Page 480 - The British Big Four

he first recorded English visitor to the islands was Sir Francis Drake in the ratio was 10 slaves to 1 free at the time of emancipation.

T1586. He subsequently named the islands “Cayman” after caiman, a The next 100 years are sometimes called the century of isolation.
Within Cayman, building churches and schools was a priority, ac-
Neo-Taino word for “alligator. The Cayman Islands remained largely unin-
habited until the 17th century. While there is no archaeological evidence

for an indigenous people on the islands, a variety of settlers from various complished with little funds and against a backdrop of adversity—hurri-

backgrounds made their home on the islands, including pirates, refugees canes, tidal waves, cyclones, and a depletion of the local green turtle sup-

from the Spanish Inquisition, shipwrecked sailors, and deserters from ply, forced many Caymanians to abandon the island. Fathers continued

Oliver Cromwell’s army in Jamaica. The first recorded permanent resident to pass along knowledge of rocks, wrecks and reefs, winds and tides to

of the Cayman Islands, Isaac Bodden, was born on Grand Cayman around their sons, and the heritage of the Caymanian mariner prevailed. From the

1661. He was the grandson of the original settlers named Bodden who late 19th century into the 1960s, Caymanian merchant seamen carried on

was probably one of Oliver Cromwell’s soldiers at the taking of Jamaica in the tradition of navigating the world. The money they earned sustained

1655. the Caymanian economy until the finance and tourism industries took

England took formal control of the Cayman Islands, along with Jamaica, over in the 1960s.
as a result of the Treaty of Madrid of 1670. Following several unsuc-
cessful attempts at settlement, a permanent English-speaking population By the time the Second World War had ended, Cayman was ready for
its next, and most important leap, into the future. Weekly air service
in the islands dates from the 1730s. With settlement came the perceived was sporadic and no airstrip existed until 1953. In 1950, the Galleon Beach

need for slaves. Many were brought to the islands from Africa; this is evi- hotel was built with limited capacity at the southern end of Seven Mile

dent today with the majority of native Caymanians being of African and Beach. Within three years after the opening of the airport in1953, beach

English descent. The results of the first census taken in the islands in 1802 bound hotel construction dramatically increased and still continues to

showed the population on Grand Cayman to be 933 with 545 of those this day.

inhabitants being slaves. Slavery was abolished in the Cayman Islands in

I1834. At the time of abolition, there were approximately 985 slaves out of n 1957, legendary dive operator Bob Soto established recreational scuba

a total population of 2,000 when slavery was officially abolished, resulting diving on Grand Cayman, and the Caymans now famous scuba diving in-
in a ratio of about one slave to one non-slave. This makes Cayman very dustry was launched. The Cayman Islands developed a reputation as one

unusual compared to other Caribbean islands, particularly Jamaica, where of the world’s premier dive destinations, buoying tourism into the 1990s.