West Indies Genealogy - Project?

Question

Hi, I am doing a lot of research at the moment into my ancestors who settled in the West Indies in the late 1680s/1700s.  I wondered if there was any interest in creating a project that is focused on this part of the world, or if there is an existing one that might suit?  It is a challenging area for research but also rewarding and historically interesting.  

I am aware that there is a Bahamas project.  I am also aware of various geographical categories for the different countries.  Also aware that different European nations attempted to settle the Caribbean throughout the last several hundred years so a project linked specifically to the British islands (for eg) may not be wide enough.

Any thoughts?  

Leigh

Comments

This sounds like a great project, Leigh. Let me put it on our list of pending projects and if we can get a Leader involved and a few more folks interested, it would come to be.

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I am also working on my husband's ancestry who was born in Trinidad West Indies and his parents were born in Grenada. His parents were born around 1917. I am having difficulty finding any information about his parents, so I would be interested starting around that time period and working backwards.

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I'm trying to start a project on the genealogy of the Baltimore surname throughout the Caribbean Basin. The project is called CARIBBEAN BALTIMORE. I'm from Guadeloupe originally, living in France nowadays; But I have also lived in the US, Brazil and Holland for a long time - almost 25 years altogether. If you have any problem with French and Portuguese documents check me out.

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Thank you for offering to help!

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Sounds really great Leigh, we of course come across a lot of people and information for the West Indies , the WIC (Dutch West India Company) is a very important part of our History. But don't come across a lot of WIC profiles at Wikitree , at least not aware and no idea if there are many,  but would be great to work on this . 

We did start the Project Indonesia now, which also will include WIC/VOC profiles. We could use some members for that project also so if people are interested make sure you join us there ;)

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I am researching my ancestors in Martinique, and would love to be involved in a project like this, maybe even take a leadership role. This looks like a pretty old thread, so I hope there are still people interested.

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I'm interested in this project if it gets wings. I'm researching my husband's ancestors, the Myers who were English colonists in Jamaica.

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I am interested. My great-grandfather came from the West Indies, married, and settled in Liverpool, England. I cannot find any information on his ancestors.

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Adding several West Indies (St. Martin; Martinique) today. It's been 5 years now since this question was first asked. This was the top hit when I did a quick search for West Indies on WikiTree. Still no project?

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There is still no project. I have been focused on my Martinique du Nord place study and help out occasionally with searches on ANOM. Wouldn't mind being part of an Antilles project, but I haven't seen that much interest.

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I've been working on Saint-Barthélemy and US Virgin Islands pages. I'll occasionally find people from different Islands and add them. If you guys want to start a project I'll gladly help.

Answer 1

Our daughter-in-law is from the Dominican Republic, and we have several generations of information on her ancestors. I would be intrested in any information that develops in that direction.

Answer 2

Hi! I am a new member here (and genealogy) and I am also looking for information for 18th & 19th century Guadeloupe and Trinidad. I would be very interested in participating in a West Indies project. My father was born 1943 and raised in Caracas Venezuela. His mother (Kélandon) was born 1913 in Saint Claude, Guadeloupe and  his father (Mason) in 1899, supposedly in Port of Spain, Trinidad. I have found many documents confirming his mother's lineage. But I have hit a solid brick wall in regards to his father. 

A few resources I have come across have been: 
http://famillesdesaint-claude.over-blog.com/ and http://anom.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr/caomec2/a-propos.php. The latter has proven invaluable in finding scans of original documents for French Territories. It gets murky towards the beginning of the 19th century due to the status of the slave trade. I am almost positive that both paternal grandparents were descendants of slaves either taken directly to the islands or via South America. 

 

Answer 3

I'm very interested in a West Indies project, I was born on St. Croix, US Virgin Islands my father on St. Thomas US Virgin Islands, my mother on Dominica, my paternal line are from the US Virgin Islands and Saint Barthélemy, Guadeloupe and my maternal line Dominica. I've hit a few walls due to records being burnt and/or lack of information on family history.