Tracing an ancestor who was an immigrant
Jewish | African-Americans | West Indians | Africans | Asians
West Indians
One of the most important things to remember when researching in the West Indies is that you will not find the traditional birth, death, census and marriage statistics that you might find in the UK or United States. Remember that there are many different kinds of records – church records, diaries, school records, censuses, land sales, deeds and titles, and criminal records to name but a few. Utilise them all.
Many islanders were considered criminals for violating the smallest law – such as a black woman wearing a silk slip (only white women were allowed to wear silk!). Slaves or servants could also be arrested just for whistling in public. So don't overlook criminal records. Your ancestor just might be listed as a 'criminal' for doing something very minor.
If you don't find what you need in traditional records, keep looking – but try to be more creative in your search for genealogical records.
General sources of information
AOL Genealogy Forum's Team Hispanic
http://users.aol.com/mrosado007/index.htm
Has some Caribbean information.
Caribbean Genweb
http://www.rootsweb.com/~caribgw/
Museum of Antigua and Barbuda
http://www.interlog.com/~observer/antigua/hmuseum.html
West Indies Surname Interests List
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/vroyal/
Caribbean Supersite
http://www.caribbeansupersite.com/
Cyndi's List: Ships, passenger lists and immigration
http://www.cyndislist.com/ships.htm
Researching Passenger Lists
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~cgaunt/pass.html
Church records
Many details of Caribbean residents are contained in church records. A good place to begin is by determining the nationality of the person, then looking through the church records of a particular island for the relevant religion:
Some church organisations in the West Indies:
Stock books
Many plantation owners kept 'stock books' - lists of the slaves, indentured servants or hired servants that they 'owned'. Stock books contain the name, occupation and general health and condition of the each slave.
Not all slaves in the West Indies were African, although the general treatment of black slaves was far worse than that meted out to whites. Irish prisoners were shipped to the islands to work as slaves. So, too, were indentured servants – those who, for a set period, worked off a debt or the price of passage to the West Indies. And the Deficiency Act caused many whites to become slaves. This was a law that required a plantation owner to hire one 'white' for every ten black slaves or servants, in an attempt to reduce the ratio of blacks to whites on the islands.
When researching in areas other than standard census and church records, or when you suspect that your ancestor was a slave, indentured servant or hired white, attempt to find the plantation owner's stock book. Most have been destroyed, but some are still in existence. Look under the history, genealogy and architectural sections in libraries of your specific island. Sometimes you can find information about specific planations on that island and find stock book information.
Jamaica
Civil registration began in Jamaica in 1880. The originals of the Jamaican records are held in the Registrar General's Office in Spanish Town, Jamaica. However, the Church of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) has microfilmed these records and they are available through their Family History Centres.
National Library of Jamaica
(formerly Institute of Jamaica)
http://www.rootsweb.com/~jamwgw/civilreg.htm
12 East Street
Kingston 10
Jamaica
West Indies
LDS Family History Center
48 Gore Terrace
Kingston
Jamaica
West Indies
Tel: (876) 925-8492
Registrar General's Office
Twickenham Park
Spanish Town
Jamaica
West Indies
Tel: (809) 984-3041
Jamaica Archives
Spanish Town
Jamaica
West Indies
Jamaica Historical Society
c/o National Library of Jamaica
12 East Street
Kingston 10
Jamaica
West Indies
Publishes Jamaican Historical Review.
Jamaican Jewish Genealogy
http://www.sephardim.org/jamgen/
Jamaican Records
http://www.rootsweb.com/~jamwgw/stepport.htm
Text of a genealogical talk by Stephen D Porter on the records of Jamaica, given during a half-day course entitled 'The West Indies' and held at the Society of Genealogists, London, on 21 June 1997.
IGI and Anglican Church Record of Jamaica
http://www.rootsweb.com/~jamwgw/churchre.htm
Links to Other Jamaican Genealogy Sites on the Web
http://www.rootsweb.com/~jamwgw/genjamlk.htm
Jamaican Genealogy: Source of the Month
http://users.pullman.com/mitchelm/sources.htm
Bahamas
Genealogy of the Bahama Islands
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/3226/Bahamas/index.html
Department of Archives
http://flamingo.bahamas.net.bs/clients/community/archives/index.html
PO Box SS-6341
Nassau
Bahamas
Tel: (809) 393-2175
Fax: (809) 393-2855,
E-mail: archives@bahamas.net.bs
Bermuda
Bermudian Genealogy & History
http://www.rootsweb.com/~bmuwgw/bermuda.htm
Bermuda Archives
Government Administration Building
30 Parliament Street
Hamilton, HM 12
Pembroke
Bermuda
Tel: 295-5151
Barbados
Barbados Genealogy site
http://www.rootsweb.com/~brbwgw/
Cayman Islands
Genealogy of the Cayman Islands
http://www.cayman.org/genealogy/
British Virgin Islands
British Virgin Islands GenWeb
http://www.rootsweb.com/~bviwgw/
Emigration from West Indies to Britain in 1950s
Empire Windrush
http://www.pro.gov.uk/education/snapshots/snapshot11.htm
Public Record Office website.
BBC Education website
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/windrush/
First steps | Records before 1837
Tracing an ancestor who was an immigrant | Using the internet
Case study | Resources