 Coal mining was the principal industry of what was described in 1911 as an "unpicturesque, bare and open" area.The former Pemberton Urban District was amalgamated into the County Borough of Wigan in 1904.The name Pemberton derives from "Penn-bere-tūn", which is believed to be a combination of the Celtic "penn" meaning hill, the Old English "bere" meaning barley plus the Old English suffix of "-ton" meaning a farm or settlement.