Research Tips
Starting your St. Vincent Genealogy Research
by Suzanne Burnette
Developer & Archivist, SVGancestry.com
Native Canoes of Caribs in St. Vincent, about 1905. Postcard photo above by Nina C. Cropper of Kingstown.
Since a large portion of my ancestry is based in the United States and the United Kingdom, a favorite first step of mine is a look at census records. Fortunately, the census records of the U. S. and the U. K are available online from a number of subscription companies which charge a fee to view these records. In my research of U. S. and U. K. census records, I have come across many individuals who were born in St. Vincent. Unfortunately on the island itself, no census records with names exist, since only population counts were done. Despite no census records on the island, you will find many vital records (births, marriages and deaths) going back to 1874 at the Registry in Kingstown.
Ancestors who were born on St. Vincent often have a varied background, based on the many nationalities of people who were on the island at various times. In ancient times, the inhabitants were different Amerindian tribes, and some scholars say there were even Afro-Olmecs who lived among the Caribs, and that they were the true ancestors of the Black Caribs or Garifuna. After the Europeans discovered St. Vincent, there were French, Dutch, English, Scottish, Irish, Portuguese, East Indian, Arab, and even Chinese people who lived on St. Vincent in the last 300 years, along with many enslaved Africans.
When you begin your St. Vincent ancestry research, it’s important to know on what part of the island your relatives lived. Many people have traced their St. Vincent ancestors back to the days of French or British settlement in the middle and late 1700’s. Many others have family oral history claiming Carib ancestry, while still more have such details as knowing the family names of their ancestor’s owners from the days of slavery. Information like this is a real treasure to have and helps piece together the life of an ancestor within his or her historical perspective.
More research tips to come……………..
