Proverbs family

[garrincha]

Hello,

I'm very new to this - so apologies if I cover a lot of old ground.

I've been doing a little bit of research on my Grandmother's maiden name. She was Muriel Proverbs - born in Staffordshire at the end of the 19th century.

As far as I can see one of her ancestors brought the name from Barbados 100 years before and his family - with the name Proverbs - date back to a Johannes Proverbs who was settled on the island in the early 17th century.

Johannes Proverbs seems to been well established in Barbados BEFORE any significant settlement by the English and of course Johannes is not a very English name!

I've wondered if it is possible that the family were one of the Jewish peoples expelled form Brazil and that perhaps Proverbs was an adopted name.

Can anyone help me unravel this puzzle?

Some people who know more than me say that Proverbs is a name which has its origins in Barbados and some say in England.

Either way it does seem that my own branch spent nearly 200 years in the West Indies,