Scottish Jamaican
Encyclopedia
A Scottish Jamaican is a Jamaican with Scottish
ancestry. Scottish Jamaicans include those of European and mixed Asian and African ancestry with Scottish ancestors, and date back to the earliest period of post-Spanish, European colonisation.
An early influx of Scots came in 1656, when 1200 prisoners of war
were deported by Oliver Cromwell
. There was also a later migration at the turn of the 18th century, after the failed Darien
colony in Panama
. In 1707, when the Act of Union took place, Scots gained access to England's preexisting colonies.
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
ancestry. Scottish Jamaicans include those of European and mixed Asian and African ancestry with Scottish ancestors, and date back to the earliest period of post-Spanish, European colonisation.
An early influx of Scots came in 1656, when 1200 prisoners of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
were deported by Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
. There was also a later migration at the turn of the 18th century, after the failed Darien
Darién scheme
The Darién scheme was an unsuccessful attempt by the Kingdom of Scotland to become a world trading nation by establishing a colony called "New Caledonia" on the Isthmus of Panama in the late 1690s...
colony in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
. In 1707, when the Act of Union took place, Scots gained access to England's preexisting colonies.
People of Scottish Jamaican descent
- William Davidson (conspirator)William Davidson (conspirator)William Davidson was an African-Caribbean radical executed by the British government-Early years:Davidson was the illegitimate son of the Jamaican Attorney General and a local black woman. At age fourteen he travelled to Glasgow to study law. In Scotland he became involved in the movement for...
, radical - Harry J, record producer
- Colin PowellColin PowellColin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
, American general, of Scottish Jamaican parentage - Gil Scott-HeronGil Scott-HeronGilbert "Gil" Scott-Heron was an American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author known primarily for his work as a spoken word performer in the 1970s and '80s...
- Robert Wedderburn
- GoldieGoldieClifford Joseph Price, better known as Goldie is an English electronic music artist, disc jockey, visual artist and actor. He is well known for his innovations in the jungle and drum and bass music genres, having previously gained exposure for his work as a graffiti artist...
- Disc jockey
See also
- Scottish place names in Jamaica
- Scottish colonization of the AmericasScottish colonization of the AmericasScottish colonization of the Americas consisted of a number of failed or abandoned Scottish settlements in North America, a colony at Darien, Panama, and a number of wholly or largely Scottish settlements made after the Acts of Union 1707, and those made by the enforced resettlement after the...
- Tobacco LordsTobacco LordsThe Tobacco Lords were Glasgow merchants who, in the 18th Century made enormous fortunes by trading in tobacco from Great Britain's American Colonies....
External links
Further reading
- Besson, Jean Martha Brae's two histories: European expansion and Caribbean culture-building in Jamaica (The Scottish and Creole planters around Martha Brae - Google books version)
- Karras, Alan L. Sojourners in the Sun: Scottish Migrants in Jamaica and the Chesapeake, 1740-1800 (Google books version)