|
Richard B. Francis
Sep 1 1996,
3:00 am
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.west-indies
From: Richard B. Francis <
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
>
Date: 1996/09/01
Subject: St.
Lucia families: Cheddie, Kisna,
Rattie, Merahie, and Ramdath
I am looking for any help that anyone can provide on
finding information about
the St. Lucian families (of East Indian descent) of
Cheddie, Rattie, Kisna,
Merahie, and Ramdath. It has been passed down from older
family members that
our families were brought to the Caribbean
to work on the sugarcane
plantations there. Some siblings went to St.
Lucia others were sent to
Trinidad and maybe even Guyana.
I am also interested in any source of information that may
help me trace these
families' genealogy in India.
Richard B. Cheddie
May 24 1997,
3:00 am
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.west-indies
From: "Richard B. Cheddie"
<
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
>
Date: 1997/05/24
Subject: Records of East Indians in St.
Lucia by Plantation
Families
Here is a response that I received about the availability
of records once
kept by St. Lucian plantation families concerning East
Indian indentured
laborers. I shall continue to post other responses
received via e-mail that
may be of help for other researchers. I encourage others
to do the same.
----------
From: Drouilhet
Sidney[SMTP:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
]
Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 1997 1:19PM
To: Francis,
Richard
Subject: Re: Plantation
Families
Not only does
my family have no records of its estates in St
Lucia, it
has almost completely lost all knowledge of its past. Some branches of the
family did not even know we were from St
Lucia.
Everything I have found
concerning my family, and more broadly, St
Lucia history in general, was
done from scratch by going to archives and libraries.
My situation is
not unique. Virtually none of the St
Lucia planter
families are likely to remember much, or have documents,
even if they live
in St Lucia. Robert Devaux told me it was unbelievable
how
much information had been thrown away over the years, even
by members of
his own family.
There are exceptions, but finding the exceptions is a
matter of luck, and it is not always clear what these
people have, or if
they even know they have it. This is one of the reasons I feel it is so
important to renew an interest in St
Lucia's history among the island's
citizens: if enough of them get interested, they may start
looking through
their family papers, etc. before they are lost or
destroyed. Robert Devaux
did have some success along these lines while he was
working on his book on
the Brigands' War.
He had done much archaeological work on his own, and
went around various towns on the island talking about what
he had found.
This inspired a few people to look at their own property,
and they did find
some more sites from the 1790's guerrilla war that Robert
felt were
important.
There may be
something that substitutes for families' own papers. I
cannot comment on the East Indians, and I have not looked
for their
records, but I can make a few observations about records
pertaining to
slavery, and perhaps the fact those sorts of records exist
indicate that
there may be useful
records for the period of indentured servitude. In the
1820's and 30's, very extensive, detailed records had to
be filed with a
branch of the colonial office in London
when slaves brought complaints of
maltreatment against the persons running the estate; when
the slaves were
emancipated, extensive records of the finances relating to
compensation
paid to their owners, or their owners' creditors, were
maintained. I would
hazard a guess that if this was done in the relatively
unorganized 1820's
and 30's, that by the turn of the century, even more
methodical and
detailed records were kept on the indentured
servants, especially since, exploited though they may have
been, they at
least had contracts to afford them minimal protection.
These papers will
probably be in London,
though.
As I mentioned
before, the actual St Lucia Blue Books, as opposed to the
governors' summary reports, might be very helpful to you
and they are
microfilmed at the University
of Florida in Gainesville,
in their Latin
American Collection.
Here is something else interesting you might look at:
when did East Indians begin to appear as registered
voters? I have copies
of the 1902, 1903 St Lucia Handbooks, and they do not
appear in the
registered voter lists then, I believe. There is a 1924
Handbook, again
microfilmed at the University
of Florida, but I do not have a
copy of that.
It might be interesting to see if they were voting by
then. The 1902,3
voter lists may only be for the Castries
area, which might complicate
matters. Tracing
the gradual acquisition of influence by various ethnic
groups in St Lucia
is very intriguing. Of great
importance is to determine
how the earliest ones to raise their socio-economic level
accumulated their
money. In the case
of the colored class, it can be traced to their
profession, or in some cases, to the circumstances of
their illegitimacy
(which is a far more complex situation than I had naively
imagined before I
started dealing with the records); in the case of slaves who bought their
freedom, there are actual discussion of situations such as
that of the
1780's, when by law they had a day off on which they were
not required to
stay on the estates, and a small number of them developed
an economy that
was thriving enough that the French government actually
wanted to create a
savings bank for slaves, a suggestion which understandably
was not received
by the slaves with enthusiasm.
Richard B. Cheddie
Apr 9 1998,
3:00 am
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.west-indies
From: "Richard B. Cheddie"
<
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
>
Date: 1998/04/09
Subject: Researching East Indian
Indentured Laborer to St.
Lucia: Public Records Office
In the Guide to the Contents of the Public Record Office
Vol II States and Departmental Records 1963 the following entries was listed:
1. On page 90: Original Correspondence (C.O. 571) 1913 -
1920 7 Volumes
These concern the entry of Indian Indentured labour into
the West Indies and Mauritus.
2. On page 9: Register of Correspondence ( C.O. 780) 1913
- 1920 1 Volume
Specifically concerning St.
Lucia:
3. On page 79:
Original Correspondence (C.O. 253) 1709 to 1873 15 Volumes etc. after
1873 ( C.O. 321) 1874 to 1940 397 Volumes
4. On page 79: Register of Correspondence (C.O. 367) 1850
-1881 5 Volumes
5. On page 79: Register of Out - Letters (C.O. 505) 1872 - 1882 3 Volumes
6. On page 79: Entry Books (C.O. 254) 1794 - 1872 19
Volumes
7. On page 79: Acts ( C.O. 255) 1818 - 1935 17 Volumes
8. On page 79: Sessional Papers (C.O.256) 1820 - 1939 40
Volumes
9. On page 79: Government Gazettes (C.O. 257) 1857 - 1940
59 Volumes
10. On page 79: Miscellanea (C.O. 258) 1722 - 1940 136
Volumes
newspapers,
reports of Protector of Slaves, Blue Books of Statistics, etc
Concerning the Winward
Islands
11. On page 86: Original Correspondence, Supplementary
(C.O. 537) 1873 - 1898 1 Volume
12. Register of Correspondence (C.O. 376) 1850 - 1926 24
Volumes
13. Register of Out - Letters 1883 - 1926 8 Volumes
Richard B. Shiva-Ram Cheddie
Apr 24 1998,
3:00 am
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.west-indies
From: "Richard B. Shiva-Ram Cheddie"
<
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
>
Date: 1998/04/24
Subject: Additional Resources for
Researching East Indians in the Caribbean
I have ran across the following books and papers that may
be helpful for
those of us who are researching our East Indian heritage
in the Caribbean.
1. India
in the Caribbean. Edited by David Dabydeen and Brinsley
Samaroo.
1987. London:
Hansib/ University of Warwick
Centre for Caribbean Studies.
2. Indians in St. Lucia.
A. Rampersad.1980. St. Augustine University
of the
West Indies.
3. Voices from Indenture: Experiences of Indian Migrants
in the British
Empire. Marina Carter. 1996. NY Leicester
University Press.
4. Emigration of Indian Labour 1834-1900. Saha Panchanan
1933. 1970. Delhi
People's Pub House
5. Indentured Labor, Caribbean
Sugar: Chinese and Indian Migrants to the
British West Indies, 1838-1918. Walton
Look Lai. 1993. Baltimore: John
Hopkins University
Press.
6. The Colonial Legacy in St.
Lucia: An East Indian Perspective. A
Rampersad. 1988. Curepe, Trinidad.
A. Rampersad & Omega Bookshops.
7. India's
Imperialism and its implication for St. Lucia
and the Caribbean.
A. J. Rampersad. A. Rampersad & Omega Bookshops.
8. The Legacy of Indian Indenture: 150 years of Indians in
Trinidad. Mahin
Gosine w/ Dipak Malik & Kumar Mahabir. 1995. NY Windsor
Press.
9. The East Indian Odyssey: Dilemma of a Migrant People.
Mahin Gosine. 1994.
NY Windsor
Press. (ISBN: 0963931857)
10. Solving East Indian Roots in Trinidad.
Shamshu Deen. 1994. Freeport
Junction. H.E.M. Enterprise. (ISBN: 9768136251)
STowns
Apr 9 1999,
3:00 am
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.west-indies
From:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
(STowns)
Date: 1999/04/09
Subject: Books on West Indian/Latin
American Research
The following information is excerpted from the
July/August 1998 edition of the
AAHGS News, the bi-monthly newsletter of the Afro-American
Historical and
Genealogical Society.
Steve Townsend
AAHGS News Editor
Baker, Edward Cecil.
A Guide to Records in the Leeward Islands. Oxford: The
University of the West Indies,
1965.
Baker, Edward Cecil.
A Guide to the Records of the Windward Islands. Oxford:
The University of the West
Indies, 1968.
Berleant-Schiller, Riva. Montserrat
(World Bibliographical Series 134).
Oxford, 1991.
Burns, Alan.
History of the British West Indies. London: George Allen &
Unwin, 1965.
Carmichael, Gertrude.
The History of the West Indian
Islands of Trinidad
and
Tobago, 1498-1900. London:
Redman, 1961.
Carr, Peter E.
Guide to Cuban Genealogical Research.
San Luis Obispo, CA:
TCI Genealogical Resources,
1991.
Carr, Peter E.
Censos, Padrones Y Matriculas de la Poblacion de Cuba Siglos
16, 17 Y 18. San
Luis Obispo,
CA: The Cuban
Index.
Carter, Marina. Voices from Indenture: Experiences of
Indian Migrants in the
British Empire. New York:
Leicester University
Press, 1996.
Coletta, John Philip. They Came in Ships: A Step by Step
Guide to Researching
Passenger Arrival Lists and
Indexes, 2nd ed. Salt
Lake City:
Ancestry, 1993.
Cross, Malcolm. The East Indians of Guyana
and Trinidad. London:
Minority
Rights Group, 1980.
Dabydeen, David and Brinsley Samaroo, eds. India
in the Caribbean.
London:
Hansib/University of Warwick
Centre for Caribbean Studies, 1987.
Daly, Vere T. A
Short History of the Guyanese People. Kitty,
Guyana, 1966.
Deen, Shamshu.
Solving East Indian Roots in Trinidad. Freeport
Junction:
H.E.M. Enterprise, 1994.
Delhi People’s Publication House. Emigration of Indian Labour, 1834-1900.
Saha
Panchanan, India: Dehli
People’s Publication House, 1970.
Dookhan, Isaac. A History of the British Virgin
Islands, 1672 to 1970. Essex,
England:
Caribbean University
Press, 1975.
Dunn, Richard S. Sugar and Slaves : The Rise of the
Planter Class in the
English West Indies, 1624-1713.
Chapel Hill, North
Carolina: University
of North Carolina Press, 1972.
Flores, Norma & Patsy Ludwig. A Beginner’s Guide to Hispanic
Genealogy. Salt
Lake City: Ancestry.
Gasper, David B. Bondsmen and Rebels: A Study of
Master-Slave Relations in
Antigua. Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins University
Press, 1985.
Gmelch, George.
Double Passage: The Lives of Caribbean Migrants
Abroad and
Back Home. University of
Michigan
Press, 1992.
Gordon, Shirley. Caribbean
Generations. London: Longman
Caribbean, 1983.
Gosine, Mahin. The
East Indian Odyssey: Dilemma of a Migrant People. New
York: Windsor
Press, 1995.
Gosine, Mahin, Dipak Malik & Kumar Mahabir. The Legacy of Indian Indenture:
150 Years of Indians in
Trinidad. New York: Windsor
Press, 1995.
Grannum, Guy. Tracing Your West Indian ancestors: Sources
in the Public Record
Office. London
:
ProPublications, 1995.
Hall, Neville A.T.
Slave Society in the Danish West Indies: St.
Thomas, St.
John, St. Croix. Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins University Press, l992.
Handler, Jerome S. Supplement to A Guide to Source
Materials for the Study of
Barbados
History, 1627-1834.
Providence: John Carter Brown Library and Barbados
Historical Society, 1991.
Higman, B.W. Jamaica
Surveyed: Plantation
Maps and Plans of the Eighteenth
and Nineteenth Centuries.
Kingston: Institute
of Jamaican Publications, 1988.
Higman, B. W. Slave
Populations of the British Caribbean, 1807-1834.
Baltimore: The
Johns Hopkins Press,
1984.
Honychurch, Lennox. Basically Dominica
in Language, Culture and Heritage.
Barbados: Dominican National
Cultural Council & Letchworth Press Ltd., 1982.
Johnson, Howard.
The Bahamas
from Slavery to Servitude, 1783-1933.
Gainesville, FL: University Press of
Florida.
Johnson, Howard. The Bahamas
in Slavery and Freedom. Kingston: Ian Randle
Publishers, 1991.
Kemp, Thomas Jay. International Vital Records Handbook of
Births, Marriages,
Deaths, 3rd ed. Baltimore:
Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994.
Kirke, Henry.
Twenty-Five Years in British Guyana. Westport, CT:
Negro
Universities Press, 1970.
Lai, Walton Look.
Indentured Labor, Caribbean Sugar: Chinese and
Indian
Migrants to the British West
Indies, 1838-1918. Baltimore:
John Hopkins
University Press, 1983.
Lawaetz, Eva. Free
Coloured in St. Croix, 1744-1816: The History,
Statistics,
and Selected Information
Concerning the Free Coloured in the Danish West
Indies, with Special Reference
to St. Croix, from
1744-1818. Christiansted,
St. Croix: Lawaetz, 1979.
Lewis, Maureen. Guinea's
Other Sun: The African Dynamic in Trinidad Culture.
Dover, MA:
Majority Press,
1988.
Mercer, Julia E. Bermuda Settlers of the Seventeenth Century:
Genealogical
Notes from Bermuda, reprint of
1947 ed. Baltimore:
Genealogical Publishing Co., 1982.
Moll, Verna P. St.
Kitts-Nevis (World Bibliographical Series 174). Oxford,
1995.
Momsen, Janet Henshell. St.
Lucia (World Bibliographic Series 185). Oxford,
1996.
Nicholson, Desmond V. Antigua, Barbuda
8 Redonda: A Historical Sketch.
Antigua: Museum
of Antigua &
Barbuda, 1991.
Parry, J. H. A
Short History of the West Indies, 3rd ed. London: Macmillan,
1971.
Rampersad, A.
Indians in St. Lucia.
St.
Augustine University
of the West
Indies, 1980.
Rampersad, A. The
Colonial Legacy in St. Lucia:
An East Indian Perspective.
Curepe, Trinidad: A.
Rampersad & Omega Bookshops, 1983.
Rampersad, A. India's
Imperialism and Its Implication for St. Lucia
and the
Caribbean. A. Rampersad &
Omega Bookshops.
Ryskamp, George R.
Tracing Your Hispanic Heritage.
Baltimore: Genealogical
Publishing Co., 1985.
Szucs, Loretto Dennis.
They Became Americans: How to
Discover Your Family or
Ancestors in
Naturalization Records.
Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1997.
Vaughn, Robert V.
In Loving Memory: Virgin Island
Decedents, Relatives,
Friends and Others: An Index
From Selected Reports in The Daily News of the V.I. and
the St. Croix Auis,
January 1982 Through January
1989. Christiansted,
St.Croix: Lawaetz, l983.
Watson, Jack. The West Indian Heritage: A History of the West
Indies. London:
John Murray, 1979.
Williams, Eric. History of the People of Trinidad
and Tobago. London:
Deutsch,
1964.
Kathryn
May 26 1999,
3:00 am
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.west-indies
From: "Kathryn" <
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
>
Date: 1999/05/26
Subject: Re: [CARIBBEAN-L] trinidadian
help
I am Trinidad born, but moved to Canada
in the 60's. Started researching my
Trindadian ancestors a few years back. I have had great
success obtaining
birth, marriage and death certificates from the Registrar
General's Office.
Just received 8 certificates today which took abt 4
months. The Trinidad
Archives does have the Colonial Office Documents on microfilm,
I do believe
1800-1870. The Government Archives also has East Indian
Immigration records
1854-1870. I am interested in joining your Trinis e-mail
group.
Thank you Kathryn
|
|
aplmac
|
|
May 9 1999,
3:00 am
|
|
|
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.west-indies
From: apl...@sunbeach.net
Date: 1999/05/09
Subject: [CARIBBEAN-L] Indian migration
The copyright of the
below two pieces belongs to Shamshu DEEN, of Trinidad.
Anyone wishing to do so
may contact him at sham...@tstt.net.tt
================================================
NEVIS' Early INDIANS
Shamshu Deen
21/03/98
In my continuing look at the Caribbean Indian diaspora, I
examine this week
the documentation on indentured Indians in Nevis. This
is a follow-up of an
article I did on the sister island of St. Kitts (see
Independent of March
7, 1998).
Nevis is a fascinating island,
geographically and historically. Volcanic in
origin the towering Nevis Peak
hovers over this whole island and clearly
visible from just about anywhere. At 3232 feet, it is higher than our El
Cerro del Aripo, 3085, Trinidad's highest mountain.
Recent events show the
interconnections of vulcanicity in that with every eruption at the
Soufriere Hills volcano, Montserrat, the residents at Charlestown,
Nevis,
reported that the water from their hot spring ran cold!
Historically, Nevis has had some
impressive settlers and visitors over its
road of time.
Archaeological excavations show that the first inhabitants went there about
four thousand years ago. On November, 1911, Christopher Columbus' vessels
anchored off the coast. In 1907 the explorer, Captain John Smith, whose
memory was recently revived in the movie, Pocahontas, spent several days at
Nevis on his way to found the Virginia
colony in North America.
Nevis was the birth place of
Alexander Hamilton who later went to America
and became the Secretary of the United States Treasury. Africans also came
in large numbers to work as slaves.
Today they form the largest population group. And in 1874, the lone voyage
of Indian indentured workers arrived from Calcutta.
Perhaps what is most praiseworthy is the serious and
successful attempt by
the authorities and interested personnel to preserve the island's rich and
diverse history. The Nevis Historical and Conservation Society ( NHCS ), "
Was founded in 1980 to conserve the natural and cultural history of Nevis
by collecting artifacts and archival materials, publishing pertinent
information and researching and making information available."
With those objectives in mind the NHCS opened the Museum
of Nevis History
at the birth place of Alexander Hamilton and the Horatio
Nelson Museum
followed in 1992. The friendly, helpful and courteous staff led by Mr.
Robinson acceded to my every request for material and for photocopying at a
minimal cost.
It was at this Nelson
Museum in Charlestown
that I was able to find
publications and handwritten registers verifying the arrival of Indians to
this island. In a publication Caribbean Migrants,Richardson,
1993, it was
noted, " On March 30, 1874,
315 Indians came to Nevis. During their
indenture period many were homesick and lonely, and some broke their
contracts in order to migrate to Trinidad. The others
were offered
re-indenture contracts after their five-year periods had expired, but they
chose to remain on Nevis as free labourers."
The point about coming to Trinidad
was verified by the family stories of
the Mustaphas of El Socorro who claimed that their ancestor, Sheikh
Mujaffar Ali, had rebelled against his masters and had come to Trinidad;
subsequent searches showed that he had come from Nevis.
Throughout the documents of the 1870's and 1880's I found
references of the
presence of Indians in Nevis. The 1874 Blue Book of
Nevis showed that with
the introduction of the Indians, 4993 pounds sterling of the island's total
expenditure of 11,149 pounds was spent on Indian immigration. Two acts were
passed in that year; one on March 24 was "to raise a sum of money for the
purpose of assisting to defray the expenses of the introduction of Coolie
Immigrants,";the other on April 9, "to raise a further sum of money
for the
purpose of assisting to defray the expenses of the introduction..."
The arrival of that ship from Calcutta
was by far the most important and
largest single maritime activity affecting the people of Nevis
for 1874.
The crew was the most thirty five, and with a tonnage of 974, outstripped
the total of five voyages of 880 tons from Britain.
From Trinidad there was
a tonnage of twenty four; at that time Nevis held a
favourable balance of
trade with Trinidad which sent coconuts, pickled fish,
cocoa and timber in
exchange for sheep and horned cattle.
The early years for the Indians must have been difficult
ones. For 1874 and
1875, court
convictions by and against them were well over 120; this gradually declined
to just 27 in 1880, as they settled and were more easily accepted by the
Nevisian society.
It would seem that due to the small number of Indians
requested by, and
eventually taken to Nevis that their emigration from India was handled by
the Guiana Emigration Agency at 8 Garden Reach, Calcutta. This agency had
in 1880 requested of the President's office in Nevis, a
report on the
condition of the Indians. To this the acting President Spencer Churchill
replied on August 14, 1880,
" I beg to state that all the Indian immigrants
were freed from their indentureship in April 1879."
The point about Guyana
supervision is made here in that more detailed
documentation might be available from the National Archives of that
country.
Concerns on the welfare of the Indians were expressed in
another letter of
July 5, 1880, when Mr
Spencer addressed the questions of "attendance of
Coolie children in the schools,...... whether they have generally at
this
time acquired sufficient acquaintance with our language colloquially to
enable them to profit by the masters' instructions .....do they attend
divine service either singly or in families......what numbers of their
children have been baptized ?"
The question of repatriation was also addressed in Mr.
Churchill's letter
of May 14, 1881, which stated, "I am directed by his Excellency the
Governor to forward by R.M. Steamer to Grenada for shipment per SYRIA (the
sailing ship that came to Trinidad with Indians between 1872 and 1878) to
Calcutta the coolies named respectively Santokho and Bhugwantia enclose
copies of correspondence on the subject and I shall be glad to be advised
of the departure of these persons."
In the documents at Nevis however I
could not find the list of the names of
the Indians who arrived in 1874. Such a list should still be available and
I was assured that there were more documents awaiting classification and
would soon be available to researchers.
Two positive notes on my research in Nevis
the first was that I met
descendants of that voyage of 1874 both in Nevis and
their relatives here
in Trinidad. These would be discussed in a subsequent
article. The second
was for other Caribbean genealogists there is "The
Complete Book of
Emigrants 1700-1750" by Peter Wilson Coldhan, 1993, which gives passenger
listings from which one might trace ancestry.
_____________________________________________________________
INDIA-- NEVIS
TRINIDAD
Shamshu Deen 28/03/98
It would seem as if the same way Chinatown served as a
concentration for
many Chinese immigrants to New York city and also how many cities have
their little Italy or little Greece, so too did Trinidad serve as a place
for the settling of peoples from various groups. Some Indians, coming in
small numbers to other Caribbean islands during the
period of
indentureship, attracted by the resources and the chance to be with their
countryfolk made the journey south.
These islands each required a smaller quota not only because
they were,
with the exception of Jamaica, much smaller in size than Trinidad but also
because as Richardson, 1983, suggested, "Neither ( British Guiana nor
Trinidad ) had suffered the environmental degradation wrought by decades of
cane cultivation in the 'old' (British) islands of the Caribbean but both
needed maintenance, field work and reconstruction of rainforest and
mangrove swamps to fields of sugar cane."
When the first and only boat of indentured Indians from Calcutta
to Nevis
in 1874, the 315 souls were distributed to several estates. Some left
during their five years, some soon after and the others remained on the
island.
Though so far I have not been able to find the listing of
the names of
Indians who arrived in St.Kitts (1861) and Nevis, I have
found documents
and publications which offered assistance as to the status of the present
day families. Richardson, 1983, stated, "Today in the late 20th century,
the only noticeable vestige of this immigration on the two islands is a few
Indian families in the Cotton Ground village area of Nevis north of
Charlestown.
Among the early Indians there was a lot of intermarriage
among the jahajis
and later on among the children of the jahajis. Many soon took Christian
names. According to Byron, 1981, "In typical Indian tradition, young
Indian
Thomas girls were married to Indian Sucheron youths and so forth.
And in most cases there were many Indian children of Nevis
birth."
I visited two such families while in Nevis.
The first was and old man, John
Henry, born in 1903, and presently living in the village of Fountain, a few
miles north east of Charlestown. He was only four years when his father
died. His father had come as a little boy from India
his being on that 1874
ship was perfectly logical.
>From Mr. John Clarke, born 1926, at Cotton Ground
village I got a fair
amount of information on his family background. Both sets of
his
grandparents had come from India.
His paternal grandfather, Bhagirath,
adopted the name of Clarke and married an Indian from St. Kitts. Their son
was Fred Clarke and daughters, Mary and Edna, both of whom had migrated to
New York.
Fred remained in Nevis and married
Olive, the daughter of Paray and Mary,
both of whom had come from India.
Olive's siblings all migrated most going
to the USA.
"Fred and his teacher-oriented wife," according to Byron, "were
determined that their children should be given every educational
opportunity possible, and many of them were sent to universities and other
educational institutions abroad. Few had returned to Nevis."
John, a son to Fred and Olive, was a government agricultural
development
officer and eventually became the head of the Agricultural Department in
Nevis. In this capacity he visited Trinidad
on different occasions and was
able to re-establish ties with his Trinidad cousins.
John's maternal grandmother, Mary, was a Mungroo. Her
brother, William, as
a little boy, had joined a Nevis Indian migration to Trinidad
in the
1880's. Here he married a fellow Nevis Indian, Alice Lulu, and settled in
Malabar, Arima. They rented a house but after a few years of hard work on
the public roads, William bought several acres, which he eventually gave to
his children, Bojou, John, Edgar ( Sonny ), Arthur, Edith and Mary.
As youngsters the sons worked on the San
Jose estate in Lopinot where they
earned between 6 and 12 cents a day picking and bagging cocoa. This was
during the 1920's and 1930's.
Arthur married Gertrude whose parents Nanhoo and Florence
Stephens had also
come from India
via Nevis. Arthur worked with WASA where he became an
inspector. His children have become associated with horse racing. Joy
Mungroo works at Santa Rosa. Michael
Mungroo was a jockey in the 1960's and
1970's; he rode freelance in Trinidad and Tobago
and also Barbados.
Some of
his winners were Debonnaire, Orlando, Bulldozer and Back to Nature. Ralph
is a trainer and owner of horses kept at the Santa Rosa
stables.
I was fortunate to meet Sonny Mungroo ( 1913 ), the last
surviving child of
William, at his daughter's grocery in Talparo. After his stint as a cocoa
labourer, he worked at the US
base at Wallerfield where he did brush
cutting and sanitation. He also worked for the Government Cocoa Board at
Carapo and at La Reunion estate in Chaguaramas. He married Basdaye Sukhu of
Diego Martin in an Anglican ceremony when she was called Nazarene.
They had 12 children and lived at Malabar. With Basdaye's
death in 1983,
and a stroke Sonny suffered in 1985, he moved in with his daughter, Angela,
and her husband, V.S. Naipaul (Vincent Sankar ).
The inter-island connection has been kept alive over the
years. In 1926,
Sonny's father, William visited Nevis and met his
sister, Mary, and nieces
and nephews, one of whom, Edward, came to Trinidad a few
years later. Mr.
John Clarke's visits have revived and reestablished ties among the
relatives of our two twin island states.
Byron, 1981, lamented, "But most of the Indian families
that enriched the
life of Nevis in the distant past have gone. They have
migrated to other
lands where they do well. Of course a not inconsiderable number has become
thoroughly mixed with the rest of the native population.....Nevis would
appear to have become too small to continue to support the lives and
ambitions of the descendant Indian families who came to this land more than
100 years ago."
Hopefully my recent contacts with St.Kitts/Nevis and also
the Public
Records Office and National Maritime
Museum both in London
would yield
those valuable lists of 1861 and 1874, as we continue to examine the
arrival of various peoples to the Caribbean and then
their subsequent
movements worldwide.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jun 26 2002,
10:48 pm
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.west-indies
From: "Richard B. Cheddie"
<
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
>
Date: Wed, 26 Jun
2002 22:47:45 -0400
Local: Wed, Jun 26
2002 10:47 pm
Subject: Some Individuals in St.
Lucia and Grenada
circa 1891
The following bits of data was collected from the East
Indies to St. Lucia
by Surgeon-Major D.W.D. Comins, Protector of Emigrants, Calcutta.
Printed
at the Bengal Secretariat Press in
1893
St. Lucia
1. Budhu, age 20, son
of Parabu. Caste: Turki Koiri from
Azamgarh
District, Mohmadambad Thana, Walidpur village. Uncle's name
Gulap, son of
Domon. Budhu signed a Form of Agreement for Intending
Emigrant to St. Lucia
on 15 Dec 1890
in Ghazipur, India
2. Pay list of Crown Lands Estate for the week ending 3 April 1886:
Gujadhur, Horill, Hulass, Hoossanys, Intame, Joodhester,
Joonab, Kalkasings,
Kehane, Kessowar, Khiroda, Lachiman, Lakpetia, Lukkia
Dilloo, Maimra,
Manchoo, Mengaul, Mucktolia, Munnoosings, Naga,
Najtookallys, Panchoo,
Pemya, Phobagra,
Poonia, Pajne, Prionauth, Raghoo,
Rampaul Girlya, Rampaul
Sanker, Rumsumhin, Ramyad, Resmu, Rutnu, Salamutalu,
Snodunden, Shazjada,
Shajurb, Sabnath, Simroo,
Somnar Mengaul, Sukba, Sookhan,
Sookra, Somra
Lalloo, Somra Nimmur, Sarukissen, Sutraton, Sucknu, Jakam,
Burdia, Bundoo.
3. Pay list of Crown Lands Estate for week ending 10 April 1886: Note
different spellings for same names listed for 3 Apr 1886: Agnoocea, Augmo,
Baijoo, Ballea, Barhoo, Bhagobutty L., Bhagobutty Ram,
Bagwansahaie,
Bhulloo, Beekham, Button Napoo, Bissessur, Bissessuree,
Boodhun, Bundhoo,
Bundhea, Boodna, Chakowree, Chootra, Chowtie, Chujjoo,
Chumme, Dagull,
Donie, Dilchandsingo, Doola, Dorlaum, Ekwara, Fokeer
Mahomed, Gopee,
Gujadhur, Horli,
Hulass, Hoossany, Jutame, Joorhester, Jomal, Kalkasingo,
Kihane, Kessmar, Khiroda, Luchiman, Lukpotia, Lukhina,
Lukkia Dilloo,
Mainwa, Manchoo, Mingnul, Mucktolia, Munnoosing, Naga,
Naytookally, Panchoo,
Penya, Phobagra, Poonea, Payne, Prionath, Raghoo.
4. Bhowanibhick, age 55, son of Chowpaie ,5' 7.25",who
originally came on
the Foyle (number 4) in 1880 to St.
Lucia is registered to return to
Calcutta, India
on the Hereford, which sailed on 4 Sept 1890, with his wife
and at least 3 children. He last worked on Crown lands.
5. Sukram age 38, son of Mungha, 5' 2.5", who
originally came on the Bann
(number 237) in 1881 to St.
Lucia elected bounty of 10 Pounds on 6 Mar 1891.
He had a wife. He last worked at the Roseau
estate
6. Dhowday , age 31, son of
Onsori, 5' 4.5", who
originally come on the
Bann (number 228) in 1881 to St.
Lucia elected to return to India.
He had a
brother. He last worked at the Roseau
estate.
7. Hunoomansing, age 35 who came on the Bracadaile (register
number 1467 and
wife register number 1468) in 1884 was assigned to the
Dennery Usine in
September. He appeared to have died on 27 Nov 1884.
8. Hosanee, General Register number 1033, of Roseau Estate,
received a
certificate of exemption from labor on March 9, 1886.
9. Dhoni of Marguis Estate, who came to St.
Lucia on the Leonidas in 1878,
was imprisoned on 7
Sept 1878 for 14 days. Register number 415.
10. Thaibdin, age 35, son of Oree, 5'5" was listed as
number 278 in the
General Register of Return Immigrants. He originally came to
St. Lucia on
the Leonidas (number 205) in 1878, left on the Moy (number
183) on 5 Sep
1888. He was last employeed at Perle Estate.
11. Badari, age 22, son of Chadhary, came to St.
Lucia on the Bracadaile in
1884. His ship number 480 and register number 1625. He was a
Kurmi by caste.
He was assigned to the Bois d'Orange Estate.
12. Narrain son of Loroton deposited 16 pounds in the Moy
(ship number 272)
for the return voyage on 5 Sept 1888.
13. Motee registered 2 Pounds, 10 Shillings on 11 Mar 1885 to be sent to
Teeka
14. Ondhar, who came on the Foyle (number 53) in 1880 died
on25 March 1883.
His 13 Pounds, 14 Shillings, and 11 pence were sent to India
on 13th Jun
1880
15. Bhookul age 43, son of Augnoo elected for bounty of 10
Pounds on 19 June
1888. He originally came on the Leonidas in 1878. He was
assigned to the
Esperance Estate.
Rambaran, age 25, son of Nimuth (Nimuta), 5" 0.5", was of the Ahir caste.
He was from Ghazipur. He left Calcutta
on the SS Roumania ( Ship's number 4)
in 1891. He worked both for the Dennery Company, LTD (La
Caye Estates) and
St. Lucia Central Sugar Factory Company, LTD (Crown Lands
Estate).
16. Some individuals listed on Crown Land Estates circa
1891: Buckwala,
Bowdha, Bundheo, Bundhoo, Eddhay, Sawonbar, Juspersad, Rohi,
and Reetai.
17. The following individuals had money in the treasury, but
upon death
there was no heir to be found: Jecan, Purboll, Horill,
Oudhai, Chingan,
Budal, Kullu, and Sonichara.
The highest amount at the time was 13 Pounds,
14 Shillings, and 11 Pence belonging to Oudhai. This amount
was lodged in
the treasury on 13
June 1889.
18. Durma came on the Bracadaile in 1885. Worked as a
Chaukidar on the
Roseau Estate.
19. Ram Dass was employed by the Ressources Estate according
to the pay list
dated 25 Apr 1891.
20. Anwar, worked at Ressources Estate during 1891.
21. Oomur, worked at Ressources Estate during 1891.
22. Purmanon had a bania shop on Ressource Estate during
1891. So did Debi.
They both most likely came to St.
Lucia on the Bracadaile in 1884. Kali
Pershad sold rice and dal on the Ressource Estate during
1891.
23. Umeer Sing, only son of a mother still in India
in 1891. Had accepted
the 10 Pound bounty and had no intentions of going back to India.
He was a
Chettri by caste (Kstriy).
He had a wife and two children. He most likely
either came to St. Lucia
on the Foyle or Bann.
24. Ramnath (boy) was employed by Retraite Estate during
1891
Grenada
1. William Murray, after he became a Christian adopted this
name from his
former master. He owned a shop and a small cocao plantation.
He also
imported from America.
2. De Gale, also adopted his name from his former master. He
owned private
property and had a provision shop. He gave the Cooly Mission
the land to
build its school as a present.
3. Udalli owned land and ran a shop. He was into horse
racing. His son
George Udalli was a clerk in the Police Magistrate's Office.
4. Cooman Sing ran a shop.
St. Vincent
- Macleod
had changed his name.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cyril Jardine
May 28 1999,
3:00 am
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.west-indies
From:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
(Cyril Jardine)
Date: 1999/05/28
Subject: [CARIBBEAN-L] Indian Migration to Jamaica
Because Trinidad is almost 50% Asian
Indian, there seems quite a lot of
literature available. My interest is whether there was a
similar migration
to Jamaica
and what info is available. My grandfather, bearing an Indian
surname: Toolsie (Tulsie?), came to US from Trinidad,
but was born in 1873
in Jamaica.
This info came from the ship's log at the US National Archives.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard B. Shiva-Ram Cheddie
Aug 14 1999,
3:00 am
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.west-indies
From: "Richard B. Shiva-Ram Cheddie"
<
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
>
Date: 1999/08/14
Subject: Ugheer Passenger List?
I am looking for any listing of the passenger list for the
Ugheer which
transported East Indian indentured laborers to Guyana
in the late 1800's. A
relative of mine, Nuk Cheddie, was transported on that
vessel along with his
two sisters. They
worked on teh Diamond Estate in British Guiana, where he
was the Head Driver. He married a Sookia Singh and had ten
children.
I will be posting his genealogy on my website:
www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Resort/5913
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ruth - Ann
Jul 19 2000,
3:00 am
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.west-indies
From:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
(Ruth - Ann)
Date: 2000/07/19
Subject: surnames: soodeen, premdas, bunsee
Hello all,
I've been lurking for the past couple of weeks and have read
through many
posts in the archives. I've just recently embarked on my own
genealogical
research and I've found some very useful information from
this list - thanks
for sharing!
Anyway, looking for info for my family has been quite
difficult - I do have
a chapter from Anthony de Verteiul's Eight East Indian
Immigrants on my
great-grandfather, Charles Clarence Soodeen, which is where
most of my info
is from (unfortunately I don't have the list of references
and I can't seem
to find the actual book!). He emigrated from India
to Trinidad in 1861
(aboard the clarence - this is when he got his name - but I
can't seem to
find any records of that ship). He was prominent among the
presbyterians,
working mostly with teh Canadian Mission (yes, I've
contacted the canadain
presbyterian archives, but I can't afford to pay $25/hr for
a search with
only a possibility of finding mentions of his name)
I'd also like to find out about his first wife, Laura Jane
Frances Heath
(all I know about her is that she was an
"englishwoman" and they married in
1872; she died the following year)
I also went to the local LDS family history centre but
records for Trinidad
are next to nil!
Anyway, if anyone can give me any leads re finding info about
the soodeens,
or even premdas (Francis Arnold I believe is my
grandfather's name -
originally from Guyana,
but I don't know the years) that would be great.
Finally, does anyone have contact info for Trinidad
historian Anthony de
Verteiul?
Thanks in advance for any help!
Ruth-Ann Soodeen
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
fmwade
Jul 31 2000,
3:00 am
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.west-indies
From:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
Date: 2000/07/31
Subject: Estate books of Trinidad
Does anyone know where one can find the Estate Books of the
various sugar estates in Trinidad during the period of
slavery and also during the period of Indian indentureship?
Hoping someone can help me.
Flavia Wade
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Bond
Jul 31 2000,
3:00 am
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.west-indies
From:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
(Richard Bond)
Date: 2000/07/31
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think they are all
over the place, some are still at the
greathouses, others are in museums and some in Antiquarians.
Some of
them could be in London
or New York. They were private property like
the books for a bar or any other business there is no one
answer for all
of them.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Weiss
Jul 31 2000,
3:00 am
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.west-indies
From:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
(John Weiss)
Date: 2000/07/31
Subject: Re: Estate books of Trinidad
Flavia
You can try the Registration and Compensation records in the
PRO,
which are not the same as Estate Books but list every slave
by
name, surname, family and description. My PRO search
produced
this www address - it gives a large number of references
from
class T71 [you have to join this up as one line in your
browser -
it gets split in sending the e-mail]
http://catalogue.pro.gov.uk/ListInt/browse_keywords_frameset.asp
function=Next+Page&lcode=T&class=71&subclass=
or this to start a new search (I entered Trinidad,
letter code T,
class 71):
http://catalogue.pro.gov.uk/ListInt/browse_keywords_frameset.asp
But I am sure you are familiar with all these records, which
are
duplicated at the Red House, POS (or possibly now at the
National
Archives)..
John
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dean de Freitas
Jul 31 2000,
3:00 am
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.west-indies
From:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
(Dean de Freitas)
Date: 2000/07/31
Subject: RE: Estate books of Trinidad
In Father Anthony de Verteuil's book "Eight East
Indians", he describes
using those records at the National Archives (Red House) in Trinidad. He
notes that some of the books are in good shape, while some
of them where so
fragile that he was not allowed to handle them.
Dean de Freitas
TriniGenWeb Coordinator
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ttowgw/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard B. Cheddie
Aug 3 2000,
3:00 am
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.west-indies
From: "Richard B. Cheddie"
<
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
>
Date: 2000/08/03
Subject: Researching East Indians in the Caribbean
Here is a link for those interested in researching East
Indian indentured
labourers. There is a growing list of ships that brought
these laborers to
the Caribbean
http://www.egroups.com/group/Bhatchaman
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Weiss
Aug 20 2000,
3:00 am
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.west-indies
From:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
(John Weiss)
Date: 2000/08/20
Subject: Re: Ships and Indentured East Indians
Richard Cheddie gave a useful "minor list of ships that
Transported East Indian labourers to the Caribbean."
I see his list shows the SHEILA arriving in Surinam
in 1883. She
made an earlier visit to the Caribbean,
her maiden voyage (if it
is the same vessel) in 1877, leaving Calcutta
on 1 Sep and
arriving in Trinidad on 13 November,
landing 624 out of 626
embarked. Her journey is recorded in the Captain's account:
A Return to the Middle Passage: the Clipper Ship
"Sheila", by
Captain W.H.Angel, edited by Ken Ramchand and Brinsley
Samaroo
(originally published in 1921, modern edition 1995, CIS,
Port of
Spain,
Trinidad)
John McNish Weiss
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
Richard B. Cheddie
Aug 29 2000,
3:00 am
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.west-indies
From: "Richard B. Cheddie"
<
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
>
Date: 2000/08/29
Subject: Re: Ships asn Indentured East Indians
I have to recheck this post. Somehow I am missing quite a
few ship names and
destinations. I might have uploaded an older file by
mistake. Most of this
information I gathered off of the web and through several Caribbean
associations researching East Indians. I should be receiving another
listing of ships that went to Trinidad
and Guyana in
the near future. If you
have any info through your own research please e-mail it to
me.
It is my goal to one day have the complete list of ALL ships
that
transported East Indian Labourers to the Caribbean.
The most up to date list
can always be found at
http://www.egroups.com/group/Bhatchaman
This site also contains other information about sources for
those of us
researching our Indian Heritage.
Richard Bond
Aug 29 2000,
3:00 am
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.west-indies
From:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
(Richard Bond)
Date: 2000/08/29
Subject: Re: Ships asn Indentured East Indians
I wonder which of St
Croix's families are descended from the one boat
load that brought people from Calcutta
in the 1860s. Most were
disillusioned by poor treatment and went back to India
or moved to
Trinidad but a minority stayed on.
There are probably some people where
we grew up who don't even realize that there patrilneals are
Indian. My
great great grandfather Alfred Busby came by way of another
island.
Richard B. Cheddie
Aug 27 2000,
3:00 am
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.west-indies
From: "Richard B. Cheddie"
<
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
>
Date: 2000/08/27
Subject: Updated List of Ships that Transported East Indian Laborers to
the Caribbean Basin 8-27-00
I have attempted to compile a list of ships that brought and
repatriated
indentured Indians to and from the Caribbean.
This list is short right now.
Just for Trinidad alone, 319 voyages
were made.
ARRIVALS
DATE SHIP
COLONY
LABOURERS ARRIVED
May 5, 1838
Hesperus
British
Guiana
156 of 170
May 5, 1838
Whitby
British
Guiana
263 of 267
May 30, 1845
Fath Al Razak
Trinidad
225
1845
Blundell
Jamaica
???
1854
Louis Napoleon
Martinique
??
For updated lists go to
http://www.geocities.com/yuddh1/gateportal.htm
Richard Bond
I think that I can
get it for you but could you help me sort out the Asians on Saba
and Statia. I'm still trying to add to what I know about Alfred and Grace Busby
Oct
21 2000, 3:00 am
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.west-indies
From:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
(Richard Bond)
Date: 2000/10/21
Subject: Re: 1931 National Geographic: Saba & Statia
Reply to author | Forward | Print | Individual message |
Show original | Report this message | Find messages by this author
I think that I can get it for you but could
you help me sort out the
Asians on Saba and Statia. I'm still
trying to add to what I know about
Alfred and Grace Busby
Richard Bond
Oct
22 2000, 3:00 am
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.west-indies
From:
|