Cayman Islands History

The Cayman Islands are an overseas territory of the United Kingdom in the western Caribbean Sea, which was discovered on May 10th, 1503 by Christopher Columbus on his way from Panama to Hispaniola during his 4th and last voyage to the new world.

It was a fortuitous discovery because his ships were steered off course by the area's strong winds at the moment when he sighted Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. Columbus reported his sighting as "two small islands so full of tortoises," hence; he gave the islands the name Las Tortugas (The Turtles).

For over 150 years, Cayman Islands went through several name changes, including Caymanas, a name believed to be associated with the presence of crocodiles, but derived from the Carib word. In fact, "large lizards" and crocodiles were seen on these islands during the 1500s to 1700s, according to narrations from buccaneers.

The first English visitor to the islands was Sir Francis Drake, who landed in 1586 and the first to give the island its actual name derived from "Caimán" a Neo-Taíno nation’s term. Cayman Islands became the place for stocking up on various wild fowls, turtle meat and fresh water to sailors and buccaneers whose ships stop here to replenish their supplies.

Sir Henry Morgan reported the first settlements in Cayman Brac and Little Cayman between 1655 and 1671, while Grand Cayman remained inhibited. However, the islands' settlements did not last long because of the Spanish pirates sailing this area.

Pirates continued sailing the Caribbean, but later known as privateers after obtaining permission from their countries and with the mission to plunder enemy ships and return seized wealth to their country.

Cayman Islands came under British control in 1655, after Jamaica was captured from the Spanish by Oliver Cromwell's army. In 1670, the Treaty of Madrid was signed and Spain gave to Britain, "all those lands, islands, colonies and places whatsoever situated in the West Indies", becoming officially a British territory. The Cayman Islands became self-governed dependency of Jamaica.

Isaac Bodden, the grandson of one of Oliver Cromwell's soldiers is considered the first permanent inhabitant of the Cayman Islands, born on Grand Cayman around 1700. Since then, refugees from the Spanish Inquisition, shipwrecked sailors, pirates and even slaves settled on the islands.

All first settlements were abandoned some time later after the recurrent attacks by Spanish privateers. During the 18th century, British privateers used the Cayman Islands as a base due to the increasingly popularity of the islands as hideouts for pirates, who returned at the end of legitimate privateering in 1713.

In the early 1730s, the attempts to create permanent settlements of the islands began. In November 1794, a convoy of 10 Jamaican merchants was wrecked on a reef of Grand Cayman. However, the help of local settlers saved their lives.

Although it was never confirmed, legend says that there was a member of the Royal Family onboard. In gratitude for their bravery, King George III decreed that the Caymanians should never be conscripted for war service and Parliament legislated that they should never be taxed. Thus, the Cayman Islands historically became a tax haven.

The legislative assembly was established in 1832, consisting of 8 magistrates appointed by the Governor of Jamaica and originally 10 elected representatives, later increased to 27. It was not until 1863 when the Cayman Islands were officially declared an administered dependency of Jamaica and governed by the Chief Magistrate, appointed by the Jamaican governor.

In the late 19th century, the Governor of Jamaica began appointing a Commissioner for the Islands instead of a Chief Magistrate. During those days, over-fishing almost extinguished the turtles from the local waters. Settlements were steady with considerable interracial mixing, but predominant African and British descents.

Situated in the 20th century, and upon the formation of the Federation of the West Indies, the Caymanian dependency status with regards to Jamaica was ceased officially. However, the Jamaican Governor remained as the Governor of the Cayman Islands, so the Governor reserved powers over the Islands.

In 1959, a Chief Official was overseeing all day-to-day affairs of the islands until 1962 when Cayman Islands declared their Independence, breaking all links with Jamaica to become an independent commonwealth realm with direct dependency of the British Crown.

After independence, Cayman Islands and Jamaica kept shared links, including Commonwealth citizenship, membership in the Commonwealth of Nations, a common currency, the Church of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

Governmental structure of the Islands was changed in 1971, with a Governor running the Cayman Islands, and a new currency was issued after 1972. The Chief Secretary was abolished in 1981, and reinstated in 1991 after a review of the constitution, introducing changes including a constitutional reform after the elections in 1992.

By 1999, 38-40% of the Caymanians were of Jamaican origin. During the period 2004-2005, nearly 50% of all the expatriates working in the Cayman Islands were Jamaicans, along with other expatriate communities from the United Kingdom, Canada and the Unites States.

In September 2004, the island of Grand Cayman was hit by Hurricane Ivan, and severely damaged, causing mass devastation and loss of human and animal life. Ivan was considered a Category Five Hurricane, causing flooding and reporting about 25% or more of Grand Cayman had been underwater.

The hurricane led to the bankruptcy of the heavily invested insurance firm called Doyle. This company had released estimates covering 20% damage to be re-insured at minimal fees. However, the damage caused by Hurricane Ivan was over 65% and every claim climbed into the millions.

With that unexpected perspective, the company was unable to keep paying out and the adjusters could not help lower the payments due to the high building code the Islands adhere to, while the natural disaster disrupted the supply of water, power and communications.

Although Ivan was considered the worst hurricane to hit the Cayman Islands in 86 years, Grand Cayman made a rapid recovery during 2005, with all the infrastructure restored as of 2006. Cayman Islands kept both their rights to privileged taxation and fame as a desirable tourist destination.