JAMAICAN GENEALOGY & FAMILY HISTORY
Every Family
Has a Way Back.
The names. The places. The people who made you.
Find your next step in the story of your Jamaican family.
Rooted in Jamaica. Made for families everywhere.
From the house behind Maroon House Press.
Sometimes, the first record
is the person who remembers.
START WHERE YOU ARE
What Brings You Here?
You don’t need a complete family tree.
Two short questions will help you choose a useful next step.
THE RESEARCH DESK
A Place to Begin.
A Way to Keep Going.
Your family’s story is waiting in the records: parish registers, birth and death certificates, estate papers, and the memories of your elders. These Jamaican family history guides show you where to look, how to request what you need and how to make sense of what you find.
New to Jamaican genealogy? Start with our step-by-step guide:
How to Trace Your Jamaican Ancestry9 topics to explore
Start Here
First steps, what to gather from family, and how to get past common dead ends.
Records
Civil registration, church registers, wills, land records and old newspapers.
Parishes
A research guide for each of Jamaica’s 14 parishes: history, churches and where the records sit.
Surnames
Where Jamaican family names came from and what they can tell you.
Slavery-Era Research
Slave registers, compensation records, manumissions and tracing ancestors before 1838.
Maroon Heritage
Moore Town, Accompong, Charles Town and Scott’s Hall, and how to research Maroon lineage.
DNA
Choosing a test and reading results that point to Africa, Europe and Asia at once.
Diaspora
Tracing relatives who left for the UK, the US, Canada, Panama and Cuba.
Elder Interviews
What to ask, how to record it and how to preserve the stories before they’re lost.
No Matching Topics Yet.
Try a broader term, such as “records,” “DNA,” or “family.”
A name is a starting point. Keep the place, the date, and the source with it. Give family memories and documentary evidence room to speak in their own ways.
LATEST GUIDES
New from the Heritage Desk
The newest Jamaican genealogy guides from the House, with the most recent first.
ON YOUR RESEARCH TABLE
Start Small.
Go Deeper.
A free first step and a fuller companion for the search.
Read the Names
A compact guide to finding your family in Jamaican records. Start with the names and places you already know.
Get the free Read the Names guideWhere Your
Navel String Is Buried
Nikki Woods’s guide to Jamaican family, ancestors, and heritage, from elder interviews to records, DNA, and keeping what you find.
Explore the bookWHEN YOU’RE READY FOR MORE THAN A GUIDE
Your Story.
The Right Kind of Support.
The guides are free and always will be. When the search stalls, when the elder is the record, or when the family wants everything it has found kept in one place, these are the next steps.
WHEN YOUR RESEARCH IS STUCK
The Consultation
$175 / session
Review one family line with Nikki and leave with a clearer research direction.
- Your material reviewed before the call
- One hour together on video
- A written plan within two days
Evidence review and research direction. Record requests and family-tree reconstruction are outside this session’s scope.
See The Consultation Prepare your research brief →WHEN THE ELDER IS THE RECORD
The Yard Book
$3,500 / book
Gather an elder’s memories into a family book, keeping the voice that makes them yours.
- Four recorded conversations
- Writing, family review, and design
- Two bound copies and a digital edition
An oral-history and publishing service, shaped around your elder’s stories.
See The Yard Book How The Yard Book works →WHEN IT BELONGS IN ONE PLACE
The Family Archive
From $2,000 / family
A private website for the people, places, documents, and voices in your family history.
- $2,000 from a finished Yard Book
- $2,500 from your own material
- First-year hosting and an offline copy
Hosting after year one: $120 per year. Your family reviews the archive and decides who sees it.
See The Family ArchiveBEFORE THE CONVERSATION
One Question.
A Better Place to Start.
Make a short research brief you can bring to a consultation. Focus on one family line and the evidence you have.
This tool creates a text file on your device. It does not send your details or make a booking.
A Clear Question to Take Forward.
Nothing has been sent. Review the service details before booking.
See consultation detailsA FEW THINGS YOU MAY BE WONDERING
Before You
Take the Next Step.
I only know a first name. Can I start?
Yes. Start with the people who remember: ask about nicknames, relationships, districts, churches, and photographs. Then work back from the most recent person you can document. Our starting guide helps you organize that first search.
Can I use the guides without buying anything?
Yes. The House’s research guides are free. Read the Names is free too, sent by email when you sign up. The companion book and the services are separate choices.
Will a consultation do the research for me?
No. The Consultation reviews the evidence you already have and sets out where to look next. It does not include record requests or rebuilding your tree. The Yard Book focuses on elder interviews and family-history publishing.
Do I need to travel to Jamaica or take a DNA test?
Neither is required to begin. Family conversations and online records are useful first steps. What you can access depends on the collection; some images or originals have restrictions. DNA is an additional source of clues to assess alongside the paper trail.
How are our family stories kept private?
The Family Archive is private by default. Your family names a keeper, and nothing is published that the keeper has not approved. Read The Family Archive details for how permissions and living relatives are handled.
THE STORY IS STILL YOURS TO FIND
Begin with What You Know.
Find my next stepMaroon House Press publishes Caribbean stories rooted in the same history your research uncovers. Read The Ancestors →