by Andre Sanchez

What were to become known as the Cayman Islands were first spotted by Europeans in 1503 when Christopher Columbus recorded “two very small islands” that were named La Tortugas after the numerous turtles that were found there. 

The name quickly changed to Caymanas, after the Carib name for the marine crocodiles that lived there at the time, and they remained in Spanish hands until ceded to Britain by the Treaty of Madrid in 1670, under which Britain took formal control of the Caymans and Jamaica, the latter which had been captured from the Spanish in 1655.

The Caymans were only occasionally settled, and then only temporarily, since the depredations of Spanish and British privateers and pirates were not conducive to permanent settlements.  The islands were used mainly by pirates as a hide-out and for the replenishment of food and water stocks, one of the reasons for the disappearance of the turtles and perhaps even the alligators! It was not until the 1730s that permanent settlements were founded,  Isaac Bodden being the first permanent inhabitant to be born on the island.

The governor of Jamaica made the first royal grant of land to settlers in 1734, comprising 3,000 acres of land in Grand Cayman.  More grants followed this and by 1742 there was a thriving settlement that laid the foundation for the occupancy of the islands.  At that time their main income was from fishing and the provision of sailors both to the British Navy and merchant companies that traded with the islands of the Caribbean. 

The year 1794 was a memorable one in the history of the islands, when the ‘Wreck of the Ten Sails’ occurred.  On the 8th February of that year, a large convoy of merchant ships, traveling from Jamaica to Britain,  was carried by currents close to a reef at Gun Bay on the east coast of Grand Cayman.  Ten ships were sunk on the reef, although, largely due to the help of the islanders, most of the crew and passengers were rescued. 

This was only one of many shipwrecks that occurred during the history of the Cayman Islands, and has become one of the islands’ legends. In recognition of the efforts of the islanders in the rescue, legend has it that King George III decreed that Caymanians would never have to be conscripted and the British parliament passed legislation that they should never be taxed.  There is, however, no evidence of this explanation as to why the Cayman Islands are a tax haven.

From then they continued to develop, and the first census was carried out in 1802.  This showed a population of 933 on Grand Cayman,  of which almost 60% were slaves.  Once slavery was abolished by the British Emancipation Act of 1833, a more homogeneous free society was developed.

From 1863, the Caymans were officially a dependency of Jamaica, and continued to be so until the Federation of the West Indies was formed in 1959, and the dependency status ceased, although it was still governed by the Governor of Jamaica.  Women were given the right to vote in the same year.

In 1962, when Jamaica became independent, the islanders decided to remain a dependent of the United Kingdom, and an administrator was appointed by London.  The title changed to Governor in 1971, and a new constitution was formulated that gave the Caymanians more governmental control over their islands. 

Although the Cayman islands are still under British governorship, the island has autonomy of government and continues to share much with their old friends Jamaica, including their membership of the Commonwealth, a common church and a fair amount of interchange of citizens between the islands.

It is till a tax haven, and Cayman banks are frequently used by citizens of other countries to avoid paying tax.  The islands were badly hit by Hurricane Ivan in 2004,  with a great deal of damage and loss of livestock.  However, the Cayman Islanders possess a hardiness of spirit that would be expected of a people used to a seafaring life, and they overcame that difficult period in their history.

The Cayman Islands are once again a haven for tourists the world over, and their economy is stable and ideally suited to their main industries, tourism and banking.

A Short History of The Cayman Islands was originally published at http://www.globallifenow.com