Links to Digital Resources
There are many archives and libraries that have digital resources that can be used for researching Antigua and Barbuda. Here is a short list, with brief annotations. Whether you are in Antigua or overseas, they are a good place to start your research.
BIBLIOGRAPHIES
Riva Berleant-Schiller & Susan Lowes, Antigua and Barbuda: An Annotated Critical Bibliography, 1995
This annotated bibliography is the only comprehensive reference book available for locating published information on Antigua and Barbuda. It includes annotations and evaluative information for each entry. It is organized by subject areas, such as geography, geology, flora and fauna, archaeology, history, etc. It is up to date as of 1995.
This is a searchable pdf file.
ALMANACS
These almanacs contain all kinds of information, both historical and from the year of the almanac, and also include many lists–of plantations, of office holders, including from the government, the churches, and educational and social service institutions. The original volumes, which were in poor shape, were photocopied by Desmond Nicholson many years ago. Some pages are missing while others are hard to read. They have been turned into searchable pdf files, although where the text is unclear, the search function may not work.
The Antigua Almanac and Register, 1843 (Hart)
The Antigua Almanack, 1851
Horsford’s Antigua Almanack for 1872
Leeward Islands Almanac for 1878, Part 1
Leeward Islands Almanac for 1878, Part 2
Leeward Islands Almanac for 1878, Part 3
DATABASES
Legacies of British Slave-Ownership
This huge project, a collaboration between University College London and Harvard University. At its core is a database containing the identity of all slave-owners in the British Caribbean at the time slavery ended, including their activities, affiliations, and legacies. It is an incredible resource, in part because of its insights into current figures whose families once owned slaves. When you search by name, it returns a list of those awarded compensation, whether their claims were successful or not, and how much they received.
Slave Compensation Records for Antigua and Barbados
This database, compiled by Guy Grannum (with Antigua records transcribed by Mary Gleadall), includes all claims as of 1840. It is not a sophisticated at the Legacies of British Slave-Ownership database, but it has the same type of information.
Monumental Headstone Inscriptions
This database includes transcriptions of monumental headstones in Antigua up until about 1900.
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database
This extensive project, under the auspices of Emory University, includes a Voyages Database (with information on 35,000 voyages), an African Names Database, and an Image Database.
Marriage Register Index
The Antigua and Barbuda National Archives has begun to digitize some of its resources. The project that is furthest along are the indices for the marriage records. Instructions on how to search are on the first tab.
DIGITAL VERSIONS OF PRINTED WORKS
Langford Oliver, The history of the island of Antigua, one of the Leeward Caribbees in the West Indies, from the first settlement in 1635 to the present time. Originally published in 1894.
This three-volume work is a starting place for researching any family with roots in England, Scotland, or Ireland because it has extensive genealogies of dozen of these families, organized by surname. In addition, Volume 1 also contains pages of history and transcription of documents, including censuses, wills, records of births, deaths, and marriages, transcriptions of gravestone, and much more. This makes it useful for any type of research. The last half of Volume 1, as well as Volumes 2 and 3, are the genealogies.
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Mrs. Lanaghan, Antigua and the Antiguans: A Full Account of the Colony and Its Inhabitant. Two volumes, 1844
This is a detailed history of Antigua and Barbuda written by the wife of a resident merchant. The book is particularly useful for its descriptions of life and culture at the time the author was resident in the early 1840s.
There are several digital versions. These are two.
Volume I
Volume II
Joseph Sturge and Thomas Harvey, The West Indies in 1837: Being the Journal of a Visit to Antigua, Montserrat, Dominica, St. Lucia, Barbados, and Jamaica, 1838.
Report by two British Abolitionists about their trip to determine the condition of the newly emancipated slave population, with the goal of showing how well the former slaves were doing.
James A. Thome and J. Horace Kimball, Emancipation in the West Indies: A Six Months’ Tour in Antigua, Barbados, and Jamaica, in the Year 1837. American Anti-Slavery Society, 1839.
This is a report by two American Abolitionists about their trip to determine the condition of the emancipated slave population. They were intent of showing how well the former slaves were doing in order to argue for emancipation in the United States.
Rev. John Horsford, A Voice from the West Indies. London, 1856.
A report on Wesleyan Missionary efforts in the West Indies, this book has several chapters on Antigua.
IMAGES AND FILM
National Archives UK Photo Collection Antigua
This is a large set of photos from the National Archives in the UK. Most are from the 1930s, but a few are earlier and a few are later (1940s and 1950s).
Historical Archives of Photographs of Antigua and Barbuda
This collection, accumulated by Dr. Susan Lowes, is searchable by subject, photographer, and date.
Huntley Film Archives
This collection has nine very short film clips that relate to Antigua, including three from the 1940s and the rest from the 1960s and 1970s.
MAP COLLECTIONS
British Library Maps Collection
The British Library has digitized a few of the early maps of Antigua. The images allow you to zoom in to see details.
A Plan of the Town of St. John in the Island of Antigua
Detailed map of St. John’s in 1788 with every plot marked with owner. You can zoom in to see detail.
The Island of Antego
Drawn by Herman Moll in about 1732, this famous map shows plantations and towns, topographic features, etc.
Old Maps Online
This website has links to the two maps listed above plus the Bowen map (1747), other versions of the Moll map, the Jeffreys map (1775), and the Peterson map (1853).