Justin Timberlake Family History

Justin Randall Timberlake was born on January 31st, 1981 to Randy and Lynn Timberlake on the outskirts of Memphis, Tennessee.

Justin’s grandfather Charles was a Baptist minister and his father Randy the choir director at the local Baptist church.  Randy and Lynn divorced when Justin was a toddler.  Justin was raised by his mother.

His family circle when young included musicians.  Surprisingly it was his maternal grandfather Bill Bomar who first introduced him to country music artists such as Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson.  Justin later dedicated his musical video Mirrors to Bill and his wife Sadie.

Justin was singing on TV at a young age and appeared in 1993 as a Mouseketeer on The All New Mickey House Club.  His castmates at that time included future singing stars Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera and future actors Ryan Gosling and Keri Russell.

He joined a boy band NSYNC which became hugely popular and he went solo in 2002.  His 20/20 Experience became the best selling album of the year in 2013.  Dubbed the Prince of Pop, the magazine Billboard has listed him as one of the greatest pop stars of the 21st century.

He has enhanced his popularity with the development of an acting career, taking on starring roles in such films as The Social Network in 2010 and Bad Teacher a year later.

Timberlake Lines

The Possibilities.  Justin has said himself during a TV interview:

 “I’ve had my genealogy studied and I want to say that I am of British descent.  There was a British lad who was in a war, not sure which war, but he ran away from the war because he fell in love with an Indian girl, and that’s where my family tree started.”

Some have claimed that Justin Timberlake was descended from Henry Timberlake, an adventurer who had travelled along the Tennessee river in the 1760’s. Although Henry died without issue, he was said to have married during his travels the daughter of a Cherokee chief and fathered children by her. 

There was also a possible Cherokee connection via a Richard Timberlake who married a Cherokee woman named Nancy Brown.  Their son Charles, born in Cherokee Nation East in the western part of North Carolina around 1800, married Liddia Hicks in 1820.  He and a family of nine, after marching in the Trail of Tears, appeared in the 1835 Cherokee census at Ootewah Creek before being removed two years later to the Illinois district in Tennessee.  

The Richard Timberlake Line.  However, the main Justin line has him descended from Richard Timberlake, born in Lancaster county, Virginia and the son of immigrant Francis Timberlake who was born in England around 1687. 

Richard’s descendants settled in Franklin county, North Carolina. Francis Timberlake married Nancy Poindexter there and was a cavalryman during the Revolutionary War. 

James Poindexter Timberlake.  Their son James Poindexter Timberlake was recorded as being a churchgoer at the same Methodist church in Franklin county for forty years on his death in 1847.

It was his son James Poindexter Timberlake Jr. who made the move from North Carolina to Tennessee around the year 1850.  After having lost his first wife Rebecca and then his scond wife Lucinda, James married again in Tennessee to Mary Mitchell in 1866 and their son Charley was born there a year later..  

Charley Timberlake.  Charley lost both of his parents by the time he was four, his father in 1869 at the age of fifty-eight and his mother in 1871 at forty-three. 

Charley too, like his father and grandfather, lost his first wife young.  In his case he let his wife’s sister Edwina adopt their two young children.  He had seven children with his second wife Eva whom he married in 1904. .

Charley was a Baptist and the association extended:

• to his son John, a security officer during his working life, who died in 1991 and was buried in the Antioch Baptist Church Cemetery in Madison county, Tennessee
• to his grandson Charles (or Brother Charles as he was known) who became a Baptist pastor in Tennessee, first at the Shelby Forest Baptist Church in Millington and then at the Liberty Baptist Churxh at Covington.  He died in 2022 and was buried in the same Antioch Baptist Church Cemetery.
• and to his great grandson Randall, a choral director in a Baptist church and the father of Justin Timberlake.

Justin’s Maternal Line

His Mother Lynn.  While Justin may bear the Timberlake name, it was his mother Lynn nee Bomar who brought him up after her divorce.  She remarried in 1986 to the banker Paul Harless when Justin was jsst five.

She and Paul put together a promotional video on Justin in 2003 to assist in his rise to stardom.  When Paul showed signs of dementia in 2016, both Lynn and Justin were extremely concerned and looked around for possible remedies.

Lynn’s Bomars had been farmers in Tipton county, Tennessee, having come before that from South Carolina and Virginia.  Her father Bill was the captain of the fire department at Justin’s hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.

Justin Timberlake’s Family Tree

• Richard Timberlake of Lancaster county, Virginia (1736-1815) m. Mary Curd (1742-1810) in 1756
• – Francis Timberlake (1758-1830), moved to North Carolina
• – Elizabeth Timberlake (b. 1760) m. John Hall
• – Agnes Timberlake (b. 1764) m. William Woods

• Francis Timberlake of Wake county, North Carolina m. Nancy Poindexter (1762-1841) in 1779
• – James Poindexter Timberlake (1780-1847)
• – Epaphroditus Timberlake (1783- 1854)
• – Richard Timberlake (1788-1860)

• James Poindexter Timberlake of Franklin county, North Carolina m. Sarah Jones (1780-1817) in North Carolina in 1800; rem. Nancy Sherrod (b. 1800) in North Carolina in 1818
• – Rev. David K. Timberlake (1801-1883) m. Jane Hubbard, with Sarah
• – Ruth Timberlake (1802-1867) m. Joseph Pleasants, with Sarah
• – John B. Timberlake (1805-1873) m. Elizabeth Hubbard, with Sarah
• – Martha Timberlake (1808-1883) m. William Wiggs, with Sarah
• – twin James P. Timberlake (1811-1869), with Sarah
• – twin Elizabeth Timberlake (1811-1899) m. John Connell, with Sarah
• – Frances Timberlake (1816-1898). with Sarah
• – Atkin Timberlake (1821-1870) m. Harriet Wilson, with Nancy

• James Poindexter Timberlake m. Rebecca Parks (1814-1852) in North Carolina in 1837; rem. Lucinda Petty (b. 1822) in Tennessee around 1852; rem. Mary Mitchell (1828-1871) in Tennessee in 1866
• – Samuel Timberlake (1839-1910) m. Martha Delashmit, with Rebecca
• – Peter Timberlake (1847-1907) m. Sarah Baker, with Rebecca
• – Lear Timberlake (1850-1901) m. Rev. William Dickson, with Rebecca
• – George Timberlake (b. 1854) m. Sarah Meadows, with Lucinda
• – Louis Timberlake (1854-1906) m. Axil Travillion, with Lucinda
• – Amanda Timberlake (1853-1940). with Lucinda
• – Cynthia E. Timberlake (1864-1947) m. George Gurley, with Lucinda
• – Charles M. (Charley) Timberlake (1867-1929). with Mary

• Charles Mitchell (Charley) Timberlake m. Mary Turner (1874-1902) in Tennessee in 1897; rem. Eva Pirtle (1885-1965) in Tennessee in 1904
• – Charles Turner (1898-1938), on death of Mary adopted by Edwina Turner
• – Mary Lee Turner (1902-1961), on death of Mary adopted by Edwina Turner
• – James F. Timberlake (1905-1968) m. Julia Settles
• – Oscar R. Timberlake (1906-1966) m. Carolyn Bailey
• – Nina E. Timberlake (1908-1994) m. Clabe Settles
• – Beulah Timberlake (1909-1991) m. Roy Eubank
• – John D. Timberlake (1910-1991)
• – Joe S. Timberlake (1913-1975) m. Corinne Kirk
• – William (Bill) Timberlake (1915-1999) m. Audrey Rogers

• John Denham Timberlake from Tennessee m. Gladys (Madge) Martin (1917-1963) in Kentucky in 1935
• – Betty J. Timberlake (1935-2005) m. Tommy Reasons
• – Charles L. Timberlake (1938-2022)
• – Billy D. Timberlake (1940-2012)
• – Buster (Ray) Timberlake (1943-2015)

• Rev. Charles L. Timberlake m. Bobbye Williams (b. 1939) in Tennessee
• – Charles R. (Randy) Timberlake (b. 1958)
• – Sherry Timberlake m. David Wallace
• – John Timberlake m. Ashlie
• – James Timberlake m. Amy

• Charles Randall (Randy) Timberlake m. Lynn Bomar (b. 1961) in 1979, divorced in 1983; rem. Lisa Perry in Tennessee in 1991; Lynn rem. Paul Harless (b. 1956) in 1986.
• – Justin Timberlake (b. 1981), with Lynn
• – Jonathan Timberlake (b. 1993), half brother with Lisa
• – Stephen Timberlake (b. 1998), half brother with Lisa