Major Reference Works on the Colonial West Indies

"Caribbeana : Being Miscellaneous Papers relating to the history, genealogy, topography and antiquities of the British West Indies."
Imprint London : Mitchell, Hughes and Clarke, [ -1919] edited by Vere Langford Oliver. Vols. I-VI. serial indexes.

Caribbeana is a critical resource for anyone studying the colonial period. It contains original correspondence, wills, genealogical summaries of many families, and sundry items of interest. At present copies are rare but the following libraries have copies, and the LDS has an incomplete set on Microfilm. Special thanks to Michele Terrell for the location list below:

Society of Genealogists, London
Family History Library - Salt Lake City, Utah
British Library
University of Toronto - Robarts Library (vols. 1-3 only)

Libraries that participate in Interlibrary Loan:

U of Florida
U of Pittsburgh
New York Public Library - Research Library
U of Miami, Richter Library, Coral Gables, Fl.
Allen County Public library, IN
Tulane University
Boston Athenaeum
Boston College
John Hopkins
St. Louis Public Library
Duke University
New York State Library
Hamilton College, NY
City College, N.Y.C.
Cleveland Public Library
Library of Virginia
U of Washington

Non-Participants in the Interlibrary loan program:

University of the West Indies, Mona, Jam.
Library of Congress
National Register of Microform Masters
Trinity College, Dublin
Newberry Library, IL
New England History and Genealogical Society
Harvard University
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
University of Oxford
Wellcome Institute
University of London, Institute of Historical Research

The History of the Island of Antigua: by Vere Langford Oliver.

Several of the locations above possess a copy of Oliver's history which is in three volumes. This is the definitive work on Antigua and the Leewards in the colonial period. It contains extracts from parish records no longer in existence anywhere else and thus is often used by local archives as a reference for register inquiries. As with most of the great reference works on the West Indies, these books were printed in small editions and are now rare. Recently a reproduction of The History of Antigua was published by James Challenor Lynch and sold by private subscription. Several Societies and Libraries in North America and the Islands received complimentary copies. If you have difficulty locating this book, please consult with the Carib-L or Soc.Gen.west indies groups for information.

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All pages on this site Copyright © 1998 Christopher M. Codrington
This page was last updated on 12 November, 1998
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