CARIBBEAN-L Archives

From: KARLA KT SHAHAN <>
Subject: [CARIBBEAN-L] Fw: Population Records in Barbados.
Date: Thu, 1 Jul 1999 14:57:55 -0500

Received this and thought it of general interest to all:

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Date: Mon, 28 Jun 1999 13:24:14 -0300

SOME POPULATION RECORDS IN BARBADOS.

THE RECORDS:
In 1960 and 1961, a survey was carried out for the University of the West
Indies (then the Univ.College) to discover what historical records
survived
in Barbados.
The survey covered most Government Departments, the local(parish)
governments, secondary schools, Anglican, Methodist, Moravian and Roman
Catholic churches, a few business firms, the Public Library, and the
Barbados Museum and Historical Society.
The results of the survey were published in "A Guide to Records in
Barbados.", by M.J. CHANDLER, (Oxford, Basil Blackwell, for the Univ. of
the West Indies, 1964).

In 1964, a Department of Archives was established by the Barbados
Government.
The Department is the official repository of archives and, since its
establishment, has been accumulating records which were formerly kept by
the departments responsible for their creation. Many of the records
listed
in the Guide have already been transferred to the Archives, and transfers
are continuing. The Guide therefore serves as a Guide to the Archives as
well as to records not yet in the Department's custody. Many of the
latter
are, however, kept under the eye of the Department. The Department of
Archives is always ready to advise on the whereabouts of any records
listed
in the Guide.

The following notes are, in fact, a summary of information that can be
obtained from the Guide, and it is thought that they may be of use as an
indictaion of the sources, and their deficiencies, for enquiries into
family histories. The sources noted here are not neccessarily to be
found
in the Department of Archives, yet.

CHURCH REGISTERS:
Barbados in the 17th. and 18th. Centuries was divided into eleven (11)
parishes.
In the 19th. century, a large number of additional churches was built,
each
having responsibility for its own district. The 11 parishes remained as
the units of local government, and although the vestries were abolished
in
1959, the parish boundaries still remain for some administrative
purposes,
and all "Parochial Registers" are still arranged under the original
parish,
although the district churches are now autonomous.

The church registers are usually unindexed, but in the 19th.Century, when
a
central Registry was established, the existing church registers were
copied
and the copies deposited in the Registry, now the Registration Office.
These copies were indexed, and there is a fine series of indices
(1637-1848, 16 Vols.; 1849-1884, 16 Vols.; etc.) covering all existing
church registers (known as "Parochial Registers" in the Registration
Office) to the present day.

Moravian (from 1769), Methodist, Roman Catholic, Garrison and Jewish
(from
1660) registers were also copied in a seperate series with its own
indices
(3 Vols.) up to 1886.

Registers of baptisms, marriages and burials were presumably kept, dating
from the foundation of each parish church, but the surviving records are
by
no means complete, nor were they complete when the Central Registry was
created.

Folllowing is a table showing the starting dates of the "Parochial
Registers"

* PARISH. BAPTISMS. MARRIAGES
BURIALS.

X. Christ Church. 1637 1643
1643
P. St.Philip. 1648 1672/3
1673
(all imperfect before 1757)
M. St.Michael. 1648/9 1648/9
1648/9
S. St.James. 1693 1693
1693
O. St.Joseph. 1718 1717/8
1717/8
T. St.Thomas. 1728 1723
1723
L. St.Lucy. 1714 1749
1748
E. St.Peter. 1779 1779
1779
(lacking baptisms 1825-1834)
G. St.George. 1801 1801
1801
J. St.John. 1805 1657
1657
(baptisms imperfect before 1825)
A. St.Andrew. 1825 1825
1825

( * These letters are commonly used to identify the individual parishes.)

Thus, of the thirty-three series involved, only fourteen begin in the
17th.Century, twelve in the 18th.Century and seven in the 19th.Century.
Records of baptisms, marriages and burials in Barbados are therefore
incomplete before 1825. Fortunately, two of the most populous parishes,
Christ Church and St.Michael(the parish of the principal town,
Bridgetown),
are represented among the earliest registers.
At present, all registers and indices up to 1884 are housed at the
Department of Archives. The latter ones are retained in the
Registration
Office. Enquiries for these should be addressed to The Registrar in
Bridgetown.

DISTRICT REGISTERS.
Compulsory registration of births came into force in Barbados on 1st.
January,1925.
The Registration Office is the central registry and registers, and
indices
are kept there.

WILLS.
There exists in Barbados three series of Wills - original wills, wills
record books and wills re-copied record books. The original wills are
very imperfect before 1723, and only reasonably complete from about 1800.
Fortunately the series of record books, though incomplete, dates from
1650
and, with the re-copied books forms an almost complete record of wills
from
that date, although some of the copies are not very accurately
transcribed.
There is an index referring to both series, with occasional references to
original wills.

INVENTORIES
Surviving 18th. and 19th.Century inventories of testators' property
provided additional information, and are indexed by name of testator.

LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION.
The earliest record books of letters of administration date from 1714,
but
only 13 years between 1714 and 1735 are represented before 1764: -from
that date, the series is complete.
There is no comprehensive index, but most Volumes have an individual
index.

DEEDS.
The earliest deeds record book dates from 1647, but only about half of
the
series to 1718 is still extant: and from 1718 - 1781 the series is still
incomplete. Moreover, many of the volumes cannot be used because of
their
bad state of preservation.
Comprehensive indices to grantors date from 1801: to grantees, only from
1879.
Some of the earlier record books have individual indices to grantors, but
many have none.

A number of deeds between 1636 and 1840 were entered into re-copied
record
books (a series of 47 volumes compared with a possible 194 volumes of the
original series in the same period). There is a comprehensive index (4
vols.) to grantors and grantees for the recopied volumes. Because of
the
limitations and difficulties of using the original series, searches
before
1800 are usually only possible in the re-copied series.

POWERS AND MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS.
The record books of Powers of Attorney and miscellaneous documents date
from 1666, but are not complete prior to 1770. These records may be of
particular interest to researchers, as persons leaving the island might
execute and record a power of attorney to a representative in the island.
There is no comprehensive index of powers from 1698.

METHOD OF INDEXING.
Each index in the foregoing series of registers and record books was
compiled in a combination alphabetical-chronological order. The
alphabetical arrangement is by initial letter of surnames only, the
remaining arrangement being chronological, and sometimes by parish also.
It is therefore no easy matter to search for a given name unless some
date
limitations (5-10 years, or even less in the 19th.Century) are given.

INHABITANTS' LIST.
No continuous record of inhabitants exists, but the following may be
noted:-

1638. List of inhabitants possessing over 10 acres. (Transcript)

1679/80. Names of landowners (Transcript, indexed).
(Some but not all, reproduced in Hotten's "Original Lists..." -see
below).
For a description of the 1679/80 Census, see Journal of the B'dos Mus.
and
Hist. Soc., Vol.33, page 57.

1715. Census (Transcript, indexed).
(Parishes: M, G, T, X, published in Journal of the B'dos Mus. and Hist.
Soc., Vols. 4 to 9.)

c.1740 - c.1835. Parochial lists of inhabitants, 13 items only.

Assessment of rate books: (Many in poor condition and incomplete, even
in
recent times):
St.Michael - 1683/5-1716: 1722-1729: 1749-1765:
1768-1810: 1823-1829: 1841 to date.
St.Philip - 1874 to date.
St.Lucy - 1881-1885: 1921 to date.
St.George - 1891 to date.
Other parishes, various dates from 1905 to date.

Voters registers, 1807-1938: 1952 to date.

No census enumerations between 1715 and 1900 exist.
The 1960 and later census enumerations are not available for research.

IMMIGRATION.
No early original records of immigration exist.
Some records, not originating in Barbados, have been published: -for
example:

Hotten, John Camden: Original lists of persons ...emigrating to America,
1600-1700.
(Omits parishes E, J, L, O, T, P -almost half the population represented
in the 1679/80 population returns).

The Journal of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society, Volumes 14-19.

"Servants to foreign plantations from Bristol, England to Barbados,
1654-1686."

Kaminjow, Jack: A list of emigrants from England to America, 1718-1759,
by
Jack and Marion Kaminkow. Baltimore, Magna Charta Book Co., 1964.

Ghirelli, Michael. A list of emigrants from England to America,
1682-1692.
Baltimore, Magna Charta Book Co., 1968

Nicholson, Cregoo D.F., (ed.): Some early emigrants to America,
(in Genealogists' Magazine, Vols. 12 and 13 passim.)

EMIGRATION.
No continuous record of emigrants exists, but the following may be noted:

Tickets grant to persons leaving Barbados, 1679.
(In Hotten's "Original lists...", and in the Journal of the B'dos. Mus.
and Hist.Soc., Volume 1, pages 155 to 180).

Bonds for tickets to depart the island, March-April,1766 -11 items
only.

SHIPPING.
No continuous record of arrivals and departures exists, but slight
evidence
of shipping movements may be obtained from various sources, mostly
relating
to cargoes and duties, for the following years:
1708-1723,
1730-1734,
1736,
1766,
1786,
1807-1809,
1817-1819,
1824,
circa 1824-1835
1839,
1842-1843,
1851-1852,
and from newspapers. Only the newspapers (see below) report names of
some
passengers arriving or departing. There are also ships protests for
1818-1819, 1835 and 1841 to date, but these also deal mainly with goods.

INDEX TO PLANTATIONS.
The department has compiled a card index from directories showing owners
of
plantations under the plantation name, mainly during the 19th. and
20th.Centuries, which is also helpful for some family searches.

NEWSPAPERS.
There are newspapers in Barbados for 1783-1784, 1787-1789, and for most
years from 1805 onwards. Although the earliest Barbados newspaper is
believed to have been published in 1731, only a few single issues in the
years 1733, 1742, 1745-1747, 1753, 1761, 1766, 1775, 1781, 1783 and 1803
are known prior to the collections existing in Barbados.

Extracts from the newspapers between 1783 and 1870, mostly relating to
Barbadian affairs and families, have been published in Volumes 1 to 33 of
The Journal of The Barbados Museum and Historical Society.

BARBADOS MUSEUM AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY JOURNALS.
The Barbados Museum and Historical Society, established in 1933, has
published a Journal since that date.
Volumes 1 to 25 have been indexed for names by Mr. E. M. McConney, now of
Portland,Oregon, in typescript. The index is available for use at The
Museum, and at the Department of Archives.

The Museum has a considerable genealogical collection, including the
notebooks of the late Mr. E. M. Shilstone Enquiries should be addressed
to The Director of the Society, at The Garrison, St.Michael, Barbados.

RESEARCH.
The Department does not undertake extended genealogical research for
enquirers, but will on request give the names and contacts for any
Research
Agent currently active.
Researchers at the Department have access to the notebooks of the late
Mr.
H. G. Hutchinson who specialised in searching genealogies.

LOCALITY AND OPENING HOURS.
The Department is situated 3.5 miles North of Bridgetown, on Highway 1
(West Coast Road). It is open Mondays to Fridays. from 8:30 a.m. until
4:15 p.m. The Department is permitted to close between 12 noon and 2:00
p.m. in the event a shortage of staff at lunchtime leaves the Search
Room
unsupervised.

Department of Archives,

Barbados.
1996.

================================================

.
.
.

........

Regards,
David Hunt.

43,Rendezvous Ridge,
Christ Church,W8
BARBADOS,
West Indies.

Tel: +(246)-427-0146
Fax: +(246)-425-1521
Email:

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• [CARIBBEAN-L] Fw: Population Records in Barbados. by KARLA KT SHAHAN <>