Jamaica Genealogy

Caribbean Jamaica

Guide to  ancestry, family history and genealogy parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Jamaica is an independent island nation in the Greater Antilles Islands of the West Indies. Jamaica lies south of Cuba in the Caribbean Sea.

Getting started with Jamaican research
To begin, collect the reminiscences of family members. They may not know exact dates and places, but the stories they tell will offer important clues for you follow. Next, learn a little about Jamaica's history, because that will direct your research. An excellent resource is the CIA World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/jm.html CIA World Factbook]

There are several excellent websites that offer guidance as well as searchable records.


 * jamaicagenealogy.org/
 * jamaicanfamilysearch.com/
 * genforum.genealogy.com/jamaica/

Jurisdictions
Spain 1509, England 1655. Slavery abolished 1838, Independence 1962.

Parishes were established as administrative districts at the English conquest of 1655. They were not based on earlier Spanish entities established after European settlement in 1510. Though the boundaries have changed over the succeeding centuries, parishes remain Jamaica’s fundamental civil administrative unit. The three counties of Cornwall, Middlesex, and Surrey have judicial but not administrative relevance. The present parishes were consolidated in 1866 with the re-division of eight now-extinct entities, none of which will have civil records. A good historical look at Jamaica's parishes as they changed over time may be found on the privately compiled Jamaican Parish Reference.

Cornwall County


 * Hanover Parish
 * Saint Elizabeth Parish
 * Saint James Parish
 * Trelawney Parish
 * Westmoreland Parish

Middlesex County


 * Clarendon Parish
 * Manchester Parish
 * Saint Ann Parish
 * Saint Catherine Parish
 * Saint Mary Parish

Surrey County


 * Kingston Parish
 * Portland Parish
 * Saint Andrew Parish
 * Saint Thomas Parish

Additional Parishes


 * Metcalfe Parish
 * Port Royal Parish
 * Saint David Parish
 * Saint Dorothy Parish
 * Saint George Parish
 * Saint John Parish
 * Saint Thomas ye Vale Parish
 * Vere Parish

Research Tools

 * Family History of Jamaica, West Indies
 * Genealogy of Jamaica
 * Jamaica Genealogical Resources
 * Jamaica Genealogy
 * Antique Jamaica Maps
 * Jamaica's parishes and civil registration districts (cited 2010 Jul 31).
 * Listing of all records collections for Jamaica available from FamilySearch.org.

Wiki articles describing online collections are found at:


 * Jamaica Births and Baptisms (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Jamaica Church of England Parish Register Transcripts (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Jamaica, Trelawny Civil Registration of Birth (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Newspapers
The Jamaican Gleaner More than 1 million historical newspaper pages from The Gleaner dating back to 1834.

Websites
Jamaican Family Search This is a virtual genealogy library for those researching family history for Jamaica, West Indies, especially for people born before 1920.

Jamaican Genealogy This blog is a resource for those researching their Jamaican (West Indies) Family History.

Jamaican sugar cane (history)