Scots in the Caribbean, 1600-1900

Emigration to the Caribbean by Scots was minimal until the middle of the eighteenth century. Most of the Scots in the West Indies had been transported there as prisoners of war, political undesirables or common criminals, such as Jacobites, Cromwellian captives, Covenanters, as well as men and women taken from various jails in Scotland. Some Scottish colonials were entrepreneurs, like the ones who developed sugar and other plantations, and some were from landed families with funds to invest. Men recruited in Scotland, often through newspapers such as the Aberdeen Journal, were expected to have commercial skills or agricultural experience, often to run plantations for absentee owners.

The situation changed in 1763 with the end of the Seven Years War between France and Britain when certain islands, such as St. Lucia and Tobago, previously French, became British and the British government promoted settlement there. Small numbers of Scots went to the Dutch and Danish West Indies, in places such as St. Eustatius or St. Croix. Britain also acquired Dutch colonies on the east coast of South America, namely, Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice, where vast sugar plantations were developed. In that respect, Scottish emigration to the Caribbean differed from colonization to North America, which was generally undertaken by families. Scottish emigrants to the Caribbean were mostly men who chose to leave their families at home, possibly due to the unhealthy climate in the West Indies. Ships voyaging between Scotland and the Caribbean illustrate trade routes from Scotland, with passengers and manufactures such as linen and metalware on the outbound voyages, and raw materials, generally cotton, tobacco, sugar, and mahogany on the return.

This book provides an overview of Scots and the Caribbean; however, looking for more specialized source material dealing with particular islands, the following books of mine, all published by Clearfield Company, are available – The People of Jamaica, 1655-1855; The People of Barbados, 1625-1875; The People of the Leeward Islands, 1620-1860; The People of the Windward Islands, Trinidad, Tobago, and Curacao, 1620-1860; Barbados and Scottish Links, 1627-1877; Scots in the West Indies, 1707-1857, Part One and Part Two; and The Original Scots Colonists of Early America, Caribbean Supplement, 1611-1707.

David Dobson

2025, paper, 98 pp.

ISBN: 9780806359786

102-8764