Germans account for the lesser portion of Europeans who settled on
the island. They included mainly immigrants from Northern Germany, who were
mostly of the Catholic faith, and established settlements in various parts of
the island, such as Seaford Town/‘German Town’, in Westmoreland, in 1835. The
total number of Germans who migrated to Jamaica has been estimated to be over a
thousand (Senior, 69) and the earliest of them came in 1834.
The purpose of their settlement was to augment the white
population as the planters believed emancipation would and did cause a shortage
of labour. In addition to this, indentured labour served to encourage farming
on the island, while famine and other hardships experienced at home forced a
number of them to the island (Sherlock and Bennett, 317).
Though
some of the Germans died from tropical diseases and others left Jamaica for the
United States because of unfulfilled expectations, concerning residence and
work, many continued settlement on the island. Such settlements contributed to
the mixed racial composition of Jamaica, and the places where these settlements
were established are small, but notable parts of the country’s historical
heritage (Senior, 69). For instance, Seaford Town more commonly known as German
Town is of historical importance as it is one of the first German settlements
in Jamaica. There is a German museum at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in the
town. The Germans also settled in Clarendon mountains, Dry Harbour Mountains in
St. Ann, Lacovia in St. Elizabeth, and Spaulding in Manchester.
Personal names that can be traced to German settlement on the
island include: Eldemire, Kameke, Somers, Harker, Bonnerman, Rheiman,
Kleinhance and Groskopf (Fremmer, 20-25). On the other hand, place names
include: Bremen Valley, New Brunswick, Schellenburg, Stettin and Hessin Castle
(Senior, 210).
Sources
Fremmer,
Ray. "Jamaica’s Little Germany." Sky
Writings 1981: 2.28 .
Senior,
Olive. A-Z of Jamaican
Heritage. Kingston: Heinemann Educational Books (Caribbean) Limited and
Gleaner Company Limited, 1983.
Senior,
Olive. Encyclopedia of
Jamaican Heritage. St. Andrew: Twin Guinep Publishers Ltd., 2003.
Sherlock,
Phillip and Hazel Bennett. The
Story of the Jamaican People. Kingston and Princeton: Ian Randle Publishers
and Markus Wiener Publishers, 1998.
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