Maps showing Cumberbatch in Barbados reveal where the sugar plantations were located that gave rise to so many people called Cumberbatch in Barbados.

Cumberbatch of Barbados in 1881

The origin of the surname Cumberbatch in Barbados is located in the parish of St. Peter. This was the location of several Cumberbatch owned sugar plantations.

These are estimated counts and densities of Cumberbatchs in the parishes of Barbados in 1881. The frequency of a surname indicates how often the surname Cumberbatch occurs across Barbados.

The density of a surname aims to highlight how concentrated the surname Cumberbatch is, in any one parish at that time, compared to the national average. A density equal to ‘1’ indicates an even distribution, i.e. equivalent to the national average. A density greater than ‘1’ indicates a higher, than normal, concentration of the surname. This could indicate the place of origin of the surname, or just a more fertile bunch of families. So Bridgetown in St Michael, the capital, will have more people as the capital draws people to it.

As can be seen, the highest concentration of Cumberbatchs is in St. Peter, then St. Andrew and then St. Lucy. Whilst St. Michael has the third largest number of Cumberbatchs on the island they are relatively sparse when the density is considered.

The above map highlights that the point of origin for Cumberbatch in Barbados as being in St. Peter with a density 7 times that of the national average. Cumberbatchs owned three major sugar plantations in St. Peter:

• St. Nicholas Abbey
• Ebworth
• The Farm plantation may not have been a sugar plantation, but a farm for growing food.

The location of the other plantation Cleland was in nearby St. Andrew, now the home of the Caribbean International [Horse] Riding Centre. The largest of these plantations in terms of slave population was Cleland in St. Andrew but all the remaining plantations were in St. Peter. St. Nicholas Abbey in St. Peter being the largest comprising 407 acres and 184 slaves.

The above chart indicates the early spread of the descendants of freed Cumberbatchs slaves from their beginnings in St. Peter and St. Andrew. As of 1880 there were no Barbados born Cumberbatchs in the USA.

Cumberbatch owned Planations on Barbados in 1825

Cumberbatch owned sugar plantations were located in St Peter and St Andrew in 1825. So when the enslaved were emancipated in 1834 they needed surnames for church ceremonies like baptisms, marriages and burials. The Cumberbatch owned enslaved people used the surname Cumberbatch mainly in All Saints Church and this can be seen in the higher than expected densities of Cumberbatch by the 1881 census. All Saints Church is central to the larger Cumberbatch owned sugar plantations.