in note 10. The will of David #612 adds to the profile in note 5 above - for it makes reference to his Surinam estate being dealt with elsewhere. David's largest bequest is to Rachel the wife of Elijah Aboab of Curacao and this is probably his daughter Rachel (see note 5 above). David #612 was closer to Jeremiah #1189 than were his brothers Aaron #714 and David #1263, for only Jeremiah received a bequest, and Jeremiah was named in the 1738 deed (see note 5 above).

12. Samuel's survey (ref 5) is a comprehensive survey of Jewish Barbados around 1680, but then ref 207 via a study of rent-books carries the picture forward for the next century adding additional elements to the above chart. Its family summaries includes the Baruch Henriques with the Baruch Lousadas but we do not include the Baruch Henriques family in our chart. But (see table dealing with property ownership 1679-80 in ref 207 PTI p3 - our page numbering) Jacob Baruch Lousada must have been the quite young Jacob #711, left behind in Barbados when his father David #44 left for Amsterdam before 1672. This would suggest Jacob may have been born before David #44 reached Barbados which is perhaps why he needed endenization (in 1687 - see ref 74 - though his father David #44 was endenized in 1664), and a pass to travel to Barbados in 1696 with his father (see ref 182). The Abraham Baruch Lousada appearing in Barbados in 1729 (ref 207 PTI p24 - our page numbering) may have been Abraham #1352 of London (see 1st line of the chart) whose only trace there was the 1682 circumcision of his son - see here notes 4 and 9; he does not appear in endenization records or in the 1696 London census but if he received a pass to travel to Barbados it must have been outside the 1689-96 period covered by ref 182 ie he had probably left London by 1689. Moses #67 was endenized in 1694 (ref 74 gives the comment 'He was endenized in England 14 Dec 1694. He settled in Barbados.' and while ref 42 does not explicitly clash with this somewhat ambiguous comment we note that Barbados endenizations were often done locally by the Governor in this period for local candidates and ref 42 shows this to have been the case with the previous batch of Barbados endenizations of 9 Mar 1694) and not being evident in England in 1695 he may have travelled with his father to Barbados before 1689 and returned to England in the 1696-1709 period. As Moses #67 was probably born not long before his 1682 circumcision, he was around 13 at endenization and he probably returned perhaps with a wife Esther toward the end of that 1696-1709 period.

13. For Karl Watson (in ref 131 Chapter 11 p214) remarks that the inheritance of the free mulatto Amelia Baruh under the will of the widow Rachel Baruh Lousada would have left her a wealthy woman, for the childless Rachel inherited the fortune of her husband Emanuel Baruh Lousada. Watson says that Amelia was 'in all likelihood the illegitimate daughter of Emanuel Baruh Lousada and that the two (half-) siblings John (Meik) and Judith (Annesly) (who also inherited under Rachel's will) were probably the children of Amelia Baruh'. Rachel's bequest to Amelia Baruh seems to reflect a compassionate nature untainted by her own misfortune.

14. She appears in ref 5 to have booked a passage on the Anne and Jane to London on 18 Dec 1679. The property-owning Rebecca Lousada (see table dealing with property ownership 1679-80 in ref 207 PTI p3 - our page numbering) may have been an unmarried Baruch Lousada daughter of Isaac #42 or David #1584 and hence a cousin or half- or full- sister of Aaron #376 who we deduce elsewhere to have been a son of David and a nephew of Isaac. No grave of hers is known in London however. Abraham #45 had a wife in London named Rebecca of child-bearing age in 1695 but we suggest this was another younger person; for Abraham #45 was living in Barbados in 1679 whereas at the same time Rebecca #2001 was living on her own (with slaves).

15. One of the great puzzles of Baruch Lousada genealogy is the identity of Rachel Baruch Lousada who married Isaac Lamego #38. After considering and dismissing many possibilities, we are left with only one possible answer - that she was the first daughter of Solomon #712 - and like 4 of his siblings having a daughter Rachel she was named after the grandmother Rachel Gomez Henriques #377. It was only after we were able to deduce the existence of a later daughter Rebecca #2111 (see note 10) of Solomon that we were able to point to the certain existence at least for a period of Rachel #1262. Our thinking is also set out here (scroll down to note 14).