Roots Trip to Jamaica: How to Visit Your Ancestors’ Parish
How to plan a roots trip to Jamaica around your family’s parish: what to research first, what to see, and how to get around.
-
-
Counties of Jamaica: Cornwall, Middlesex and Surrey
Jamaica’s three counties date from 1758; here is which of the 14 parishes sits in each, what changed in 1867, and how to read old records that name a lost parish.
-
Finding Jamaican Ancestors in Church Baptism Records
Where Jamaican baptism records are held, which years they cover, what they reveal, and how to search when names, dates or the record itself are missing.
-
What to Ask Your Family Before You Search Jamaican Records
Before you open an archive, ask your relatives the right questions: names, parishes, churches, migration and family papers. Here is what to ask and how to record it.
-
What Were Provision Grounds in Jamaica?
Provision grounds were the hillside plots enslaved Jamaicans farmed for their own food. After 1838 they became family land, much of it held without a title.
-
Family Land in Jamaica: How Inherited Land Works
Family land in Jamaica is rarely one clean title. See how inherited land passes, why it gets tangled, and the steps heirs take to untangle it.
-
Jamaican DNA Testing: Which Test to Take and How to Use Your Matches
A DNA test can help a Jamaican family, but not in the way the advertisements suggest. The ethnicity pie chart is…
-
How to Record an Elder Interview on Your Phone (Step by Step)
Record an elder’s story on your phone the right way: consent, settings, mic placement, a lead-in script and where to save the file so it lasts for decades.
-
50 Questions to Ask Your Jamaican Elders About Family History
Fifty questions for Jamaican grandparents and elders, grouped by theme, with advice on interviewing respectfully and checking their stories against records.
-
Jamaican Genealogy Dead Ends: 7 Brick Walls and How to Get Past Them
Hit a wall tracing Jamaican ancestors? Learn why the 1838 divide, name changes and scattered records stall research, and the practical steps that get past each one.
