JONES On Jamaica 1670

On St. John's eve, 23 June 1503, Columbus found himself beached on the shores of Jamaica. He spent a year here living off the land until he was rescued. A "starving party" was all that was left as described by Fiske in his book titled: The Discovery of America, Vol. I, p 454. What a way to start a history of this island.

It was not until 1670 that a survey of the Island of Jamaica was recorded in English records. There were six parishes organized after the English system, and 15,198 "persons" were documented in this survey. Those of the JONES surname were:

St. Thomas's Parish - David Jones 70 acres. [ 59 families in this parish.]

St. Andrew's Parish - William Jones 60 acres. [194 families in this parish.]

St. John's Parish - Thomas Jones 373 acres. [ 83 families in this parish.]
- Doctor Thomas Jones 20 acres.

There certainly may be older records with the surname JONES. Anyone please post if you know of earlier records.

Abstracted from: Calendar of State Papers, America and West Indies, 1669-1674, , Edited by, W. Noel Sainsbury, London, 1889. [Kraus Reprint Ltd., Vaduz, 1964.] pp. 99 - 104.

Reference on Columbus: The Discovery of America, With Some Account of Ancient America and The Spanish Conquest, by John Fiske, Vol.I, Houghton, Mifflin and Co., Boston, 1892. pp. 454-455.