Sally Jones' Sources of Jamaican Genealogy and Where to find them.

Used with permission of Sally Jones, June 15, 1997

If you have any questions about this page, please contact Sally at her e-mail addresses:sally@farhills.demon.co.uk .

These sources of information were originally posted to the newsgroup soc.genealogy.west-indies in January, 1997

A Bibliography for Reseachers of Jamaican Genealogy and History

Alphabetically listed, by author.

I would be very grateful for any amendments, additions or reviews!

1. Treasure in the Caribbean: A First study of Georgian Buildings in the British West Indies Ackworth, A.C. (London, 1949)
2. Journals of the Assembly of Jamaica- Assembly proceedings 1/20/1663 - 12/22/1826 Aikman, Alexander
3. A Record of Jews in Jamaica from the English Conquest to the Present Time Andrade, Jacob A.P.M. (Kingston,1941)
4. Caribbean. Sea of the New World Archiniegas, German (Knopf, New York, 1946)
5. The West Indian Sugar Industry in the late 19th Century Beachey, R. (Oxford: Basil Blakewell, 1957)
6. Descriptive Account of Jamaica (2 vols) Beckford, W. (London, 1790)
7. Jamaica in 1850 Bigebow J. (London, 1851)
8. History of Jamaica [Schools textbook] Black, Clinton V. (Collins educational, 1983)
9. Living Names in Jamaican History Black, Clinton V.
10. Description of the Island of Jamaica Blome, R. (London, 1672)
11. The Development of Creole Society in Jamaica : 1780- Braithwaite, Edward (1820)
12. A Bibliography of Caribbean Migration and Caribbean (Oxford Univ Press, 1971)
13. Immigrant Communities Brana-Shute, Rosemary (Univ of Florida Press, 1983)
14. Civil & Natural History of Jamaica Browne, P. (London, 1750)
15. The Jamaican People 1880 - 1902 Bryan, Patrick (Warwick University Caribbean Studies, 1991)
16. Slaves In Red Coats: The British West India Regiments, 1795-1815 Buckley, Roger Norman (Yale University Press, 1979)
17. Slave Women in Caribbean Society - 1650-1838 Bush, Barbara (James Currey: London, 1990)
18. Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands Crain, Edward E. (University of Florida Press, 1994)
19. A Jamaican Plantation: A History of Worthy Park, 1670-1970 Craton, Michael (London, 1970)
20. The Social Structure of Jamaica Cumper G. (Kingston, 1949)
21. Catalogue of Portraits in Jamaica's Historic Gallery Cundall, Frank (Institute of Jamaica, 1914, Kingston)
22. Jamaica Place-Names Cundall, Frank (Institute of Jamaica, 1909)
23. Documents relating to the History of the Jews in Jamaica Cundall & Davis, Frank & D.
24. Lady Nugent's Journal Cundall (ed), Frank
25. Jamaica's Heritage - an untapped resource Curtin, Marguerite (ed), (The Mill Press, Kingston, 1991)
26. Jamaican Houses - a vanishing legacy de Sola Pinto, Geoffrey (de Sola Pinto Publishers, Montego bay, 1982/1993)
27. A Guide to Jamaican Reference Material Dellatre, R.
28. The New Jamaica Almanac and Register Dickson (1794/6/8)
29. Memoirs of George William Downer, 1837-1912 Downer, Lindsay P. (1937)
30. The Rise and Fall of Black Slavery Duncan Rice, C (Macmillan, 1975)
31. A History, Civil and Commercial, of the British West Indies Edwards, Bryan (London, 1801)
32. Family and Colour in Jamaica Fernando, Henriques (Eyre and Spottiswoode,1953)
33. Merchants and Jews: The Struggle for British West Indian Commerce, 1650 - 1750 Fortune, Stephen Alexander (University of Florida Press, 1984)
34. The English In The West Indies Froude, James Anthony (Longman's, London, 1888)
35. Official and Other Personages of Jamaica from 1655 to 1790 Fuertado, Walter A. (W.A. Feurtado's, Sons, Kingston, 1896) [available on LDS microfilm # 0826558, "Ellis Family Papers"]
36. A History of Jamaica Gardner, W.J. (Cass Library of W.I. Studies, 1971)
37. Sojourners of the Caribbean Gonzalez, Nancie L. (University of Illinois Press, Baltimore,1985)
38. Tracing Your West Indians Ancestors/Sources at the Public Record Office:Genealogical Sources at PRO, London Grannum, Guy (PRO Publications, London, 1995)
39. British Slave Emancipation - The Sugar Colonies and the Great Experiment 1830-1865 Green, William A (Clarendon Press, 1976)
40. Naturalisation of Foreign Protestants in the American and West Indian Colonies Guiseppi, M. S. (ed.) (Baltimore Genealogical Publishing Co.1979) [available on microfilm from the LDS]
41. In Miserable Slavery - Thomas Thistlewood in Jamaica 1750-86 Hall, Douglas (Warwick University Caribbean Studies)
42. Buccaneers in the West Indies Haring, C.H.
43. Cadastral Survey of Jamaica Harrison, Thomas (Institute of Jamaica,)
44. Jamaica in 1866 Harvey & Brown, T & W. (London, 1867)
45. Jamaica Surveyed :Plantation maps and plans of the 18th and 19th centuries. Higman, B. W. (Institute of Jamaica Publications, Ltd. 1988)
46. Slave Populations of the British Caribbean, 1807-1834 Higman, B. W. (Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1984)
47. Slave Population and Economics in Jamaica 1807-34 Higman, B. W. (Cambridge University Press, New York, 1976)
48. Wild Majesty: Encounters with Caribs from Colombus to the present day Hulme & Whitehead, P & N (Oxford, 1992)
49. Sources of Jamaican History 1655-1838 (2 vols) :Comprehensive list of documents around the world Ingram, K.E. (Inter Documentation Co. Ag Zug Switzerland, 1976)
50. The Printed Maps of Jamaica up to 1825 Kapp, Kit S. (Bolivar Press, Kingston, 1968)
51. Personality and Conflict in Jamaica Kerr, Madeline (Collins, 1963)
52. Gentlemen of Fortune. The men who made their fortunes in Britain's slave colonies Knight, Derrick (Frederick Muller Ltd: London, 1978)
53. The Modern Caribbean Knight & Palmer, F & C (University of North Carolina Press, 1989)
54. Indentured Labor, Caribbean Sugar: Chinese and Indian Migrants to the British West Indies Lai, Walton Look, (Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1993)
55. The Monumental Inscriptions of the British West Indies Langford Oliver, Vere (Dorchester, F.G. Longman, The Friary Press, 1927)
56. Immigration into the West Indies in the 19th century Laurence, K. O. (Caribbean University Press, Barbados, 1971)
57. Monumental Inscriptions of the British West Indies Lawrence-Archer, James Henry (Chatto and Windus, London, 1875)
58. A New & Exact Account of Jamaica Leslie, C. (Edinburgh, 1739)
59. Sketch Pedigrees of Some of the Early Settlers in Jamaica Livingston (ed), Noel B.
60. The History of Jamaica Long, Edward (Cass Library of W.I. Studies, 1774)
61. Jamaica Genealogies Long, Charles Edward (1689)
62. The Silver Men: West Indian Labour Migration to Panama, 1850-1914 Newton, Velma (University of West Indies, 1984)
63. War and Trade in the West Indies 1739-1763 Panes, M. (Oxford 1936, London 1963)
64. A Short History of the West Indies Parry & Sherlock, J & P (Macmillan Caribbean, 1988)
65. Jamaica: its Past and Present State Phillip[o], James M.
66. The Damn'd Master - An Authentic Account of an Eighteenth Century Slaver Plimmer, C&D (New English Library, 1971)
67. Sins of the Fathers. A study of the Atlantic Slave Trader 1441-1807 Pope-Henessey, James (Weidenfield and Nicolson, 1967)
68. American Airlines guide to Jewish History in the Caribbean Postal & Stern, B & M (New York)
69. The Fall of the Planter Class in the British Caribbean 1763-1833 Ragatz, L. (Washington DC 1928, NY, 1963)
70. The Slave Trade Ransford, Oliver (Readers Union, 1971)
71. Monuments of the Cathedral Church and Parish of St. Catharine Roby, John (A. Holmes, Montego Bay, 1831)
72. Jamaica Planters Guide Roughey, T. (London,1823)
73. Caribbean World, A Complete geography Sealey, Neil E. (Cambridge University Press, New York, 1994)
74. Jamaica as it was, as it is.... Senior, B. (London, 1835)
75. Doctors and Slave. A medical and demographic history of slavery in the British West Indies. Sheridan, Richard
76. In Old St James Shore, J.
77. Dictionary of Place Names in Jamaica Sibley, Inez K.
78. The tercentenary of the Official Founding of the Jewish Community of Jamaica, BWI - 1655-1955 Silverman, Henry P. (Kingston, 1955)
79. A Letter to the Marquis of Normandy relative to the Present State of Jamaica Sligo,Marquis
80. A Voyage to the Islands of Madera, Barbados, Nieves, St Christophers and Jamaica (2 vols) Sloane, Hans (London,1707-1725)
81. View of the Past & Present State of the Island of Jamaica Stewart, J. (Edinburgh, 1823)
82. Cruising Among The Carebbees Stoddard, Charles Augustus
83. The Forgotten Trade Tattersfield, Nigel (Jonathan Cape: London, 1991)
84. Explanation in Caribbean Migration, Perception and the Image - Jamaica, Barbados and St Vincent
85. Thomas-Hope, Elizabeth M. (Warwick University Caribbean Studies)
86. Slaves and Missionaries. The Disintegration of Jamaican Slave Society 1787-1834 Turner, Mary
87. Black Ivory - A History of British Slavery Walvin, James (Harper Collins, 1992)
88. West India Sketch Book (2 vols) Wentworth, Trelawny (Whittaker and Co, London, 1834)
89. Whence the Black Irish of Jamaica Williams, J. J.
90. Monumental Inscriptions of Jamaica Wright, Philip (Society of Genealogists, London, 1966)

Periodicals and Articles

• Subjects and Sources in History of 17th Century English Jamaica. Blisseret?, D.J. (Jamaican History Review 110?)
• Systems of Domination after Slavery: The Control of Land and Labor in the British West Indies after 1838 Bolland, O. Nigel (in "Comparative Studies in Society andHistory",1981)
• The Flight from the Estates Reconsidered: The British West Indies 1838-42 Hall, Douglas (Journal of Caribbean History 10-11, 1978)
• The Slave family and Household in the British West Indies, 1800-1834 Higman, B. W. (Journal of the Interdisciplinary History (6), 1975)
• Caribbeana Vols I - VI Pedigrees of early families of the Caribbean Langford Oliver, Vere (Mitchell, Hughes and Clarke, London, 1909)
• Merchants and Planters Panes, M. (Economic History Review (supp 4) 1960)
• Slavery on British West India Plantations in the Eighteenth century Pitman, F. W. (Journal of Negro history 11, 1926)
• The Role of the Scots in the Economy and Society of the West Indies Sheridan, Richard (in "Comparitive Perspectives on New World Plantation Societies" ed. Rubin & Tubin, New York, 1977)
• Jamaican Research in Britain Soares, Charlotte, (Family Tree Magazine 35, 1991)
• Emancipation in the West indies: A six month's tour in Antigua, Barbados and Jamaica in the year 1837 Thome & Kimball, J & J (New York: The American Anti-slavery Soc, 1838)
• Colonising Expeditions to the West Indies and Guiana 1623 - 1667 Vincent, Harlow T. (Pub of the Haklyut Soc, 2nd series, LVI, 1925)
• Materials for Family History in Jamaica Wright, Philip (The Genealogists' Magazine, 239 - 250, Sep-66)
• Jamaican Slave Mortality: Fresh Light from Worthy Park, Longville, and the Tharp Estates (Journal of Caribbean History 3, 1971)
• Documents Relating to the Irish in the West Indies, with accounts of Irish Settlements, 1612-1752 Analecta Hibernica - vol 4, 140-286
• Hunts Bay Jewish Cemetery (American Jewish History Soc 37, 1947)

Sources of Jamaican Genealogy in Britain

A. CHURCH OF THE LATTER DAY SAINTS (LDS) -

b) Microfilmed Copy Civil Registration records from about 1878 to 1920. Marriages are covered up until 1930 and deaths up to 1950, though not all are indexed.

The IGI does not contain many listings for Jamaica in it's West Indies section (mainly Barbados)

A word of warning when reading some early Parish Registers: the records sometimes separate whites, coloured and blacks and they are sometimes alternated - so you must continue to the end of the reel to ensure you have checked all possibilities. The "white" surnames (especially those of the "upper classes") tend to be in larger handwriting, and the slaves (pre 1830) were sometimes baptised en mass at the plantations and are listed together (regardless of birth date).
Non-conformist records are also held and there is a large miscellaneous collection of registrations. There are no Roman Catholic records, unfortunately.

B. SOCIETY OF GENEALOGISTS, LONDON (Tel: 0171 251 8799)

2. "Monumental Inscriptions of the West Indies" by Vere Oliver Langford

3. "Monumental Inscriptions of Jamaica" by Philip Wright

4. "In Old St James" by Joseph Shore, 1911

5. "Historic Account of Jamaican Freemasonry" by F.W. Seal Coon, 1976

6. "Directory of Emigrant Scots" by Dobson (USA shelves)

7. "Dictionary of Place Names in Jamaica" by Temple Hall

C. PUBLIC RECORDS OFFICE, KEW, LONDON(latterly also Chancery Lane, London) [Reader's ticket needs to be obtained - no qualifications - just proof of identity]

D. BRITISH LIBRARY, LONDON (Tel: 0171 636 1544) [Reader's ticket needs to be obtained - qualifications required - proof of identity and 2x passport photos]

1. "Sources of Jamaican History 1655-1838" (vols 1 & 2) by K.E. Ingram, published by Inter Documentation Co AG ZUG Switzerland (ISBN 3 857500174) - shelf No. BBO f 12
This lists documents such as wills, estate papers, letters and church records in offices in the UK. and the West Indies.

2. "Sources for West Indian Studies" by K.E. Ingram: a supplementary listing with particular reference to manuscript sources - shelf No. BBO f 1a

3. "Jamaica" in the "World Bibliographical Series" (Vol 45, ISBN 0-9034 50-82-8). the series is published by Clio Press, Oxford, England. It includes bibliographies for other West Indian Islands.

4. Annual Handbooks and Directories for Jamaica

E. ROYAL COMMONWEALTH LIBRARY, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY, ENGLAND (Tel: 01223 333198) [Readers ticket needs to be obtained: university qualifications required?]

2. "In Old St James" by Joseph Shore, 1911

3. "Sources of Jamaican History 1655-1838" (vols 1 & 2) by K.E. Ingram, published by Inter Documentation Co AG ZUG Switzerland (ISBN 3 857500174)

4. Jamaica Almanacs and Handbooks

5. "Sources of Jamaican History 1655-1838" (vols 1 & 2) by K.E. Ingram, published by Inter Documentation Co AG ZUG Switzerland (ISBN 3 857500174) - shelf No. BBO f 12

6. Six volumes of "CARIBBEANA" by Vere Langford Oliver (published in 1909 by Mitchell, Hughes and Clarke).

F. COLINDALE NEWSPAPER LIBRARY, LONDON

G. THE GUILDHALL LIBRARY

Where to find Jamaican Genealogical Information.